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step bottom baja
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http://qctimes.com/lifestyles/recre...cle_b6944326-9a70-11df-9ace-001cc4c002e0.html
GOT TRIPLE, SUPERCHARGED ENGINES? Mike Ohrt’s 42-foot Baja does
July 28, 2010 12:44 pm • Gary Kramer
There are some fast boats in the Quad-Cities and then there is Mike Ohrt’s 1997, 42-foot Baja.
Even when it is just sitting on its trailer in storage, almost every aspect of it seems to shout, “I’m fast.”
It has the long, low bow of a cigarette-style off-shore racer. The graphics are bold, eye-catching and logo-laden with products associated with high-performance boats.
There are six, 4-inch stainless steel exhaust ports in the hull that hint at the number and size of the power plants that propel the boat. Hanging from the transom are three, No. 6 Speed Master outdrives with sharpened and tuned four-bladed, 31- by 17-inch stainless steel props. The driver’s control panels hold a total of 43 gauges.
Rather than regular seats for the passengers, there are stand-up bolsters. Along one sidewall of the boat is a speedometer so folks can keep an eye on just how fast they are going.
Those things are a prelude to peeking inside the monstrous engine compartment, where the three, 572-cubic inch, supercharged engines sit. Each one cranks out about 860 horsepower. Ohrt says they each have a different “personality” while running.
It is one-of-a-kind because it has the only stepped hull that Baja ever built, so it served as a test platform for that technology. Originally, the boat was trailered around the country to Baja dealers to offer potential customers rides so they could experience the thrill of high-performance boating. It was also used as the pace boat for the American Power Boat Association offshore races in Key West, Fla.
During the period it was in its heyday, Ohrt was a successful Baja dealer in this area. That part of his connection to high-performance boats came after he had spent a lifetime “messing with fast boats” and years as a professional racing boat driver.
He was aware of the boat and also knew that by 2000, it had fallen on hard times. His first thought was to buy it and cannibalize it, but then he and his wife, Penny, decided to bring it back to its glory.
That work included rebuilding the engines, drives and transmissions, installing new upholstery, repairing damage to the starboard side, then painting and touching up several other places.
When it was done, Ohrt used the boat for offshore poker runs in Florida, where cruising at 85 mph is the norm. They also sponsored some poker runs on Lake of the Ozarks, where they had property.
Penny’s participation in all of Mike’s speed-fueled adventures through the years is noteworthy because he says she is basically “deathly afraid of the water.”
“She is really my hero,” he says, because of the way she has stuck with with him every step of the way in spite of her fear as he acquired faster and faster boats.
Currently, the boat sits in a large storage building referred to as the “Garaj Mahal” on their property in Albany, Ill.
They rarely put it in the river, but occasionally give rides to employees at the body shop they own in Low Moor, Iowa. The last time he did that, Mike blended a mixture of racing fuel with 93 octane gas and then added some octane booster. It is expensive, he says, but it’s fun to see his passengers react as he keeps bumping up the speed.
Those folks also react to the noise. One motor at idle produces 108 decibels, but once moving, the sound tends to bother people not on the boat more than those on it.
Even though this is a one-of-kind boat, it doesn’t have a name. Actually, Mike says, it is probably time they find a new owner for it since he no longer sells Bajas and their boating patterns. They now focus on playing on the water with their grandchildren. Jokingly, Mike says they should call the boat It Could Be Yours — if anyone is interested in a boat that has been GPS-clocked at 103 mph.
GOT TRIPLE, SUPERCHARGED ENGINES? Mike Ohrt’s 42-foot Baja does
July 28, 2010 12:44 pm • Gary Kramer
There are some fast boats in the Quad-Cities and then there is Mike Ohrt’s 1997, 42-foot Baja.
Even when it is just sitting on its trailer in storage, almost every aspect of it seems to shout, “I’m fast.”
