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TOTALLY X-STATIC (Bob Swinburne)
Here comes a brand new addition to the BAD Boat scene this time from the 'Hiroshima Screamer Club' (turbo that is!). It’s also yet another 'Blown Boat' out of the Adelaide Speed Boat Club stables; albeit in a quite different configuration to their Adelaide BAD Boat counterparts!
Bob Swinburn has moved up in class to the BAD category with his brand spanking new capsule boat ‘Totally X-Static’ and both will be making their debut in this category at the Showdown. Running a 3.0 Litre 2JZ Gas Motorsport built engine, this is a similar race engine to that of Bruce Sanders' 'Red Bellies' machine and it is a very impressive type of power plant that is on the cutting edge of modern racing technology.
If 'Red Bellies' is any guide, the engines reliability is also pretty sound although not without its technicalities. Where Totally X-Static and Red Bellies differ though is in the hull with this new boat being fitted with a centre mounted capsule. Other centre capsule boats currently getting around seem to have a pretty big turning advantage over their 'open cockpit' equivalents and only time will tell if this particular turbo/capsule hull configuration can mix it with the Showdown's very impressive line-up.
Being a brand new set-up, we have little ‘form’ to go on for the Showdown but if we can continue to compare this machine to that of the 'Red Bellies' boat, those that have witnessed 'Red Bellies' at previous race meetings will know that straight line speed is certainly not a concern. For a small power plant in comparison to their 'Big Block' running opposition, the massive turbo bolted on the side of 2JZ engine suddenly turns it into a very formidable piece of weaponry…..a missile in fact!
And the technology on board this boat isn't far off of a missile either- a Motec computer controls the entire setup. Any one at the Showdown will also not mistake the very impressive noise of this turbo boat which I can only describe as sounding like a giant ‘possessed’ vacuum cleaner on a very, very big dose of steroids.
Bob must certainly have worked very hard to get his new 'toy' ready for the Showdown and I may get to 'eat my words' here but it would be a lot to ask of these guys to be 'at the pointy end' in what will be their first official race meeting with the new boat. Given time to get accustomed to the big jump in horsepower he now has on tap, and some fine tuning of the new boat's handling, you can expect Bob and TOTALLY X-STATIC to be mixing it up with the rest of the BAD Boats in the country. This time around though, I would imagine that they will be biding their time, looking for some water time to get a feel of things and gather valuable data and information for their future progress in the top class.
I wish Bob and his 'TOTALLY X-STATIC' Team all the best of luck for the Showdown and congratulate them for all of their hard work in getting the boat ready in time. We can all look forward to hearing the 'WHOOOSHKA' of the turbo..... a noise of its own and a beautiful one at that!
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B.A.D Boat SHOWDOWN details
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