Problem Child ...

[gn7]

I don't know how anyone could disagree .... quickest 1000' run of anything I know of, land or water!

If you had your ass strapped into a TF car, you wouldn't think the boat was that quick. How fast is that boat going when it hits the start beam?
3/10 slower from a stating start is not much, and accelerating to an additional 71 MPH in that 3.6 seconds from a standing start is something you will definitely feel.
Every foot they shorten the course gives an advantage to the boat. If they shorten the course to 500 ft and the boat takes a run at the starting beam, what chance does the car have of catching it in 500 ft? Put the 320 ft back on the course and things would look a little different on the record books
The boat is definitely badass. But its acceleration rate is nothing like a car's

[westair]

If you had your ass strapped into a TF car, you wouldn't think the boat was that quick. How fast is that boat going when it hits the start beam?
3/10 slower from a stating start is not much, and accelerating to an additional 71 MPH in that 3.6 seconds from a standing start is something you will definitely feel.
Every foot they shorten the course gives an advantage to the boat. If they shorten the course to 500 ft and the boat takes a run at the starting beam, what chance does the car have of catching it in 500 ft? Put the 320 ft back on the course and things would look a little different on the record books
The boat is definitely badass. But its acceleration rate is nothing like a car's

I guess I was looking just at the numbers .... assuming that the boat was starting from a standing start, (not really clear on that since I haven't followed since rolling starts) just thought they accelerated quicker and like you said had the advantage of the shorten course.

[gn7]

I guess I was looking just at the numbers .... assuming that the boat was starting from a standing start, (not really clear on that since I haven't followed since rolling starts) just thought they accelerated quicker and like you said had the advantage of the shorten course.

don't get me wrong, the things are animals and take a set of bowling balls to pilot.
When you crunch the numbers, going 260 verses 330 in the same distance tells you which is really accelerating the hardest.

The boats leave harder but run out of steam earlier. When they ran a full 1/4 the numbers between the 2 was much more telling.

This vid explains the start of the boats. They don't "roll" to the beam, they charge it.