Two European classes I would like to learn more about

[HRTV]

Is anyone familiar with either of these two European run classes. The V bottom class seems to always show up at the same races with the Pro and OSY 400 stuff and it appears from the photos that they are running some sort of Yamaha motor.

The second class I would like to find more info on seems to be the European version of our SST60, they also seem to run a Yamaha motor or something called a Selva.

Both classes appear to be very popular in Europe and I was wondering why we don't run the Yamaha motor here in the states since OMC stop making SST60 motors years ago.

Anyone ?

[HRTV]

Well that was quick I just found the motor on my own by typing Selva into Google.

http://www.selvamarine.com/index.jsp?tnes_locale=en_us

My hat is off to the Europeans! while the American boat racers fuss and fight over 20 year old motors they just make there own!

Bass Brothers and Ron Selewalch are not included in my above comments. * and all the folks on the design and marketing teams for both these American ventures.

[sam]

In the past Selva has even made limited edition racing motors (sort of like the Mod50 OMC's & Mercs). I think all the currently produced Selvas are standard pleasure models.

[Mike Schmidt]

Selva 850

We saw the Selva 850's run in Italy (at the 125 Worlds). Nothng to get excited about. About 75 H.P. fishing motors that run low 70's. Looks a lot like SST 60, or the old S.E. class.

Michael D-1

[HRTV]

We saw the Selva 850's run in Italy (at the 125 Worlds). Nothng to get excited about. About 75 H.P. fishing motors that run low 70's. Looks a lot like SST 60, or the old S.E. class.

Michael D-1

Hey Mike thanks for the reply, no offense but you are a Pro driver and anything under 100 mph seems slow to a seasoned Pro driver 70 mph is more then enough for the average John Doe who might want to go racing on a budget. Its a shame these classes died here in the states. The old SE class which died ages ago and whats left of the SST60 class if you can find a motor.

I can honestly say I have no idea what happen to boat racing here in the states, we had all these classes available right at our finger tips and they all died a slow painful death.

Sport E
SST100
Mod UJ
Formula 100
Sport J
Mod VP
JP

etc... All gone!

[Bill Huson]

I have a thought . . .

Most of the OPC classes I've seen were sort of like a pleasure boat gone wild, but the boats evolved into "race boats" and were not all that usable as a pleasure craft even though their hull design was good. Methinks the classes would have longer legs if the boats could be used for weekend goof around as well as racing.

[HRTV]

Most of the OPC classes I've seen were sort of like a pleasure boat gone wild, but the boats evolved into "race boats" and were not all that usable as a pleasure craft even though their hull design was good. Methinks the classes would have longer legs if the boats could be used for weekend goof around as well as racing.

Hey Bill,

That was the idea back in the day before capsules, all the V bottom OPC classes were boats that served as race craft and pleasure but the with introduction of the safety cell having a dual purpose hull pretty much died away. It would be pretty tough to install a bench seat behind the capsule in a V bottom so while the driver sat inside the capsule his two buddies sat on the bench seat behind him

I guess my real question is why the current SST60 class does not utilize one of the current production 3cly motors on the market today ? instead they rely on out of production motors.

On this same topic will the motors that come out of American Outboards be a legal ASH motor or will there be ten years of parity commission meetings to see if the new motor will dominate the old out of production motor before the commission makes it legal for ASH. Or am I way off on this one and Ron's new motors have nothing to do with ASH.

[Dave M]

WHo Knows

Maybe they will make a new A class for it...... AXSSXH and AXSSXR


So the 56CI OMC is not a legal powerhead for the SST60 class ? It has to be some special made SST60 powerhead that has not been made for a while ?

[HRTV]

Maybe they will make a new A class for it...... AXSSXH and AXSSXR


So the 56CI OMC is not a legal powerhead for the SST60 class ? It has to be some special made SST60 powerhead that has not been made for a while ?

Yeah kind of crazy that the only legal motor in the class is a motor that went out of production over 11 years ago so a new person coming into the class has to buy some old tired piece of junk for $$$$$ I was seriously thinking about getting back into OPC and running SST60 but I think not! guess I will just focus on the web site and stayed a washed up racer

[Fast Freddie]

A Possible Reason...

Greg Jacobsen imported a Selva F-1000 engine for the OPC category. Seems no-one wanted to invest in it until "someone else" did. This is an engine used in Italy and other European countries with some success. The class is called Formula 1000 and is mono-brand. The engine has a racing gear case, trim, etc.

One reason there are no new classes could be due to the history of OPC. In "The Good Old Days" the interested factories (there WERE two back then) would "seed" a new class proposal by buying a couple (or more) boats, rigging them with the new engine and handing them out for racers to try or even race as their own. The factories also contributed prize money and parts support as well as publicity.

With today's stock-market-driven management, this won't happen.

Mercury has made at least two good attempts at producing a modern, "environmentally friendly," racing outboard. The Mercury 4-Cycle 60 EFI on a short (15") tower with solid mounts and external (racing) steering bars was produced and "handed" to the OPC commission as a modern replacement for the smaller tunnel boat classes. No action. No one wanted to buy an engine that didn't have a class where it could be competitive. These engine languished in inventory until they were "blown out" and bought in Europe. Now there is a class running them in Scandinavia (Their F-4) where they have reached speeds of 72 MPH. Not a bad small class. A race engine based on an available, modern outboard engine. No longer available because no-one bought them. They will have a UIM World Championship in 2008!

Same for the SST-200. It enjoys great success in Europe in endurance races where it clearly dominates the older, carbureted SST-120s. No-one wants to try to race in a manner in which this engine can be competitive. (It doesn't start as quickly as the SST-120 in a Le Mans start.) Mercury has put a couple in the field, but no-one is helping make a way to the future by accommodating it. Many racers say they will race an SST-200 - if Mercury would give them one!!!

