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Afternoon all
been poking around here most of the day trying to come up to speed, seen a few posts asking for age/height/weight so thought I'd open with that: 51 years young living in the foothills about 2 hours east of Oakland. 6'3" and a portly 235 these days, 215 is probably my optimum
Used to roadrace motorcycles in the 90's (Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Willow Springs, Portland, etc -- think full leathers at 120mph with one knee down on a road coarse) and I am an admitted adrenaline junkie. Still searching for the buzz that roadracing used to give me. have considered shifter karts but never pulled the trigger, learned to fly but no adrenaline high there. took up tournament bass fishing for the competitive side but, while I am wiped at the end of the day, competitive fishing is an old mans sport. I have an 91 cajun 16' fiberglass bass boat with a 60hp hydraulic trim shortshaft Johnson on the transom that tops out at 41 on the gps that I cruise around the waterways in the California Delta.
so last week I decided that I needed a new toy, something to scare myself with and started hunting around on craigslist for an old jet boat - amazing how cheap they are to buy but how expensive to operate. But the reality is that I have no place to store a 21' jet boat without my girl killing me first. Then I learn that outboards are lighter and faster and less expensive to run. Nice, I'm a two stroke guy, have rebuilt my share of ring ding motors on race and dirt bikes. Outboard should come in a smaller hull, maybe I can justify it.... So I start hunting around for a cool looking outboard that I can buy for cheap and turn into somewhat of a project. Lots of the vintage stuff catches my eye. I see hydros and pickles that I can build myself - excellent. Love woodworking, have a garage full of old DeWalt radial arm saws, some vintage Crapsman band saws, a drill press, and a few skilsaws laying around. I can lay fiberglass.
Then I see what you guys are doing - it seems my illness has returned and I find myself sliding down the slippery slope... Much smaller hull, but bigger thrills - winner
So where is a good place for me to start? So much to learn. What sort of classes are good for a "man of larger carriage", can I build my own boat but not using those plans from the 50's? Not looking to try to win right away, but do some hard racing from the back of the pack with the other backmarkers. Possible to build out as you go to help keep initial costs down? Rather sit than kneel but open to both. Used to love the 4 hour endurance races in roadracing. there was a post here that I found that had a series of questions for the noob to help y'all here guide them into things correctly, but for the life of me I can't find it. Looking forward to seeing if there is a fit for me here in your world
thanks!
Mike
Sonora, CA
been poking around here most of the day trying to come up to speed, seen a few posts asking for age/height/weight so thought I'd open with that: 51 years young living in the foothills about 2 hours east of Oakland. 6'3" and a portly 235 these days, 215 is probably my optimum
Used to roadrace motorcycles in the 90's (Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Willow Springs, Portland, etc -- think full leathers at 120mph with one knee down on a road coarse) and I am an admitted adrenaline junkie. Still searching for the buzz that roadracing used to give me. have considered shifter karts but never pulled the trigger, learned to fly but no adrenaline high there. took up tournament bass fishing for the competitive side but, while I am wiped at the end of the day, competitive fishing is an old mans sport. I have an 91 cajun 16' fiberglass bass boat with a 60hp hydraulic trim shortshaft Johnson on the transom that tops out at 41 on the gps that I cruise around the waterways in the California Delta.
so last week I decided that I needed a new toy, something to scare myself with and started hunting around on craigslist for an old jet boat - amazing how cheap they are to buy but how expensive to operate. But the reality is that I have no place to store a 21' jet boat without my girl killing me first. Then I learn that outboards are lighter and faster and less expensive to run. Nice, I'm a two stroke guy, have rebuilt my share of ring ding motors on race and dirt bikes. Outboard should come in a smaller hull, maybe I can justify it.... So I start hunting around for a cool looking outboard that I can buy for cheap and turn into somewhat of a project. Lots of the vintage stuff catches my eye. I see hydros and pickles that I can build myself - excellent. Love woodworking, have a garage full of old DeWalt radial arm saws, some vintage Crapsman band saws, a drill press, and a few skilsaws laying around. I can lay fiberglass.
Then I see what you guys are doing - it seems my illness has returned and I find myself sliding down the slippery slope... Much smaller hull, but bigger thrills - winner
So where is a good place for me to start? So much to learn. What sort of classes are good for a "man of larger carriage", can I build my own boat but not using those plans from the 50's? Not looking to try to win right away, but do some hard racing from the back of the pack with the other backmarkers. Possible to build out as you go to help keep initial costs down? Rather sit than kneel but open to both. Used to love the 4 hour endurance races in roadracing. there was a post here that I found that had a series of questions for the noob to help y'all here guide them into things correctly, but for the life of me I can't find it. Looking forward to seeing if there is a fit for me here in your world
thanks!
Mike
Sonora, CA
Most areas don't have a program like the Norcal 400. You can try it out before you commit the big bucks, CSH is a good bet just about anywhere in the US.
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