general discussion

[margaritaman]

Strakes are what pushed toons up into the performance category.
I remember 25 years ago when I was starting in tooning we were talking about some kind of lifting strakes then. I guess I should have done it and went for the patent. At that time, the typical toon was 25-40 HP and I was a wild man putting a 75 on mine.

Greg,
Malcolm beat you to it and Got the patent for tap fins.

[ROLAND]

Well I have to admit I've wondered the same thing... kind of a double edged sword though...my boat only has a 75 on it, top speed with just me and the wife is around 23 mph... and that's wide open.. hardly ever run her wot... now having said that If I were in my 30's and had kids and planned on pulling inflatables and ski'ers, then I could see the need for a bigger motor.. So i guess it comes down to how you plan to use your toon....98 % of the time I am perfectly content just crusing along at 4200 rpm's.. but there are times the " tim the tool man " raises his ugly head and screams " more power".... but those bigger motors cost a whole lot more.... my 75 was expensive enough for my taste.....

[tuned]

I have always had to have some degree of speed solely because I live on a very large lake. Not only do I have friends far afield, but the ability to get to safe haven has saved my ass more than once.
I definitely don't need the fastest toon out there, although fate has conspired to possibly make that a reality in my area. My life is so hectic, tho, that I often do not have the time to start at 8 in the morning and arrive home at dark just to run 25 miles to see some friends. I LOVE having the best of both worlds.
In reality, like BMR, dropping anchor is usually the bulk of my day. Fortunately, the party hole is just three blocks from my slip. This pic of my GPS about says the rest of the story.

I think I can see at least a dozen anchorages here!

[pond tuuunes]

You guys do know that a 75 mph toon, also has no problem idling at 3 mph, and not not burn much gas at all? But sound really bad ass doing either. I raced cars for 30+ yrs, I raced snomobiles on ice, snow, and even ran a 9 sec 1/4 mile on asphalt. Then one day I went for a ride on a friends Bennington w a factory 496 Big block, it ran about 55mph smooth, and that when I starting looking for mine. Its not all about the speed, we have some long no wake channels connecting all the lakes here, I enjoy idleing up n down these more than going fast, but sound real good doing it. JT