[Rayzor]

I know this boat's been around for about 5 years or so now in Australia, but does anybody have any comments about how they think a K-boat would do against this nasty piece of equipment named Tattoo? I've watched the video of Tattoo win the '05 E.C. Griffith Cup against BAD boats and Grand Prix hydros and it was very impressive to say the least. Looks to be very similar to an ET boat, but with a whole lot more motor. devil

 

[Sharp Shooter]

how they think a K-boat would do against this nasty piece of equipment named Tattoo?

Great combination there. Looking at it I wouldn't be suprised if it could beat a regular K. Putting it up against an NKRA boat, now that would be a different story.

 

[Chris Kenner]

This boat has been around since the late 1970's in Australia & I watched it race all over the country during my childhood years whilst crewing on my brothers race boats through the 1980's. It was originally built & raced by a gentleman named George Robins who called the boat Desert Rat as he lived in a remote desert like area of New South Wales called Broken Hill, I actually went to Broken Hill with my brother when he was racing in 1984, very cool place in the middle of the outback!!! George ran it for a number of years with an injected alcohol 427ci BBC with great success beating the best of the best in Australia in his time, including Unlimited Hydroplanes & the BAD boats of that era on many occasions. If my memory serves me correct, Tom Stolarz raced against George in Desert Rat in Danny McGuires Aussie K boat called Chevy in the early 1980's at Lake Boga in south east Australia. George retired & the boat was sold to Keith Harrison & Keith renamed it The Rat & campaigned this boat for a number of years with a 500ci injected alcohol BBC. Keith also had great success with this boat, winning many races including the EC Griffith Cup in 1986 or 87 I think it was. Mike Neutz who owned his K130 Minuteman here in the US raced against this boat when Keith raced it as The Rat, Neutz was driving Alan Beale's Psycho Aussie K boat in 1987 at Mt. Gambier in South Australia. Keith Harrison who is still involved to this day as a Grand Prix Hydroplane owner is Aussie power boat racing (his son Grant Harrison now drives) sold the boat around the early 90's from memory to Matt Ferris who has also had great success with it, including winning the 2005 EC Griffith Cup. Matt also installed the capsule in it. Overall this boat with its different owners & drivers has been & is very fast & loves rough water. When its on, I would back it against almost anything be it a K Boat or a Aussie BAD Boat. Extremely impressive deal!!!

 

[Chris Kenner]

Keith Harrison in The Rat, late 1980's, this is the same boat as what is now Tattoo above.

 

[TATTOO]

K boat killer

G'day everyone, I have just joined your forum and I am surprised that my team was noticed! My name is Matt Ferris and I own and drive TATTOO 666. The tunnel boat shown is as Chris says, over 30 years old and we only put the capsule in because it was going over 165 mph with a blown 427 8/71 kuhl and a bug catcher!!! We also have some other boats we race, they include Pro Stock 15' flat bottom with 351 clevo, 17.4' BAD bbc, 17.5' tunnel {you guys call'em ET} 5.2 litre sbc with Barnes heads and a GP hydro {ex orange crush} Please keep in touch and feel free to ask questions Kind regards Matt 666 Ps What is a NKRA boat?

 

[pixrthis]

The fact that it floats with that many people on board is also impressive.

 

[Mid-Life Crisis]

Funny, I was just watching the Griffith Cup 05' a couple of days ago and was thinking the exact same thing about this boat! Absolutely BAD TO THE BONE! I would love to put my K engine in one of these and give it a go. Perfect combination of knucle dragging raw horsepower and newer hull technology. I have some questions about this boat:

1. Is this a direct copy of a Champ boat/ F1 simply beefed up to accomodate a BBC?

2. What kind of out drive are you using and gear ratio?

3. Will it turn as good as the Champ boats on a single pin course?

4. Why haven't we seen this boat racing in recent B.A.D. videos?

 

[Lifes Rough]

Funny, I was just watching the Griffith Cup 05' a couple of days ago and was thinking the exact same thing about this boat! Absolutely BAD TO THE BONE! I would love to put my K engine in one of these and give it a go. Perfect combination of knucle dragging raw horsepower and newer hull technology. I have some questions about this boat:

Yeah that late seventies is cutting edge, Bitchen boat though. Now steve whatever your name is go to wrk so you can finish that early seventies pile.

Just sayin

 

[lebel409]

I see the engine placement is to the rear more than a standard K boat. Is this a balance issue due to the weight of the capsule?

Thanks!

 

[Dossangers]

QUOTE; Please keep in touch and feel free to ask questions Kind regards Matt 666 Ps What is a NKRA boat?


Matt welcome. The NKRA is a group hard core K-Boat owners Kinda like the freestyle moto movement aka; Metal Mulisha. They hang at the river by the dozens all top flight equipment. The K-11 holds the RIVER kilo record 147+ once in a while they will show up at a race course and cause HAVOC!

LOL!!devilpunch

 

[Biesemeyer original SS339]

I know this boat's been around for about 5 years or so now in Australia, but does anybody have any comments about how they think a K-boat would do against this nasty piece of equipment named Tattoo? I've watched the video of Tattoo win the '05 E.C. Griffith Cup against BAD boats and Grand Prix hydros and it was very impressive to say the least. Looks to be very similar to an ET boat, but with a whole lot more motor. devil

that thing looks like it should be running in the light unlimted hyrdo class...butch

 

[Biesemeyer original SS339]

QUOTE; Please keep in touch and feel free to ask questions Kind regards Matt 666 Ps What is a NKRA boat?


