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A colder front passed through right as I was tinkering with the Thundercraft so decided to up the tinkering to "medium-serious" and take it for a trial run.

With the wind: approx 48 to 49mph; Against the wind: 47.2ish.
The GPS actually read 49.6 after one run but I've been mislead before..

After the rebuild/restore the boat is very front heavy so it really helps top speed to have the motor set back, and the usual heavy 25L tanks under the rear splash well can help quite a bit when there are passengers aboard.

Usual top speed with the boat loaded with gear is in the 44 to 46 range. Amazing how much weight and weight distribution affects this thing. The hull bottom is still stock and severely hooked.


















M

Do I have to tow a third trailer?? We should seriously start a new class with these boats...get Cole down here with his and we'll put them on they're sides in the corners!! LOL! For those reading this post the boat is the 14' Thundercraft Playmate. What a fun boat! Will not flip no matter how hard you turn and no matter how far on it's side it is! Mine has a 70hp 56 cube Johnson and I've seen 48 mph(on speedo) with a 24' Raker.

It would hilarious to see a full on race of these boats going around a course.

Do you have a tach? Jack plate? We need to get some official GPS numbers from you..
I think a 56 OMC, but somehow with a small gearcase, would be ideal on these boats.

Last year I ran a 1996 Merc 52ci 60hp on it. Same displacement as the Yamaha 70. The motors have two very different personalities.
Merc has WAY more torque below 3000rpm, but stops wanting to rev at 5000rpms. Still only 2mph slower approx than the Yamaha.
The Merc trim is faster, which is nice, and the Merc can be quieter than the Yamaha at lower speeds. The Yami 70 accelerates quite well from 3700 to 5700.

Right now the Yamaha 70 will hit 6000rpm with light loads, and trimmed up with the wind it'll touch 6100-6200.
15" Yamaha polished stainless prop, 1.71 gears. Same prop on the Merc but it has 1.64 gears.

I'm also curious to try a 59ci Merc with a small gearcase on these boats.

You guys are killing me!! My 650 runs 40mph!! I thought I was doing good lol.

This is awesome Matt...I LOVE that the Playmate is hauling balls lol

Here is the 4th one:
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-other-boat-wate ... nFlag=true

QUOTE: I'm also curious to try a 59ci Merc with a small gearcase on these boats.
Likely equal to your 70 yamaha.

These boats are T850's........Like a Hobby Class.

I tried to promote a T Hobby Class a few years ago and got no interest.
The Class was a 45 to 50 mph class.
Out of the box original equipment stock fishing motors no alterations or additions at all.
So an OMC 56 had to run its original big gear case. NO SST60 parts allowed
There was a large number of boats that fit this class.
The T850 group had to run production, non competition hulls.
I would add to this group .......no pad bottom hulls...
So its any V type hull that does not have a pad.

VooDoo's , Allison's, Deltas, Critchfield's would also run in the group with 40 hp 4 stroke and 40 hp/40 cubic inch two stroke motors.
This gets the teenagers into racing. I also allows them to gain experience by racing in 2 classes.....Hobby and T750...at each event.

I have another one that is in about the same condition as the one in that ad...I think I'm going to glass in a pad on the bottom and see how high we can fly these things! lol. Matt I don't run a jack plate and my speed was just from the old ride guide on the dash not GPS so not accurate. Alivia wants us to work on the project Playmate so this coming spring/summer we will definitely be doing some experimenting. Maybe even some center steering with a wrap around seat like my cobra! Lol!

Craig,
like this!

https://www.screamandfly.com/showthread ... ost2373469

Now that's a cool Playmate!

My boat is already illegal twice then. Non-original smaller gearcase, and glass reeds.

The thought behind the HOBBY class was to get interest from two different groups.
Some would like to buy a very low cost old boat and motor package and run it.
Some may go RAT ROD style and piece an outfit together.
The other group has newer model cottage boats that they could race and run in that speed range.
Because they are all production model boats, they have the flotation and the minimum weight.
Most would loan safety gear for the event.
The smaller fishing hulls including the whaler style boats would be fun.
There many types to select from.
I bet my original Scout 14 with a 49 OMC would be competitive.
https://coastalanglermag.com/wp-content ... oats-4.jpg

Matt the small gear case was on the 50G triple
Motors running low 6000's are fine with steel reeds....no body would care if some ran glass reeds.
And YES a 15 inch OMC triple is a fishing motor by definition.