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Cool
To All Those Boat Builders Out There,
If it wasn't for Hal Kelly and Popular Mechanics many of us would probably not have started boat racing. Building your own boat made it affordable, even for us kids at the time.
My first hydro was an Ed Karelsen A/B Stock Hydro kit.
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Dean F. Hobart
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I've been looking for a summer project boat and I was interested in the saucy shingle Is this boat really safe and what would happen if it had a 30 or 40 horse modern engine would it be safe with a more powerful engine if it had a metal frame
This comment was on the last page and all I have to say is Really, Really REALLY???MJR Composites racing...cleveland divisionComment
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My First Hydro & Boat Racing Addiction
I grew up in the Seattle area watching the unlimiteds at Seafair races -- great drivers and boats like Slo Motion IV & V, Thriftway, Atlas Van Lines, Bardahl, Hawaii Kai, etc.. I had the traditional wood hydros I drug behind my Bike.
My first outboard hydroplane was a customized "Scat Cat" design (natural mahogany deck with white hull, white scallops, and vivid blue pin striping.) Over-powered, with a color-matching Merc 30H and quickie lower unit, this B-class kit hydro turned 62-64 mph with good water on Mason Lake in Washington State in the late 50's and early 60's. I believe the boat plans were featured in PM magazine. One day a guy showed up to test an early picklefork design R&D boat with racing numbers displayed on it on the lake (sometime around 1962.) He was irritated that I wanted to race him while he was testing his new, lightweight boat.
This is when I really got the hydro racing addiction. I sold the Scat Cat in 1968 after returning home from active duty. Twenty four years later I attended an APBA/SOA "world records race" at Lake Lawrence, bought a used CSH Flyer with a Yamato 102, and I have stayed in boat racing ever since. Woo Hoo, what a ride!
Al
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An affordable begining.
True.Originally posted by DeanFHobart View Post
When I was a youngster, my dad built me a little wood runabout called a "Yellow Jacket". He got the plans from a Popular Mechanics magazine and used standard construction type lumber. It lasted me until I was ready to move up and out of the J class.
Below is a picture of a Yellow Jacket from that P.M. article. I can't find any pictures of my own Yellow Jacket.
As long as a builder has realistic expectations from these craft, they'll be fine for lake play and such.
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"Saucey Shingle"/Tiny Titan
Had one as a youth with a 20H. Would not recommend anything larger for an engine. Easy build but fairly heavy however by todays standards.
A couple pictures from other peoples builds.Last edited by Tomtall; 11-06-2008, 04:08 PM.Tom L.Comment
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Don't know the speed???
But that yellow 1 is looking nice with the omc , thanks Tom.
RichardKCMo
btw, got the paper and pics from topinabee, really liked it , pretty threadbare by , time i passed it around and read over &over....
RichardComment
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tiny titan
Here's a link to see a tiny titan I built 2 yrs ago http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xAQ79hB9WMLast edited by boatdude; 11-07-2008, 09:00 AM.Comment
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Wow all this talk of first boats made me do some digging, here's my first hydro back in 1970................I think
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Sweet!
Nice picture. It's a twin to my first rig back then. I even had the Kimpac life jacket except with blue collar. Very cool. Thanks for sharing.
Tom L.Comment
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We were inspired by a popular mechanics boat. Built a boat which we were disappointed in its frailty so we built a mold and created our own, a glass and composite Boat we're Perry happy with its durability and speed. using 2008 Mercury 4 stroke 15 HP motor we're rewriting technical work manuals for inspections.
still dynoing and having fun.
http://www.boyshome.com/htm/got_a_need_for_speed.htmComment
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I believe its wonderful
I watched the presentation of you and Bill Walker and i believe what you are doing is absolutely wonderful.
Tim LeeComment
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