Two men from Anchorage Alaska are staking claim to the snowmobile speed record on water. The Anchorage Daily News reported that Rick Coffman piloted the modified Yamaha to 106 MPH on the Knik River, besting an old record of 102.5 MPH held by a man in Norway.
Curve Industries, a sponsor of the record run wrote on Sledfreak.com:
“On October 7th, a new snowmobile water speed record of 106 MPH was set by OFT Racing in Alaska. After 6 long weeks, 2 engines, blown belts, tweaked suspension components and several sunken recoveries, OFT’s turbo charged Yamaha Nytro finally took the gold!
OFT’s quest began when a team in Norway set a record of 102.5 MPH over the summer. OFT owner and notorious wild-man Ricky Coffman wasn’t having it. What he never anticipated was how difficult it would be to break 100MPH.
With some special setup of the sled and boost levels set around 16psi, the highest water speed was just 87.7 MPH; nearly 20 MPH shy of the final run. As the boost increased, so did the speed, but the triple digit mark remained slightly out of reach.
It took upwards of 20psi and 125hp shot of nitrous to destroy the first engine. Wasting no time, a second power plant was immediately bolted together with ARP head studs, Carrillo rods and low compression pistons
Break-in consisted of several skips at 18psi. The final winning formula ended up being 24psi and a helpful shot of nitrous to grab those last few miles per hour.
OFT Racing doesn’t stop there. They already have a few new ideas on the drawing board in case anyone tries to fire back!”
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