Race Buoys

[Marty Davis]

When I was in Indy, we used to get our Lobster Trap 12" buoys from a place called Gulf and XXX and can't remember the last name of the company. Does anyone have a source for these buoys or know the name of this company? we need some buoys for an upcoming race.

Thanks,

 

[ggeiselman]

Kershaw Floatation Phone number is 321-727-3457. Has the 12" ball.

 

[John Beardslee]

Marty the Saginaw Club up here uses swim noodles cut to about a foot in length and then clusters them in bunches for the size overall dia. you'd want and then paints them. The clusters are tied up with nylon rope. They seem to take a beating without having to pick styrofoam pieces after a hit and they don't seem to damage the hulls either.

John

 

[Blackout]

7.5" dia. trap buoys work great. When I get home I can check where I got them, but they were suggested by Don Ferrette in a IW thread.

 

[John Knight]

Marty,

What we use are trap floats, 7.5", comes 25 to a bag at $2.07 each, and are lined with a center plastic sleeve, part # FLTG712. Atlantic & Gulf Fishing Co., Miami. http://www.atagulf.com

We tried the 6" ones and they were harder to see especially when you get a few nicks on them from passing boats. Go with the 7.5" ones. Even though it is just 1.5" larger in diameter, they are much easier to see. They are high density foam that does not explode upon impact and litter the water.

Get some spray can neon orange MARKING paint at Lowe's, Home Depot or Wal Mart. It works much better than the standard can spray paint.

John

 

[Terry Keeley]

http://www.atagulf.com/

Atlantic Gulf & Fishing.

 

[Tom Kelly]

Another good idea is to prime them with latex primer. It makes the neon pop, and the spray paint doesn't melt the styrofoam.

 

[Norm Doerr]

We can get the 7.5" inch buoys here for a very good price. . They are readily available and are so plentiful I can even get them in the middle of the night at a store that sells live bait bigger than some of the fish people call "keepers" in other parts of the world.

Problem with the 7.5" is if you hit them running 70 plus that plastic tube in the middle will tear up an outrigger. I personally do not have any boats that go over 25 MPH but have witnessed some fast boats hit them and it was not pretty. They are harder to hit, but will not forgive you for hitting them.

The positive is if you are racing a faster boat and it nails one, chances are you won't have to race against against that boat for the rest of the weekend

 

[John Knight]

We can get the 7.5" inch buoys here for a very good price. . They are readily available and are so plentiful I can even get them in the middle of the night at a store that sells live bait bigger than some of the fish people call "keepers" in other parts of the world.

Problem with the 7.5" is if you hit them running 70 plus that plastic tube in the middle will tear up an outrigger. I personally do not have any boats that go over 25 MPH but have witnessed some fast boats hit them and it was not pretty. They are harder to hit, but will not forgive you for hitting them.

The positive is if you are racing a faster boat and it nails one, chances are you won't have to race against against that boat for the rest of the weekend

Norm,

I am sorry but shall disagree with your assertions. I have personally hit more than a few and has never done any damage except for breaking the black glass boom tubes. No damage to the hull. I have see many (over 100) strikes by many boats of all kinds and none have been put out for the weekend. I have also never seen any damage by the center plastic tube after a strike. When the buoy has enough shaved off and the tube is exposed, we change them out.

 

[seaducerpete]

I have seen lots of damage from hitting bouys have seen boats broke in half from a bouy hit

 

[Norm Doerr]

We can get the 7.5" inch buoys here for a very good price. . They are readily available and are so plentiful I can even get them in the middle of the night at a store that sells live bait bigger than some of the fish people call "keepers" in other parts of the world.

Problem with the 7.5" is if you hit them running 70 plus that plastic tube in the middle will tear up an outrigger. I personally do not have any boats that go over 25 MPH but have witnessed some fast boats hit them and it was not pretty. They are harder to hit, but will not forgive you for hitting them.

The positive is if you are racing a faster boat and it nails one, chances are you won't have to race against against that boat for the rest of the weekend

Norm,

I am sorry but shall disagree with your assertions. I have personally hit more than a few and has never done any damage except for breaking the black glass boom tubes. No damage to the hull. I have see many (over 100) strikes by many boats of all kinds and none have been put out for the weekend. I have also never seen any damage by the center plastic tube after a strike. When the buoy has enough shaved off and the tube is exposed, we change them out.

No need to apologize. I probably never should have been sucked into this thread, but I guess I asked for it.

Allow me to retort... you write "never done any damage except for breaking the black glass boom tubes" I would say that is damage is it not ?

 

[RodneyPierce]

Norm, you make me :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[John Knight]

We can get the 7.5" inch buoys here for a very good price. . They are readily available and are so plentiful I can even get them in the middle of the night at a store that sells live bait bigger than some of the fish people call "keepers" in other parts of the world.

