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ORIGINAL: TwistedLiquid

Hello Miss Vegas Fans!!!

My name is James Barringer from Twisted Liquid Racing of Wichita, Kansas. I seen alot of post about my favorite boat the Miss Vegas, so I thought I would pass out my experiences with the Vegas. We took on the Miss Vegas as a recommendation from store owner of Finley's Hobbies in Wichita. Plus I liked the look of the Miss Vegas, as our newest Hydro race boat. We took our first boat home, after some sponsorship talk with the store owner... So I head home with our first Finely's Hobbies sponsored Miss Vegas. Immediately after opening the Miss Vegas. I notice a big difference in quality from our Miss Bud's and Miss LLamar's. Racing Hydro's for many years, I see many issues with the quality and engineering of the Miss Vegas, that I am sure AquaCraft will correct in the future. Please note the Miss Vegas is our first boat from !QUOT!AquaCraft!QUOT!. Below I list these issues, but please read more to hear the super out come of this boat. Miss Vegas Rocks!!!

1.) Paint job on boat...the paint job could be a bit more clean. It carried runs in paint, places were the fiberglass pinholes were not filled in. I also think that AquaCraft should consider using a flex additive in the paint...to reduce the number of stress crack we received from testing this rocket... The paint scheme is very cool, we are fond of the white and orange. Also the engine room should get a extra coat of resin to smooth up the interior for good easy cleaning after running. Lower maintenance is a plus.

2.) Engine....OK it kick's butt!!! We run 65%. Two thumbs up AquaCraft. But we seen issues during testing that can be avoided for only a few dollars. First was the engine bed. At first look I seen what I thought was not enough glass on engine bed blocks. This prove to be true after less then 8 tanks the engine came loose from the boat. I blame this on 3 flaws in design. the engine stand blocks do not have enough fiberglass to hold to boat under extreme conditions. So we added glass to beef up. Second is the driveshaft coupling. Holy Christmas...is it big enough Big and easy to get out of alignment when replacing the drive shaft after maintenance, causing a slight wobble...we believe this is the main cause for the engine coming loose. We order a new smaller coupling like the ones on the Miss Bud...slimmer and stainless... Last but not least...no rubber on engine to take out vibration. So we took the 18 AquaCraft and put her on rubber. Hey it's safe for sex right? Wow what a difference in the boat after this upgrade.

3.) Cockpit Air Flow....First off, the foam in the canopy should be moved to the sides of the canopy, because the way it is installed, it blocks air flow to engine compartment. So we removed. We also cut out the rear of the jet exhaust to open up the boat and we cut out the lower vents in the front off the cockpit to force air to go lower in engine room...helps cool that massive exhaust. We noticed after this the boat ran cooler and did'nt seem to have a air lock in the canopy anymore...caused the boat to cut the air better.

4.) Fuel pick-up and tank....Ok flip top lid...trash it...it leaks and is not really all that convenient. I am thinking it I can't unscrew a cap..boy what am I doing in boats...90% is screwing right...Ok to the gas tank. The pick-up hose was to long and the brass pick-up was flattening out on the bottom of the tank causing the boat to lose fuel...so we fix by making hose 1/4 longer and placing it on it side in the outside corner. Also we went off Flyers comment on the rubber band theory of holding the lid closed...cool it works, but new tank on the way...

5.) Exhaust....nice job AquaCraft!!!! only one issue here...the exhaust resting bracket behind the exhaust. again the vibration issue arised. So we did'nt cut the pipe or move the block...we killed the attacker...VIBRATION from engine. once we re-glued the block and rubbed the engine..she has held...

During test and tune of the Miss Vegas we experienced the above issues, besides the typical tuning you have to do with the boat riding right. We love AquaCraft for giving so many options to change the performance compared to water conditions. like the tail fin and the good hardware by GrimRacer. Hey that rudder took a 40 mph hit by trash in water and didn't break...only cracked the transom...Nice work GrimGacer. For our prop we chose a left hand Octura 535...he he same as our Miss LLamar....shoots a three foot rooster-tail and has excellent hole response. This boat is a head turner for sure...we have clocked her at 47 mph...we are pushing for 50. I have video I am getting produced now to show our testing and racing other hydro's. Below I have enclose some shots of our improvements and of course the finish 2006 Finley's Hobbies Sponsored Miss Vegas, By Aquacraft.

Thanks and nice to meet you all here!!

James,
Twisted Liquid Racing
Wichita, Kansas