Matt welcome. The NKRA is a group hard core K-Boat owners Kinda like the freestyle moto movement aka; Metal Mulisha. They hang at the river by the dozens all top flight equipment. The K-11 holds the RIVER kilo record 147+ once in a while they will show up at a race course and cause HAVOC!

LOL!!devilpunch

what can i say.....you guys got it made out there.......butch

 

[2manymustangs]

I bet Wayne could ski behind it...

 

[Deweydaddy]

This boat has been around since the late 1970's in Australia & I watched it race all over the country during my childhood years whilst crewing on my brothers race boats through the 1980's. It was originally built & raced by a gentleman named George Robins who called the boat Desert Rat as he lived in a remote desert like area of New South Wales called Broken Hill, I actually went to Broken Hill with my brother when he was racing in 1984, very cool place in the middle of the outback!!! George ran it for a number of years with an injected alcohol 427ci BBC with great success beating the best of the best in Australia in his time, including Unlimited Hydroplanes & the BAD boats of that era on many occasions. If my memory serves me correct, Tom Stolarz raced against George in Desert Rat in Danny McGuires Aussie K boat called Chevy in the early 1980's at Lake Boga in south east Australia. George retired & the boat was sold to Keith Harrison & Keith renamed it The Rat & campaigned this boat for a number of years with a 500ci injected alcohol BBC. Keith also had great success with this boat, winning many races including the EC Griffith Cup in 1986 or 87 I think it was. Mike Neutz who owned his K130 Minuteman here in the US raced against this boat when Keith raced it as The Rat, Neutz was driving Alan Beale's Psycho Aussie K boat in 1987 at Mt. Gambier in South Australia. Keith Harrison who is still involved to this day as a Grand Prix Hydroplane owner is Aussie power boat racing (his son Grant Harrison now drives) sold the boat around the early 90's from memory to Matt Ferris who has also had great success with it, including winning the 2005 EC Griffith Cup. Matt also installed the capsule in it. Overall this boat with its different owners & drivers has been & is very fast & loves rough water. When its on, I would back it against almost anything be it a K Boat or a Aussie BAD Boat. Extremely impressive deal!!!

Great bit of history there matedevil Thanks for sharing.

 

[Rayzor]

Glad to see this post is causing some interest. Why do we not see any class for this kind of setup here in the States? With the controversy I saw recently over Duffy crashing trying to break the kilo record, why not think out of the box and start building boats capable of going faster, safer! Outboard and offshore have been racing tunnels and catamarans for years now, why the resistance from the inboard circle racing community? I enjoy watching the current ss/ps and k-boats get loose and squirrely as much as everyone else, but at what point do the racers decide they want race quicker, safer boats?

 

[Sharp Shooter]

Glad to see this post is causing some interest. Why do we not see any class for this kind of setup here in the States? With the controversy I saw recently over Duffy crashing trying to break the kilo record, why not think out of the box and start building boats capable of going faster, safer! Outboard and offshore have been racing tunnels and catamarans for years now, why the resistance from the inboard circle racing community? I enjoy watching the current ss/ps and k-boats get loose and squirrely as much as everyone else, but at what point do the racers decide they want race quicker, safer boats?

Dale, I'm sure if there was enough interest a class could be started. The problem is no interest (at least to date).

Flatbottom racing has a fan base that will never disolve.

 

[71hallett]

Is this not a gp boat or am I missing something....very cool btw.devil

 

[Sangster]

Is this not a gp boat or am I missing something....very cool btw.devil

Don't get any ideas.....

 

[TATTOO]

Funny, I was just watching the Griffith Cup 05' a couple of days ago and was thinking the exact same thing about this boat! Absolutely BAD TO THE BONE! I would love to put my K engine in one of these and give it a go. Perfect combination of knucle dragging raw horsepower and newer hull technology. I have some questions about this boat:

1. Is this a direct copy of a Champ boat/ F1 simply beefed up to accomodate a BBC?

2. What kind of out drive are you using and gear ratio?

3. Will it turn as good as the Champ boats on a single pin course?

4. Why haven't we seen this boat racing in recent B.A.D. videos?

1. no it is a 22 foot Fuller KT
2. 2 drive mercruiser with quick foot gear ratio secret
3. yes but is a bit top heavy
4. B.A.D. means blown alcohol displacement. A displcement hull is a K boat or flat bottom or most times a shallow V planing hull. No air assisted hulls allowed eg Hydro or Tunnel.
Thanks Matt 666

 

[Rayzor]

I just was talking to my friend Rik over at Arneson about your boat, and he told me there's a guy here in the states that's building a Ron Jones tunnel with a gas turbine and your same drive - a #2 Merc ssm. The boat originally had 4 outboards on the back, and has since been de-rigged and is being re-rigged for the single turbine/outdrive setup. Rik was amazed that your #2 drive holds up to the kind of power that we're guessing you have (1,400ish?).