A PRIMER ON APBA PROFESSIONAL RACING OUTBOARD BOAT CATEGORIES AND CLASSES

Professional Racing Outboard (PRO) is the American Power Boat Association’s most diverse and electrifying category.

With 19 classes, PRO boats speeds range from moderate to blazing fast, from old tech to cutting-edge tech. Engines in the PRO category can run at upwards of 13,000 rpm (compared to a typical stock race car that runs at 7,000 rpm).

PRO Boats are roughly 9 to 14 feet long and weigh 100 to 250 pounds. Most are made of wood, but carbon ber, honeycomb and other high-tech materials also are used.

Most drivers kneel in the cockpit. Some boats are driven in a lay-down position, while others have the driver seated. Typically, the le hand works the spring-loaded throttle, and the right hand handles the steering wheel.

e boats are of two distinct designs irteen of the PRO classes are based primarily on motor displacement. ey are sometimes referred to as “bore and stroke” classes. e maximum displacements of bore and stroke classes are 125cc (128.75cc), 175cc, 250cc (257.5cc), e three largest hydro classes — 500ccH, 700ccH, and 1100ccH — must utilize a reinforced cockpit (capsule) with a ve-point harness and the driver seated. e 125cc classes must use one-cylinder motors. e 1100cc Runabout must carry two people, a driver and a deck rider. e K PRO Hydro class is a class for kids only. e OSY400 class is the USA version of the largest UIM powerboat racing class in the world. K PRO Hydro and OSY400 are restricted to gasoline and oil fuel. e C Service and C Racing classes are based on American-built shing and racing motors from the 1930s to the 1950s.

— hydros and runabouts.

Hydros ride on a cushion of air. e boat contacts the water’s surface on two sponsons (projections) and the propeller. e design is generally unrestricted, challenging those who wish to experiment in boat design and construction.

Runabouts have certain restrictions, such as minimum lengths. While there is great variety in runabout design, generally they have a at riding surface, tapered to a point in front, and do not channel air under the hull. Although typically slower than hydros, the thrill of racing runabouts is unmatched. Just watch a runabout round a buoy and you’ll see the di erence!

350cc, 500cc, 700cc, and 1100cc (1133cc). ere are no minimum weights in these classes, and in the hydro classes, there are few restrictions on hulls.

Most bore and stroke classes utilize a fuel based on methanol and oil.

U.S. TITLE SERIES

e US Title Series, founded in 1982, is recognized as the premier PRO outboard racing series in the United States.

ere are eleven classes in the U.S. Title Series based on the type of boat and the size of the engines. Engines are speci cally designed for racing, burn methanol fuel, and are manufactured all over the world.

A separate race is run for each class consisting of three heats per class and four laps per heat. ere are three distinctive types of boats in the U.S. Title Series: Runabouts, Hydroplanes and Capsules.

Modified Outboards

In Modi ed Outboard, the engine builder’s skill is just as important as the driver’s. ese boats are easily recognizable by specially tuned pipes that make them as loud as they are fast. Because engines are constantly being modi ed to make the absolute most of what the rules allow, the competition is always erce. Whether hydroplane or runabout, modi ed classes are de ned by the size of their engines (displacement). e numbers in the class names de ne the approximate engine size in cubic centimeters. For example, the 250ccMH, or 250 cubic centimeter Mod Hydro, is smaller than the 850ccMH, or 850 cubic centimeter Mod Hydro.

Some classes have minimum weights, which increase with engine size. e smaller classes are o en a good t for younger, lighter drivers (14-year-olds may drive 200-250cc Mod classes, for example). e larger classes take considerable skill and experience. Propellers of four blades or less are used, and prop choice can a ect speed enormously.

Junior Classes

Junior Hydroplanes and Runabouts (40 mph) are open to all kids ages 9-16. AX Hydroplanes and Runabouts (50 mph) are open to ages 12 and up.

Joe Rome

Nov. 24, 1946 — Oct. 17, 2022 ere have been many an old time boat racer who has been astounded and impressed by Joe’s knowledge and length of boat racing history, drivers and equipment from coast to coast.

Joe Rome tragically passed away on October 17, 2022, succumbing to a catastrophic injury incurred in a vehicle accident near Houston, Texas.

Rome was a boat racer’s boat racer. Although, he never competed in a race boat, he had seven decades of experience with water up to his knees in the pits, a wooden gavel in hand at the banquets and, on numerous occasions, wore a black-and-white stripped short sleeve shirt.

Joe knew almost everyone and had friends in every outboard category as well as inboard hydro, at bottoms and marathon boats.

Although Joe claimed his life would have been boring had it not been for boat racing and all the people he met along the way, he also was an outstanding member of the small community of Sta ord, Texas.

Sta ord bumps up against the southern city limits of Houston. Joe served on several boards in the city of Sta ord and a committee with the Houston Livestock Show. e thing in common between Joe Rome’s boat racing , auto parts business and community service was an abundance of friends to like to hang around and swap stories with him.

Joe was born on November 24, 1946, and grew up in Rosenberg, Texas, a half hour south of Houston. As a youngster, his cousin Sonny Kolb took him to boat races all over south Louisiana and Mississippi during the summers, even making three racing events on a long July 4th weekend.

In his 69 years of boat racing, Joe Rome pitted for Sonny Kolb, Louis Williams, Jr., Wayne Baldwin and Tim Butts.

Joe was very proud to have been part of these teams, but mostly he was grateful for all the friends he met along the way and all the life changing experiences and memories he brought away from his travels and adventures in the world of boat racing.