blackjack, crapshooter ..........warlock

[Don Templeton]

Ya Clay!

It's great to have a place for everything and after a while you know exactly where to grab. And after a days work and your bench looks like a trash heap it only takes a couple of minutes to get it back in shape. It really is nice to start out the day with a clean work bench.

Don

 

[Joe_Knesek]

I'd call it a draw @ thr IMPBA Nat's. a Ninja ran the fastest oval time and a Blackjack was second. I'm not sure who had the highest finishing Warlock but Chris Wood's boat was quick in practice. No one boat was a standout to me.

 

[user 115]

A draw?????

Ninja placed first and second in heat racing and timed events.. Makes the ninja look like a bargain considering those results..

Make mine a Ninja!!

Charley

 

[Joe_Knesek]

A draw?????
Ninja placed first and second in heat racing and timed events.. Makes the ninja look like a bargain considering those results..

Make mine a Ninja!!

Charley

The second place oval time was a Blackjack.

 

[user 115]

But a Ninja placed first and second through heat racing and timed events..

 

[BlackJack21]

Charles,

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Mike or any of his kits, as they are definitely top notch stuff.

Consider what shows up on your doorstep when you order a boat kit:

When you order a BlackJack, you get a completely built hull, along with all the hardware, except that which is better left decided by the end user (driveline, engine, radio and tank). After some final assembly (again, left until after some decisions are made by the end user), all that is left is sealing, painting final assembly and testing. Price $800

When you order a Ninja, you get a box of wood and the proprietary hardware. All other hardware is still needed. All construction is also left to the end user. In order to get a top quality boat, you must posess top quality building skills and LOTS of time. Price $450

Is getting a complete kit, ready to assemble worth an extra $350? In my opinion, yes. Others may not think so, but that is their choice. If someone is looking to pick up a cheap boat, and they are willing to build it themselves, you can buy a Hawk for under $100. Again, don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing the Ninja to the Hawk, they are worlds apart. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really think the price of a BlackJack is very comparable to that of the other boat kits available on the market.

Another note: Ron Zaker Jr. took the US-1 with a Ninja. The Ninja didn't lead him to it. He would have taken US-1 with a BlackJack, Warlok, Eagle, Hawk or any other kit. For that matter, he could have probably taken it with a broom stick with an engine strapped to it.

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

 

[BlackJack21]

Guys,

BTW, This thread has suddenly turned into a comparison between the BlackJack and the Ninja and I don't think that's what it's original intent was. I have contributed to this end and I appologize for that.

The moral of the story is: Buy what you want, build it the best you can and make it go like HELL! In the end, you'll have a ton of money in something you're proud of and that you'll have alot of fun with.

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

 

[Tony Jacuzzi]

I finished building our BlackJack 21 on the Tuesday night before we left for the Internats. I had a world of self inflicted guns shot wounds to my feet as I rushed to put the boat together, including fighting with my spray gun and then removing all of the paint on the sponsons during a painting session that went very bad. Having to cut out the aluminum shaft log (really dumb idea) out of the boat on Monday night when I put the brass stuffing tube through the wall of the log when installing. Unfortunately for me that was after I had finally got the boat clear coated. On Wednesday and Thursday Bryan and I went to the local pond to break in a brand new MAC21, fighting the weather, swimmers and mosquitoes to get some break in time on the engine. On Friday we left for the Internats with (1) prop (1450 from Andy), and no test time for pipe length, prop, strut and needle etc.

The boat was very good out of the box on Tuesday very stable, and exhibiting no bad habits. Its only DNF was definitely not the boats fault, it happened due to cutting through a wake and stuffing, that heat coupled with (2) firsts, (1) second with 2 buoy cuts (loose rudder arm), and (1) third made up the 1250 heat racing total.

In the oval trials Bryan's time was made on his first and only timed laps and was made about 8 feet from the buoys. His intention was to put down a good but conservative time and then try and run very tight on the second pass but the engine went lean and he never got to try his second pass.

