just saw a show on TV called "american craftsman" theres a company thats building sweet wooden boats that look old. http://www.vandamboats.com/
Attached is a vintage 16' Cobalt V-drive with 351 ford power. (the were equipped with either 302's or 351's) I'd have to believe this is a real runner/ white knuckle ride. Note the chrome wheels on the trailer - Thats where I got the idea for mine.... These are very rare boats
The Antique boat museum in Clayton NY http://www.abm.org/ is really cool. If your around the 1000 Island area you should check it out. Pat
kinda reminds me of the 1971 correct craft separator my ole man restored when I was a kid. 351 moody in a 16ft boat! even had a gas pedal instead of a hand throttle! what a blast that thing was!
I also saw the show where they built the Sempre Avanti, great boats and outstanding craftsman. I used to live in the finger lakes region of NY and the place was loaded with megabuck wood boats. I had a 30 ft wood cruser on Seneca Lake, but the high cost and costant care drove me to cars. I was only thirty munutes from Watkins Glen so exotic cars were also common place every weekend. I drove the old road course during the vintage weekends. I met a dude over seventy that drove a Caddilac powered Allard 400 miles from NJ in the rain to be part of a vintage weeked. The Allards dont have a top and just a small brooklands windshield. That cool ol guy drove with a WWII flying leather hat. The car should have been in museum.
bingo...........Berylla 2..........1933/4 British built hydro. Wheeled aluminum panels rivetted to cast aluminum frames (not extruded as described in the second page). Noisy???????? 1.5 litre 6 cyl in that aluminum box!! Was in a museum which closed down in Dec 2010. Fate of this boat unknown. Pic from a vintage boat magazine from approx 1994. Sorry don't have any other pages. Background is nearly as interesting as the boat.......Nazi submarine pens built in total secrecy along the coast of France during WW2. Tunnels dug in forests many miles inland where construction vehicles would disappear unnoticed and raised no suspicion. Jim Grant
That Colbalt is just a copy of the famous Donzi Sweet 16, 'cept the one you posted is a V-drive. Most were I/Os. I think it's still in production at Donzi. There was a builder out here in Ca. that splashed it and was running jet drives in them back in the day. More than a few guys splashed that hull.
Art Carlson, who sold out to Glastron some time in the late '60's, built some very nice tunnels among other hulls. He had a 14, 16 and 18 foot version of this tunnel but I always liked the 18 best because it was his v- drive hull. The others were outboards, which were cool too. They ran fast with a tower of power hanging off the transom. He was based over in Orange County. He's still around and was inducted into the Hot Boat Hall Of Fame a few years back at the circle races in Long Beach at the Marine Stadium. We still have races one a year but little else.
This a Switzer, very, veeeeery cool boats. Built back East, Switzer's been around since the late 50s when their boats were still wood. I believe they still build a boat now and then. Maybe. They were best known for their twin engine 'Wings", an unbelievably fast marathon race hull. Very collectible today.
There never was a 10% change required. It used to be said that if you were splashing a hull, it couldn't fit back into the original mold but there was no law. Out here in so cal every builder was splashing then next guy and little was done. The biggest law suit came from the owner of Sidewinder boats when they came out with their wrap around windshield which was very exciting at the time. The owner of Sidewinder left Glastron with this new idea in his head. He was also the brother in law of the owner of Tahiti boats and was given a new Tahiti bottom so he could tool up his new deck. The bottom he was given was actually a Glastron 'agua lift' bottom cut down by the owner of Tahiti so he could build HIS new deck. Everyone splashed the new Sidewinder deck including Tahiti boats who was one of 20 or so builders named in the law suit. Because he was unable to prove the wrap around windshield was something new, it had been used in automotive design before, I think I remember the the law suit didn't hold water. He sold Sidewinder and started Panther pumps. Most of his promo films for Panther pumps,which are still floating around the net, used Tahiti boats in their demos. It was crazy out here then but a lot of fun.
A family friend who owned a shop around the corner from our house was killed after crashing one in practice at Lake Elsinore. Bobby Massey was his name. One of his wings.
Another friend from high school. His dad owned a top fuel jet named 'Rated X' whcih was one of the fastest BFJ's back in the day among many others like 'Going Places'. My friend drove Going Places and shoe'd many other boats but not his dads. Finally got behind the wheel of Rated X and blew it over. Terrible crash and Billy was messed up for a long time. Broke his back, ripped of his ass cheeks were just a few of his injuries. He would recover to race again and did time over in Japan where they brought over the top drivers and had them race in an indoor lake where they'd bet on them like race horses. All the boats were matched the same, it was based on driver skill.
Yes your right....I wasnt going to get that detailed, but, from what I understand, the cobalt was splashed - molded directly from actual Donzi molds. Your right about the v-drive too...thats what makes that pictured boat fairly rare...the majority WERE I/O's...not many factory V drives were known to exist...however, the cobalt isnt manufactured these days, nor are the classics (16,18, and 22's) that stopped last year ---- very sad, however, the design is still being built, most recent, a grass roots effort out of Bristol, CT called Hornet marine. Vance boats (built out west) were also just a copy of the donzi hull too. These were also prepped with Holman Moody motors. Check out the corsican below by donzi...I know an outfit splashed this design, but forget the name at the moment....