It has the long, low bow of a cigarette-style off-shore racer. The graphics are bold, eye-catching and logo-laden with products associated with high-performance boats.
There are six, 4-inch stainless steel exhaust ports in the hull that hint at the number and size of the power plants that propel the boat. Hanging from the transom are three, No. 6 Speed Master outdrives with sharpened and tuned four-bladed, 31- by 17-inch stainless steel props. The driver’s control panels hold a total of 43 gauges.
Rather than regular seats for the passengers, there are stand-up bolsters. Along one sidewall of the boat is a speedometer so folks can keep an eye on just how fast they are going.
Those things are a prelude to peeking inside the monstrous engine compartment, where the three, 572-cubic inch, supercharged engines sit. Each one cranks out about 860 horsepower. Ohrt says they each have a different “personality” while running.
It is one-of-a-kind because it has the only stepped hull that Baja ever built, so it served as a test platform for that technology. Originally, the boat was trailered around the country to Baja dealers to offer potential customers rides so they could experience the thrill of high-performance boating. It was also used as the pace boat for the American Power Boat Association offshore races in Key West, Fla.
During the period it was in its heyday, Ohrt was a successful Baja dealer in this area. That part of his connection to high-performance boats came after he had spent a lifetime “messing with fast boats” and years as a professional racing boat driver.
He was aware of the boat and also knew that by 2000, it had fallen on hard times. His first thought was to buy it and cannibalize it, but then he and his wife, Penny, decided to bring it back to its glory.
That work included rebuilding the engines, drives and transmissions, installing new upholstery, repairing damage to the starboard side, then painting and touching up several other places.
When it was done, Ohrt used the boat for offshore poker runs in Florida, where cruising at 85 mph is the norm. They also sponsored some poker runs on Lake of the Ozarks, where they had property.
Penny’s participation in all of Mike’s speed-fueled adventures through the years is noteworthy because he says she is basically “deathly afraid of the water.”
“She is really my hero,” he says, because of the way she has stuck with with him every step of the way in spite of her fear as he acquired faster and faster boats.
Currently, the boat sits in a large storage building referred to as the “Garaj Mahal” on their property in Albany, Ill.
They rarely put it in the river, but occasionally give rides to employees at the body shop they own in Low Moor, Iowa. The last time he did that, Mike blended a mixture of racing fuel with 93 octane gas and then added some octane booster. It is expensive, he says, but it’s fun to see his passengers react as he keeps bumping up the speed.
Those folks also react to the noise. One motor at idle produces 108 decibels, but once moving, the sound tends to bother people not on the boat more than those on it.
Even though this is a one-of-kind boat, it doesn’t have a name. Actually, Mike says, it is probably time they find a new owner for it since he no longer sells Bajas and their boating patterns. They now focus on playing on the water with their grandchildren. Jokingly, Mike says they should call the boat It Could Be Yours — if anyone is interested in a boat that has been GPS-clocked at 103 mph.
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SteveDavid
Icon / Competitor
The boat is an original 42 Baja, but the bottom was worked on by Gene Weeks, while he was working with Baja. This boat served as the APBA Pace boat that year and the next. Gene is now with Cheoy Lee and responsible for the Alpha series. He's a great guy, very fine engineer. He and his wife are racing P-1. I rode in this boat at the Fort Myers offshore race in 96 (I think), the boat ran a shade over 100. Baja never had a stepped bottom, they wanted Gene to try them to ascertain the performance and handling information. This was shortly before the Smiths were no longer involved with Baja.
SteveDavid
Icon / Competitor
It rode well, just a little skittish in a hard turn. Not unlike every other larger step bottom V in existence. Which I think is one of the reasons, along with the economic winds, that Baja didn't carry the design thru to the production level. They were known as a solid ride, stable, dependable and affordable. I had a new 38 Baja built that Gene was going to do some magic on, but the economic changes, the Mercury takeover, etc., ended that program. Gene left shortly thereafter and was really the person behind the R and D for this project.
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