Future of OMC A and Merc 15

[D_Allen_III]

It blows my mind that people don't want to see a new engine phased into out category when it becomes available. Yes it's easy for all of us current racers to be a upset since we have motors that have been bored over, blueprinted, tested, and tweaked so we can go race competitively. But what about a new guy off the street who wants to get into racing. He can't just buy a motor and put it on the boat and race to win. It takes years to get a fast rig going if you aren’t spending tons of money on it.
If you buy an OMC A engine right now, you can’t just put it on your boat and go race at the nationals. Half of the engines out there need to be checked by an inspector, and IF they are legal, they usually require a ton of money to transform it into a “good” motor. Stock outboard ruined the A class by legalizing all the modifications that can be done on a “stock” motor. A hydros go 60 MPH now, that is almost B and 20SSH speeds, that isn’t an A class.
With the new Hot Rod engines that are becoming available, we are getting second chance to leave out A stock class as a truly “stock” class. With how much money we spend every year, buying one more motor isn’t that much of an investment. Quit whining about it.

11w

[Bill Blackwell]

Obviously, this is a touchy subject. But if we could go back to my original post on this thread. The question I asked was "What is the future of the OMC A and Merc 15?" and "What is the planned introduction?".

The Hot Rod press release and APBA meeting minutes tell us about the timeline for introduction of the Hot Rod A. What I'd like to know more about is with regard to the OMC A and Merc 15 and APBA's plan for them in A Stock. Is there a plan?

Some that have posted are making the assumption that the OMC A and Merc 15 will be phased out of A Stock. I have not seen that offically announced. Is this part of the plan?

I realize some of the data is not available yet on the Hot Rod A, so it is not known how it will compare to the OMC A and Merc 15. But, I would think there is still a plan.

Outside of "Stock", there is still the J Category, Mod and PRO categories that also utilize these outboards. All indications are that there is a future for these engines there too. This is related to, but outside the scope of my original question. I am mostly interested in what the SORC's plan is for these 3 racing outboards that all qualify for A Stock.

And I'll say it again. I welcome all the new Hot Rod outboards.

Bill B.
Fast Boats Built Slow

[Dr. Thunder]

Perhaps a more relevant question might be:
"What does the membership want the future of the OMC and Merc 15 to be?"

I'll go first ... OMC for FAR/FAH only starting in 2006.

Merc 15 for "J" and AXS until Hot Rod "J" has been proven to be a suitable replacement.

Hot Rod "A" only engine for ASH/ASR starting in 2006.

[Brian LaChapelle]

Mike, I have two kids ages 9 and 11 and have thought about J equipment. Mostly about the OMC vs. Merc. question. The old last century Oly Evinrude or or two grand
for the Merc. without a gear case.
When the Merc. was first offered, the only gear case available was a OMC case that was $150 to rent per year (that offer has since been withdrawn) or buy for $800.
Now the APBA ad for the Merc. just states "racing gear case not included" nothing about leasing or availability to buy the gear case.
The hang up with new equipment to run in the stock catagory since OMC and Mercury wthdrew from stock racing has not been the motors but the racing gearcases.
I'm not sure why we need a racing gear case for my 9 year old to go and have some fun out on the water. Mike, I guess the what I realized last year is if my kids want to have fun on the Lake we just hitch up our 19 footer and bring the water ski's.
Brian LaChapelle

[jpro60]

A few thoughts...

hey guys,
If you dont mind my saying, I'm not sure people should be getting there shorts in a knot just yet. As I recall not too long ago there was a large amount of controversy over the Merc 15. Also to the best of my recollection, that motor was considerably slower than the current OMC A motors. Despite its best efforts the SORC has been unable to make the Merc competitive, while still keeping it mostly stock, a number of years down the line.
*just my opinion*
The Hot Rod A motor does sound promising, however if it is anything like the current "B" motor the A class will be all but phased out with the exception of a few die hard hot rod guys willing to rebuild a motor every two weeks. If the new hot rod A is anything like the observations I have made of B motors then it will not be viable and would (hopefully) not recieve approval from the SORC. Having that said, I do not know what the folks at hot rod have done to make the proposed A motor as "maintenance free" as the current OMC's but if they make a reliable motor, that is a fast as the OMC for a reasonable price then more power to them.
The last thing I personally want to see is the hot rod meet the boat racing community in the same less than spectacular fashion as the Merc has. I do agree that the current state of the A class running OMC's is a decaying one, with motors becoming harder to find every year. However, the Merc was also supposed to remedy this problem and has proven nothing more than an over-hyped flop.
My personal oppinion on this matter is,
1) Either create incentive for the AXS classes to do what they were meant to do, which is provide a class for experimantation on the Merc to make it competitive. OR get rid of the Merc all together and accept it for the motor it is... a good one, but not competitive with the OMC's

2) Approve the hot rod to be run in the AXS classes provisionally to see where it stacks up outside of the currently competitive A classes.

