Adams And Seaton Tune Up For 2022 San Francisco To Long Beach With Ocean Cup

The full results of today’s Ocean Cup event in Southern California, which saw five teams complete in the early morning, 112-mile run around Catalina Island and back to its Huntington Beach starting point, aren’t in but at least one team is already thrilled with its outcome. Running a 2004 Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats 47 GTX V-bottom powered by 572-cubic-inch supercharged engines of unknown origin—but destined for immediate retirement—Northern California’s Tony Adams and Steve Seaton averaged 70.3 mph to complete the run in 1 hour and 36 minutes.

Driver Tony Adams (right) and throttleman Steve Seaton enjoyed a fine morning running their 47-foot Outerlimits V-bottom around Catalina Island from Huntington Beach, Calif., in preparation for their 2022 San Francisco-to-Los Angeles record attempt.

As previously reported on speedonthewater.com, Adams and Seaton, who purchased the 47-footer in April, entered today’s event as a tune-up for an attempt to break the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles record next fall. The existing record of 5 hours and 57 minutes was set by Bob Nordskog, Bob Teague and Norm Teague in 1988.

Seaton throttled the boat and Adams drove.

“It was a mix of rough and smooth water out there,” Seaton said. “I just wanted to make sure we averaged 70 mph.

“Theoretically, we could have gone 10 miles per hour faster but we have no idea how old the engines are or even who built them—we think they make about 1,000 hp a side,” he added. “We used 200 gallons of race gas combined with 160 gallons of 91 octane, just to make sure we didn’t have any detonation. But you know something? Those motors actually operated pretty well.”

The boat’s current steering system, however, did not.

“We had some pretty crappy steering issues,” Seaton said. “It may have been the power steering pump or some air in the lines, but that was as fast as we could go and be comfortable with our steering. Tony had to fight it the whole time.”

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During the winter, the Northern California duo will repower the 47-footer with Mercury Racing 1350/1100 engines.

Adams was more succinct. “The steering system is going on the scrap box,” he said.

Adams and Seaton expect the twin Mercury Racing 1350/1100 engines they ordered for their fall 2022 record attempt to arrive this month. During the winter, they’ll pull the boat’s current mills and install the dual-calibration, quad-cam four-valve engines from the Fond du Lac, Wis., company.

“We’ll be taking all of the metal out of this boat this winter,” Seaton said, then chuckled.

Editor’s note: Look for updates on the project throughout 2022 on speedonthewater.com as well as a recap from the Ocean Cup event after more details become available.

Adams And Seaton Tune Up For 2022 San Francisco To Long Beach With Ocean Cup

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