Sport Hydro Options

[Timbo Whalen]

Hello-

Wondering what the options are for Sport 20 and 40 hydros....

Had heard rave reports on the AC Boats, out of Florida, on their Sport 40, but it seems their build dates are so far into the future that they might just be viewed as 'unobtainium'.

Ok, so there's Phil Thomas and Steve Peterson....don't really want a shatterable, non bagged epoxy hull, and Steve doesn't ship.

So, what else is out there?....

Thanks for any input.

Tim

 

[Samuel Hagan JR]

ML.
Blazer

 

[Brandon Atwell]

Blazer is working on a new design so might want to wait a bit if you go that route.

The Phil Thomas is a mean boat. I was sold immediately after going to the Internats in 2019 and watching them dominate the sport 40 class all weekend.
Bought my dad one the following year and have zero regrets. Phil will lay them up in Carbon as well I believe. It’s a very happy boat.

There is also someone who does a JAE style Sport 40 hull. Can’t remember his name.

 

[ChrisCapaldi]

I think it's Mike Hallam who makes the JAE style Sport 40 hull. He is here on IW.
Chris

https://www.intlwaters.com/threads/new-sport-40.84637/#post-832502

 

[Grimracer]

Tim, I really like my Phil Thomas Spt 20 and 40. They JUST GET IT DONE and Phil stands behind the product FULLY.

Building a new 20 now (just some random pics of the old and the new boat underway)

And the 40 on the prop!

Grim

 

[Samuel Hagan JR]

I watched the new blazer run at the Madison race and it’s impressive.

 

[SayMikey]

Tim, I really like my Phil Thomas Spt 20 and 40. They JUST GET IT DONE and Phil stands behind the product FULLY.

Building a new 20 now (just some random pics of the old and the new boat underway)

And the 40 on the prop!

Grim

And there it is Old 2 stick. The PT boats are hard to beat. Got a new 20 in less than 10 days

 

[mark ham]

Mike Hallam builds a nice sport 40.

 

[Timbo Whalen]

ML.
Blazer

Thanks....on the advice of a seasoned veteran racer think we're going to give Mike's GSX380v2 a go.

Mario Johnson did post some encouraging thoughts on the latest Blazer during his pre-release testing.

 

[Timbo Whalen]

Blazer is working on a new design so might want to wait a bit if you go that route.

The Phil Thomas is a mean boat. I was sold immediately after going to the Internats in 2019 and watching them dominate the sport 40 class all weekend.
Bought my dad one the following year and have zero regrets. Phil will lay them up in Carbon as well I believe. It’s a very happy boat.

There is also someone who does a JAE style Sport 40 hull. Can’t remember his name.

Thanks, Brandon....there's no doubt the PT's are popular....I just don't like resin/epoxy rich layups without the vacuum bagging process, and then there's all the pin holes in the raw finish.
A friend had one and got in a somewhat minor collision during a heat and his hull shattered like glass.
I don't know, maybe just one off coincidences.

 

[Timbo Whalen]

I think it's Mike Hallam who makes the JAE style Sport 40 hull. He is here on IW.
Chris

https://www.intlwaters.com/threads/new-sport-40.84637/#post-832502

Yes, Chris, Mike H. out of Canada....bought a new V5 from him couple of years back.

Charles has an earlier Gen Steve Peterson hull that's quite fast and a good handler....talked to Steve, but he'll not ship hulls, and I didn't feel like driving to distant event to pick up.
His glass work IS outstanding, though.

Thanks.

 

[Timbo Whalen]

Tim, I really like my Phil Thomas Spt 20 and 40. They JUST GET IT DONE and Phil stands behind the product FULLY.

Building a new 20 now (just some random pics of the old and the new boat underway)

And the 40 on the prop!

Grim

Thanks, Mike....I may try one of his 20 boats next.

 

[Samuel Hagan JR]

Thanks....on the advice of a seasoned veteran racer think we're going to give Mike's GSX380v2 a go.

Mario Johnson did post some encouraging thoughts on the latest Blazer during his pre-release testing.

The ML GSX380 is a nice boat also. It’s was one of my best running boats.

 

[Timbo Whalen]

The ML GSX380 is a nice boat also. It’s was one of my best running boats.

I enjoy building things....the last boat I built, when outriggers were true kits, were the Pinckert Coyotes, back in the early/mid 80's.....the first was a Dumas Thriftway Too tether hydro back in '63.

 

[Rich Jones]

Hello-

Wondering what the options are for Sport 20 and 40 hydros....

Had heard rave reports on the AC Boats, out of Florida, on their Sport 40, but it seems their build dates are so far into the future that they might just be viewed as 'unobtainium'.

Ok, so there's Phil Thomas and Steve Peterson....don't really want a shatterable, non bagged epoxy hull, and Steve doesn't ship.

So, what else is out there?....

Thanks for any input.