In the SAW event we left the boat exactly in heat racing trim, since we hadn’t tested at all. Bryan made a pass with the 1450 at 61mph, then put on a 1716 that Mark Sholund had given us on Wednesday evening, that pass was at 66 mph, with no other changes.

We could not be more pleased with our BlackJack or the support that Brad has given us. The quality, workmanship, and materials used in the kit are superb.

Tony J

 

[shoboat]

Tony,

I am sure a 1717 or another 1716 will do even better than 66 MPH.

Bryan's boat ran really well on Andy's 1450. I had to de-pitch the 1716

that he used for the Str.Away pass,and I will bet after a little more

testing, that boat will be a ROCKET. At The Internats,all I can say is we

learned a few more things that the new ABC's propellers liked. They will

be much improved in the near future believe me. Bryan did a GREAT JOB

with such a new boat.

Thanks,

Mark Sholund

 

[TomMoorehouse]

The Ninja Sprint did not come as a box of wood. They were sold as built boats. Mike left the choice of hardware up the the end user. I dont remember what the price was.

 

[BlackJack21]

Tom, Mike Z,

My appologies. I was under the impression that the Ninja was a wood kit, like the Hawk. It seems like I was told that, but I'm not sure by who........

Thanks. Brad.

Titan Racing Components

 

[user 115]

Mike's boat comes "Pro-Built" for $425.. Or did.. I would raise the price now, if I were him..lol..

I also believe that the ninja's were running in the high 60's to mid 70's.. I know one of the boats was running a bag stock prop..Kind of takes the guess work out of prop choices.. Just sharpeneded and balanced.. Just something else to ponder..

Charley

 

[Joe_Knesek]

Mike's boat comes "Pro-Built" for $425.. Or did.. I would raise the price now, if I were him..lol..
I also believe that the ninja's were running in the high 60's to mid 70's.. I know one of the boats was running a bag stock prop..Kind of takes the guess work out of prop choices.. Just sharpeneded and balanced.. Just something else to ponder..

Charley

None of the 20 hydros were in the 70's during heat racing. In open water, Chris Wood's boat was shot @ 75 and that was the fastest of the week.

 

[user 115]

Perhaps none of the 20 hydros needed to run mid 70's.. I know for a fact that one of the two ninja's runs low 70's, and that ninja did not run in open water..

 

[Tony Jacuzzi]

Here are the straightaway times for the Internats. Thats where the MPH calculation comes from at the Time Trials:

Ron Zaker Ninja 3.232 seconds 69.659 MPH

Mike Zaborowski Ninja 3.322 seconds 67.771 MPH

John Brown Eagle 3.389 seconds 66.568 MPH

Bryan Jacuzzi BlackJack 3.399 seconds 66.371 MPH

Ernie Lafleur Eagle ? 3.592 seconds 62.674 MPH

 

[user 115]

As Mike would say... Rock on... Further evidence of the Ninja's dominance..

Charley

 

[Joe_Knesek]

As Mike would say... Rock on... Further evidence of the Ninja's dominance..
Charley

With all due respect to Ron and Mike, I wouldn't call their performance dominant. It was a good run but to be dominant, you'd have to win all of your heats, the ovals and SAW. Dominance is what Ron Drake did in 20 tunnel.

 

[BlackJack21]

Guys,

I wish I'd been there and could have switched my boat for Brian's in the SAW trials. THEN we could talk about dominance. I've ran faster than Ron Z.'s speed by 5+ MPH in full heat race trim. Get outta the way if I ever start playing around with SAW set-ups.

Seriously, though, the water must have sucked, because I've seen Ron run MUCH faster than that during heat racing. Why the sluggish times?

Thanks. Brad,

Titan Racing Components

 

[TomMoorehouse]

i don't think they are sluggish.... i think there is a lot of exagerating going on.

 

[Joe_Knesek]

The water got rougher than I've seen up north. I think it's due to the shallow pond but all in all, great racing.