3) whatever happens do something to make AXS something other than an 8th set of classes for the OMC.

4) work very closely with Hot Rod to make their new motor on the same level as the current OMC's so that the Hot Rod may be phased in without obsoleting the OMC's and creating potential problems with owners of the OMC currently.

Just my thoughts,
Mike Perman 32-R

[ryan_4z]

First off, the way I understand it, one of Hot Rod's first objectives is to make their motors more reliable. I do not believe that they intend on introducing a motor that will need constant maintenance. Secondly, I wouldn't expect the SORC to announce any clear position on this until all the facts are in. They approved the Hot Rod A this year as a prototype motor to gain some preliminary information. If, at next years national mtg. the SORC decides that this will be the motor for the future of A stock, then I personally would like to see them say that begining in 2008, the Hot Rod will be the only legal motor. That gives us all three full racing seasons before we absolutely have to buy a Hot Rod. I personally(being a person who is going to have to save for a while to get one) believe that that is more than ample time to accomodate everyone.

Donny,
You are right on with your comment about having a 60 mph A. We need to get this class back where it needs to be.

Dr. Thunder,
The class structure you have sounds like one that would put us in the right direction. But I would say lets make it 2008 just to give everyone a little more time to make adjustments.

Brian,
The gearcase issue goes much deeper than the availability of gearcases(witch is beyond the control of the SORC). As I dont want to open that can of worms again I'll leave it at that. Let's just be happy that we have a man like Ron Selawach who's company will soon be producing them and it will no longer be an issue.

[Dr. Thunder]

Ryan ... you have made some really valid points and solid observations.

However, as far as my proposed class structure is concerned, why wait until 2008 ... no real major adjustments are necessary. Except for the Hot Rod "A" all engines are currently in place. Moving all current OMC "A" engines to FAR and FAH (and as someone observed be it for good or bad ... no "tuck" rules apply)would result in two really large and competitive classes. It's my belief that there is still a lot of "A" stuff out there that is not being used (not sure why).

Let those in "J" and AXS continue to run the Merc 15 or a restricted OMC until the Hot Rod "A" is a proven commodity. It's unlikely that the SORC will get approval for that engine before the 2008 season anyway.

On another note ... was there any further discussion at the Annual Meeting about combining Stock and Mod categories?

[14-H]

Donny,
You are right on with your comment about having a 60 mph A. We need to get this class back where it needs to be.

.

Are my eyes deceiving me? Does 4Z now support the restrictor in the A class???? Just kidding. I already know the answer to that. Ed.

[ryan_4z]

Are my eyes deceiving me? Does 4Z now support the restrictor in the A class???? Just kidding. I already know the answer to that. Ed.

Yeah, I think we may have talked about that a little bit before haven't we Ed.

[hagerl8m]

Hot Rod

Why is everyone insiting on keeping a motor that is older than dirt around. It seems to me every time a new motor comes out most people are too scared to use it, "its too slow." I'm putting as much of that omc crap up for sale. And buying a hot rod, oh wait i've got all the parts i need, except the new carb to slwo the motor. and by the way the merc isn't 5 slower its 1 maybe 2. i've done the testing and i can run third against some of the best ASR in the country.

Just my opinion

chris 8m

[kws]

of course i can only speak for my self . as for why i would want to keep old omc crap: we spent 3 years trying to get one (on and off) have run 2 race weekends with it and if i have to switch now. apba can say goodbye to 1 new racer i dont think i can make it any more clear than that lol .]
but had there been new motors avalible for the class when we were looking i am confident it would of been the new one in the shed have a good day

[Dr. Thunder]

<snip>
...but had there been new motors avalible for the class when we were looking i am confident it would of been the new one in the shed have a good day

Why didn't you buy a "new" Merc 15?

[Big Don]

Dr. Thunder,

He runs "A" why would he buy a Merc? You cannot compete in "A" with a Merc.

[kws]

thank you Don .that is exactly what my reply would of been
im way to old for J, plus my daughter is out of college (no new j driver there)
what would i ever DO with the merc? stand it in the corner of the garage and say what a pretty lil merc that is? on the other hand. if i want to run asx. i can buy one cheap restricer plate and add 1 or 2 classes to the race weekend SINCE we happen to have one of those crap omc ( that btw im kinda fond of lol) . ... why buy a merc?

FYI
just because i seems there is a lot of input from people that are not directly involved with A class ( and that is a good thing in my mind)
ASX merc & omc with the omc restricted to slow it down to about merc speeds
A runs the omc

[Dr. Thunder]

Dr. Thunder,

He runs "A" why would he buy a Merc? You cannot compete in "A" with a Merc.

because he said "had there been new motors avalible for the class when we were looking i am confident it would of been the new one in the shed"