Just a few comments from my perspective.

Fred Hauenstein
920-924-2029

[mercguy]

Greg Jacobsen imported a Selva F-1000 engine for the OPC category. Seems no-one wanted to invest in it until "someone else" did. This is an engine used in Italy and other European countries with some success. The class is called Formula 1000 and is mono-brand. The engine has a racing gear case, trim, etc.

One reason there are no new classes could be due to the history of OPC. In "The Good Old Days" the interested factories (there WERE two back then) would "seed" a new class proposal by buying a couple (or more) boats, rigging them with the new engine and handing them out for racers to try or even race as their own. The factories also contributed prize money and parts support as well as publicity.

With today's stock-market-driven management, this won't happen.

Mercury has made at least two good attempts at producing a modern, "environmentally friendly," racing outboard. The Mercury 4-Cycle 60 EFI on a short (15") tower with solid mounts and external (racing) steering bars was produced and "handed" to the OPC commission as a modern replacement for the smaller tunnel boat classes. No action. No one wanted to buy an engine that didn't have a class where it could be competitive. These engine languished in inventory until they were "blown out" and bought in Europe. Now there is a class running them in Scandinavia (Their F-4) where they have reached speeds of 72 MPH. Not a bad small class. A race engine based on an available, modern outboard engine. No longer available because no-one bought them. They will have a UIM World Championship in 2008!

Same for the SST-200. It enjoys great success in Europe in endurance races where it clearly dominates the older, carbureted SST-120s. No-one wants to try to race in a manner in which this engine can be competitive. (It doesn't start as quickly as the SST-120 in a Le Mans start.) Mercury has put a couple in the field, but no-one is helping make a way to the future by accommodating it. Many racers say they will race an SST-200 - if Mercury would give them one!!!

Just a few comments from my perspective.

Fred Hauenstein
920-924-2029

this is the statement that says it all, well said Fred!!

"With today's stock-market-driven management, this won't happen."

[Composite Specialties]

Sst60

Dan, the only thing racing about the SST60 is the bullet on the gear case, the rest of the engine is stock, fishing motor stock.

[HRTV]

Greg Jacobsen imported a Selva F-1000 engine for the OPC category. Seems no-one wanted to invest in it until "someone else" did. This is an engine used in Italy and other European countries with some success. The class is called Formula 1000 and is mono-brand. The engine has a racing gear case, trim, etc.

One reason there are no new classes could be due to the history of OPC. In "The Good Old Days" the interested factories (there WERE two back then) would "seed" a new class proposal by buying a couple (or more) boats, rigging them with the new engine and handing them out for racers to try or even race as their own. The factories also contributed prize money and parts support as well as publicity.

With today's stock-market-driven management, this won't happen.

Mercury has made at least two good attempts at producing a modern, "environmentally friendly," racing outboard. The Mercury 4-Cycle 60 EFI on a short (15") tower with solid mounts and external (racing) steering bars was produced and "handed" to the OPC commission as a modern replacement for the smaller tunnel boat classes. No action. No one wanted to buy an engine that didn't have a class where it could be competitive. These engine languished in inventory until they were "blown out" and bought in Europe. Now there is a class running them in Scandinavia (Their F-4) where they have reached speeds of 72 MPH. Not a bad small class. A race engine based on an available, modern outboard engine. No longer available because no-one bought them. They will have a UIM World Championship in 2008!

Same for the SST-200. It enjoys great success in Europe in endurance races where it clearly dominates the older, carbureted SST-120s. No-one wants to try to race in a manner in which this engine can be competitive. (It doesn't start as quickly as the SST-120 in a Le Mans start.) Mercury has put a couple in the field, but no-one is helping make a way to the future by accommodating it. Many racers say they will race an SST-200 - if Mercury would give them one!!!

Just a few comments from my perspective.

Fred Hauenstein
920-924-2029

Hi Fred,

Thanks for quick reply, I have been away from OPC many years now so I honestly had no idea where things stood these days. What is your honest opinion of the future in OPC racing here in the states ? has all interest been lost ?

[Fast Freddie]

No!

I don't think "all interest is lost." I just think there is a refusal to face reality. SST-120 is strong in OPC, but the engines are getting old and parts will become a problem in the near future. They need to accomodate new engines; but I don't mean a complete switch to new engines.

The D Stock situation, although different, has some elements that need investigation. The old 55H was replaced by the 44XS gradually because the 44XS did not obsolete the 55Hs overnight. It took a couple of years and then the racers were more comfortable with the change-over. This is being repeated now.

Almost every time new, in-production engines were accepted into an OPC class, the class has grown. You cannot attract new (to boat racing) members if they have to scrounge for rare parts to build a competitive engine.

Fred Hauenstein

[HRTV]

I don't think "all interest is lost." I just think there is a refusal to face reality. SST-120 is strong in OPC, but the engines are getting old and parts will become a problem in the near future. They need to accomodate new engines; but I don't mean a complete switch to new engines.

The D Stock situation, although different, has some elements that need investigation. The old 55H was replaced by the 44XS gradually because the 44XS did not obsolete the 55Hs overnight. It took a couple of years and then the racers were more comfortable with the change-over. This is being repeated now.

Almost every time new, in-production engines were accepted into an OPC class, the class has grown. You cannot attract new (to boat racing) members if they have to scrounge for rare parts to build a competitive engine.

Fred Hauenstein

Thanks Fred,

Your last sentence sums it up best,this applies to all category's of boat racing