33Z Cross Bow/ How fast can you go?

[bobt]

Hello to everyone. I "had" a 1988 33 Z with 454Mags. Unfortunatly it had to go, along with my Xwife. I really liked the boat. It handled great, and would run at 65 or above.."at least according to the speedo". It would handle anything the Bay could dish out, without the slightest problem. I never ran it offshore too much, and when i did, had a bunch of people on board...so I never pushed it too hard.."getting air"
I am now looking to get another, with the 454/420 motors in it. I plan on putting the M1 prochargers on it. Once it's dialed in with the right props and such, it should go 80+.
I have no doubt that this hull can handle 80+ speed. My question is, has anybody "really" pushed this hull for speed in an offshore run? My concern is the molded swim platform. It looks great on the bay, but if your doing some big air, and you land from a big nose up position...that swim platform would seem to be BIG trouble. As in major damage to it, or your transom or worse.
Has anybody put big power in this hull and when does it get..I'll call it unstable.
Not that I'm looking to race this offshore, persay. But if runs as good as I think it will...I might be temped to run it in P4. At least for one race, just to see how it dose.

[Mr X]

I ahd one, back in the day. Its was featured in Hot Boat magazine.
It had twin supercharged 509 Big Block Chevy's
It ran 80.1 on GPS and was rock solid stable.
I might be able to dig up some pictures of it........

[showtime]

Check the archives, December '04, 33 Crosbow has one running mid 80s if not faster by now. I have a '90 w/T-460s and King Cobras that runs 62 by the speedo and by my buddy's 42' Fountain. He runs 70+ and I'll be reasonably happy to outrun him in the near future! 80 plus is a future goal however!

[Donzigo]

If you land in an attitude that is affected by the swim platforms, I'd be impressed. The boat is a pretty heavy boat. Remember that any Z-33 you get would have to be gone through thoroughly to check to see if the gussets and stringers were in perfect shape, before any racing application or offshore wave jumping as you describe.

My 454ci/330hp Bravo One compbo does the exact 60MPH, that the boat was designed to do, when it was introduced at the Chicago boat show in 1985/6. My guess is that the 460 combo would be about right at 65MPH. As Ted said, it would be sweet with beefy horsepower inside and would probably reach the 80s.

Keep us posted.

[bobt]

Well it is a very heavy boat. One of the reasons it rides so well. But up here in NJ if you run at any good speed offshore..your pretty much coming out of the water LOL. I've been in other peoples boats for some of the offshore races here. An old 36' ft racing Cigarette, running in P3 and believe me, you can come out of the water very nose up sometimes.
I doudt that I would run the boat, at least up here. Way to much breakage and destruction. Out of a field of say 20 boats, 10 of them break something major. In the 5 or so years I was tech inspector for the OPA, there are at least 2-3 boats that sink during the race season. I've also seen a 38'Sutphen literally break in half.

[33 crossbow]

:biggrin: Hay guys, I have the 33 that was talked about. Check out the old post under 33 crossbow. There is lots of info and pictures of what all was done to the boat. From engines, drives, proping and all the other detail stuff too. By the way mid 80's (on GPS), is no problem and the boat is rock solid at these speeds, and with the new HERING 5 blade's for this year, we should see what 90 feels like.:lookaroun :lookaroun

Thanks Tim

[The Hedgehog]

:biggrin: Hay guys, I have the 33 that was talked about. Check out the old post under 33 crossbow. There is lots of info and pictures of what all was done to the boat. From engines, drives, proping and all the other detail stuff too. By the way mid 80's (on GPS), is no problem and the boat is rock solid at these speeds, and with the new HERING 5 blade's for this year, we should see what 90 feels like.:lookaroun :lookaroun
Thanks Tim

Very cool. Keep us updated.

[bobt]

Thats one great Cross bow you have there...big $$$$ went into that. I love the windshield. I'd like to know who's steering system your useing. How much did it cost for the parts, and did you install it, or was it done with the engines?
Hydraulic steering is something you probably need when looking at 80mph+.
One thing I would like to know, if anybody knows this. I really liked my cross bow...but also really like the cabin space in the ZX boats. Is the hull basically the same for these boats?
Was there a complete redesign from the cross bow to the ZX?
I think the money is going to keep me in the cross bow....but now is not the time to buy anyway..lol
Is there any big handleing or feel difference to the early non-step 33ZX as compared to the cross bow?

[JimG]

I have a Z33 in my barn that's still for sale! Very clean boat...