Tim

I was at the Nitro Nats yesterday. Amazing racing all around . The sport 40 class is as popular and the racing is as intense as ever. At the end of yesterday, 4 of the 5 scheduled Sport 40 rounds were complete. Numbers 1&2 in the standings were 1.) Blazer (1425 pts-3 firsts and a third) and 2.) Brad Maglinger (1325 points). Brian is running the most recent version of the “new” design he has been perfecting. Brad is running what appears to be a ML Boatworks (GSX 380 v2 I believe but correct me if I’m wrong). I don’t know what mods have been done to Brads boat if any. Both of these boats were fast and handled well. Phil’s boats are still doing VERY well and are right up in the thick of things. All handle race water well. I will add one thing. The entire weekend, Brian has raced from the OUTSIDE. So if I had to pick the fastest hull, that would be it. I believe, for the purposes of seeing where the current design really stands, this was his intention. You can’t really go wrong with any of them but the Blazer hull stands out to me as being hard to beat, especially if he were actually to grab lane 1. And I’ll add that, after the first two rounds on Thurs, Brian and Bob were already getting orders, although I don’t believe he is quite ready to start production.

 

[Dave Gilles]

the fastest boat Ive ever witnessed is the blazer prototype. Not that Im super big into the scene or anything. But it did just win the Natl's.

 

[Timbo Whalen]

I was at the Nitro Nats yesterday. Amazing racing all around . The sport 40 class is as popular and the racing is as intense as ever. At the end of yesterday, 4 of the 5 scheduled Sport 40 rounds were complete. Numbers 1&2 in the standings were 1.) Blazer (1425 pts-3 firsts and a third) and 2.) Brad Maglinger (1325 points). Brian is running the most recent version of the “new” design he has been perfecting. Brad is running what appears to be a ML Boatworks (GSX 380 v2 I believe but correct me if I’m wrong). I don’t know what mods have been done to Brads boat if any. Both of these boats were fast and handled well. Phil’s boats are still doing VERY well and are right up in the thick of things. All handle race water well. I will add one thing. The entire weekend, Brian has raced from the OUTSIDE. So if I had to pick the fastest hull, that would be it. I believe, for the purposes of seeing where the current design really stands, this was his intention. You can’t really go wrong with any of them but the Blazer hull stands out to me as being hard to beat, especially if he were actually to grab lane 1. And I’ll add that, after the first two rounds on Thurs, Brian and Bob were already getting orders, although I don’t believe he is quite ready to start production.

That's pretty much the way I'm seeing it....the PT may be the easiest option rather than building one up.

I've tried to reach out to Brian but didn't get a response....Mike Lutz, of ML Boat works, at least responded.

The ML GSX-380v2 is now at top of list.

There's so much more that makes up a 'fast' boat beyond hull design....motor mods and prep, efficient drive line, and extensive prop testing and tweaking, not to mention chasing all that down with driving technique.

Thanks for the detailed observations and input, Rich....greatly appreciated!

 

[Timbo Whalen]

I was at the Nitro Nats yesterday. Amazing racing all around . The sport 40 class is as popular and the racing is as intense as ever. At the end of yesterday, 4 of the 5 scheduled Sport 40 rounds were complete. Numbers 1&2 in the standings were 1.) Blazer (1425 pts-3 firsts and a third) and 2.) Brad Maglinger (1325 points). Brian is running the most recent version of the “new” design he has been perfecting. Brad is running what appears to be a ML Boatworks (GSX 380 v2 I believe but correct me if I’m wrong). I don’t know what mods have been done to Brads boat if any. Both of these boats were fast and handled well. Phil’s boats are still doing VERY well and are right up in the thick of things. All handle race water well. I will add one thing. The entire weekend, Brian has raced from the OUTSIDE. So if I had to pick the fastest hull, that would be it. I believe, for the purposes of seeing where the current design really stands, this was his intention. You can’t really go wrong with any of them but the Blazer hull stands out to me as being hard to beat, especially if he were actually to grab lane 1. And I’ll add that, after the first two rounds on Thurs, Brian and Bob were already getting orders, although I don’t believe he is quite ready to start production.

That's pretty much the way I'm seeing it....the PT may be the easiest option rather than building one up.

I've tried to reach out to Brian but didn't get a response....Mike Lutz, of ML Boat works, at least responded.

The ML GSX-380v2 is now at top of list.

There's so much more that makes up a 'fast' boat beyond hull design....motor mods and prep, efficient drive line, and extensive prop testing and tweaking, not to mention chasing all that down with driving technique.

Thanks for the detailed observations and input, Rich....greatly appreciated!

 

[Timbo Whalen]

Thanks, all, for the input....have made up my mind as to the direction we're going....we're going to heed our 'seasoned veteran racer' guy's advice and go with the GSX380v2.

We've seen Phil's hydros run, they run very well, look awesome, but don't care for the construction. Have seen the Blazer's run in video, and they do haul azz....same with Canada Mike's....all darn good hulls.

A woody build will keep me unbored this winter, and give me a chance to get warmed up for an ML Boatworks Winston Lobster build, subsequently.

Again, many thanks.

 

[LohringMiller]

In NAMBA the Mutt II has held the SAW record of 81+ mph as well as the two lap record for a very long time. Eric Bourlet, Kim Grimm, Chris Witrig, and others have won the NAMBA Nationals with that hull many times.

Lohring Miller