Problem with the 7.5" is if you hit them running 70 plus that plastic tube in the middle will tear up an outrigger. I personally do not have any boats that go over 25 MPH but have witnessed some fast boats hit them and it was not pretty. They are harder to hit, but will not forgive you for hitting them.

The positive is if you are racing a faster boat and it nails one, chances are you won't have to race against against that boat for the rest of the weekend

Norm,

I am sorry but shall disagree with your assertions. I have personally hit more than a few and has never done any damage except for breaking the black glass boom tubes. No damage to the hull. I have see many (over 100) strikes by many boats of all kinds and none have been put out for the weekend. I have also never seen any damage by the center plastic tube after a strike. When the buoy has enough shaved off and the tube is exposed, we change them out.

No need to apologize. I probably never should have been sucked into this thread, but I guess I asked for it.

Allow me to retort... you write "never done any damage except for breaking the black glass boom tubes" I would say that is damage is it not ?

Finish reading what I noted, "no damage to the hull". I would rather take out the boom tubes than the sponsons or the tub. They are the breakaway portion of the boat. Not a hard repair and you are back in the race.

 

[Mark Grannis]

Marty,

The large size from Atlantic & Gulf (12" ) is what you are thinking of. These do explode on center hits, but they are the most forgiving buoy when cut and used in halves.

MG

 

[Tim leyde]

Our club went to the pool noodles this year. Let's just say not ONE piece of any boat has been damage by the noodles. We buy them in the green and orange color. They work !

 

[Mike Whitney]

Inflatable Polyform water ski buoys....cheap...no damage when hit...easily seen...no floating debris to clean up...no painting....$7 each...multiple colors...need I say more.

One thing...you have to have a buoy system with a saddle underneath...it is easily done. This way the buoy won't sink to the bottom of the lake when hit.

You can buy them here:

http://www.starmarinedepot.com/Polyform-Water-Ski-Slalom-Buoy---Red~PZZ2780.html?gclid=CLfG65frirkCFUkS7AodNRIAsA

 

[Blackout]

We can get the 7.5" inch buoys here for a very good price. . They are readily available and are so plentiful I can even get them in the middle of the night at a store that sells live bait bigger than some of the fish people call "keepers" in other parts of the world.

Problem with the 7.5" is if you hit them running 70 plus that plastic tube in the middle will tear up an outrigger. I personally do not have any boats that go over 25 MPH but have witnessed some fast boats hit them and it was not pretty. They are harder to hit, but will not forgive you for hitting them.

The positive is if you are racing a faster boat and it nails one, chances are you won't have to race against against that boat for the rest of the weekend

The trick with these buoys is a counter weight that is heavy enough to sink atleast 1/4 of the buoy into the water. Many boats drive right over with the buoys weighted properly. We use a 7" long, 1" o.d, 3/4" i.d., steel pipe hung on a 3 - 4 foot long rope for the counter weight. Of course, subsurface buoys are needed with this setup. While most our boat top out at around 70 mph, we have had zero damage on hulls, only boom tube breaks. But that is what they are designed to do and are easily replaced. Using a subsurface buoy system allows the buoy to move with the boat until the boat stops. This absorbs some of the sudden impact.

 

[Rudy Formanek]

Our district has been using inflatable water ski bouys attached to about a 6" piece of pool noodle held about 4-6" under the water. Been using a #64 rubber band to connect the buoy to the noodle. Sometimes a boat punts the buoy 30 or more feet. We have very little complaints from damage, maybe incorporating the rubber band into your preferred system might help. I have noticed the inflatable buoys have gone up in price significantly the last few years. Maybe a spring time bulk purchase would be possible?? Our main complaint with 10" cylinders cut from beadboard was the debris that littered the lake after a race. We didn't like the 7.5" spheres cut in half, because sometimes a inside sponson of a fast large hydro would clip the outside and ride up and over the half-sphere and the whole boat would be flipped over and to the outside 5-6 lanes into the traffic there. Happened to a friend, his hydro was thrown out into race traffic and I thought both 90 hydros where totalled. They missed by a mere inch. Hugh splash.

 

[Norm Doerr]

Inflatable Polyform water ski buoys....cheap...no damage when hit...easily seen...no floating debris to clean up...no painting....$7 each...multiple colors...need I say more.

One thing...you have to have a buoy system with a saddle underneath...it is easily done. This way the buoy won't sink to the bottom of the lake when hit.

You can buy them here:

http://www.starmarinedepot.com/Polyform-Water-Ski-Slalom-Buoy---Red~PZZ2780.html?gclid=CLfG65frirkCFUkS7AodNRIAsA

I like those.... Good idea

 

[acaptn]

Kershaw 12" buoys cut in half. Easy to see and the foam density is perfect, easy on the boats and they take a pounding. When cut in half they make a nice angle to deflect impact when hit. You do not see them being dragged around the course by the rope or popped. Yes they will launch your boat when you drive over the center.