10 ft hydroplane

[Wagneracing06]

With a little chop, she really cooks.

Seeing this Hal Kelly Wetback reminds me of the first time I met John Fronce at a race near Toledo. He had one and kited it in his first race. Whenever we reminisce about his aerial acrobatics, we always bring up the ad in the boat plan catalog that says, "With a little chop, she really cooks!" A good memory John. A really good memory.

Rick Wagner Sr.

[Phil Fronce]

Rick, I was there that day in 1974 and can still see that boat, BSH, flying through the air. To this day it was one of the most spectacular flips in that size boat I've ever seen. It was his and my first boat racing weekend.

[halestorm]

renewing post

[halestorm]

[Al Lang]

Remember running a Wetback in my only hydro race. A really nasty day with high seas on the Great South Bay on Long Island. No one wanted to run, but, we had 2 guys down from upstate NY who was after hi points. One of the locals was convinced to just go out and run and I was talked into running the wetback in CSH to make a legal 4 boat heat. Won the first heat by over a half lap without any problems. Second heat, a little different. Going into the first turn on the 3rd lap I Stuffed it. Did have a great day though.

[johnsonm50]

Remember running a Wetback in my only hydro race. A really nasty day with high seas on the Great South Bay on Long Island. No one wanted to run, but, we had 2 guys down from upstate NY who was after hi points. One of the locals was convinced to just go out and run and I was talked into running the wetback in CSH to make a legal 4 boat heat. Won the first heat by over a half lap without any problems. Second heat, a little different. Going into the first turn on the 3rd lap I Stuffed it. Did have a great day though.

Funny how a Wetback can handle very ruff stuff yet get ya too. Been in one that cut a wave in half, the upper half about gave me whip-lash.

[ZUL8TR]

Wetback

I am surprized at all the bad luck with this hull. I ran a Wetback in 25ssh and 20ssh (Y80) and did very well in region 5 '73 to '80. Never had the blow over issues in competition. But in testing I did blow it over a few and that is where I learned the edge point and setup to drive it without blowover issue.
I spent alot of test time playing with traps and set up to get it to work, no different than time spent on any other hull.

[johnsonm50]

I am surprized at all the bad luck with this hull. I ran a Wetback in 25ssh and 20ssh (Y80) and did very well in region 5 '73 to '80. Never had the blow over issues in competition. But in testing I did blow it over a few and that is where I learned the edge point and setup to drive it without blowover issue.
I spent alot of test time playing with traps and set up to get it to work, no different than time spent on any other hull.

Your expertise & willingness to work it over made a good boat better. To be fair on the one I mentioned, it too went thru some changes & isn't prone to do that 1/2 stuff anymore. Its a Clarkcraft kit boat, very heavy for race use but a good solid boat for fun & has been run in horrendous conditions succesfully time & again.

[halestorm]

boat sold!
yamaha 25, props, and jet ski trailer still available.

[BillCNC]

boat sold!
yamaha 25, props, and jet ski trailer still available.

Dave, ...

Let me see what I can do for the motor, I pretty sure I'll need it. Beside, they might miss each other.

Regards
Bill

[Smitty]

Interesting to hear different impressions of the same boat. Finishing high school, I built a Jupiter and my two pals built Wetbacks. All three boats were built strictly to the plans, and all three had a hook in the back of the bottom that made them run glued to the water unless they happened to bounce up off of a roller. Very slow boats as compared to current raceboats of 1965, didn't handle or turn well, but we sure did enjoy building them. Anybody who showed up at APBA races in Reg. 10 in the mid-Sixties with a Hal Kelly homebuilt hydro (his runabouts were better) pretty quickly bought something else. But an experienced racer could do some modifying of the Wetback and have an acceptable (for that time) BSH hull.

I have often wondered if Nick Marchetti got his start as a boat-builder with a modified Wetback, because all of his boats, very popular at the time, looked like modified Wetbacks, only with extra length added aft of the sponsons for boats used in bigger classes.

[ZUL8TR]

Hook in the Wetback?

Interesting to hear different impressions of the same boat. Finishing high school, I built a Jupiter and my two pals built Wetbacks. All three boats were built strictly to the plans, and all three had a hook in the back of the bottom that made them run glued to the water unless they happened to bounce up off of a roller. ..............

What hook? Plans didn't show any on the Wetback and the one I built and raced sure didn't have one and very competitive in 25ssh and 20ssh from 73 to 80 Region 5. Now the Jupiter had a real wild S curve in the bottom that flattened out not to far from the rear and could be thought to be a hook?

[halestorm]

motor and props gone!
only the sea doo jet ski trailer remains
IMG_5710.jpg

[Smitty]

I don't have a set of Wetback plans, but both of my friends' boats had, IIRC, about a 1/8" concavity in the bottom in the middle of the last two feet of the bottom, and both boats ran flat to the water (and slow) as compared to any of the Sids, Karelsens, and Marchettis out here.

On my Jupiter, built exactly according to the plans, which I still have, the back two feet or so, aft of the big S-curve you remember, was flat, but it (hmm, how can I describe this?) was not on the same plane as the rest of the boat (in aircraft plans this would be called a "waterline") but ran uphill (in the direction of the bow handle, but not that high). Thus, even though the Jupiter had far more built-in "lift" than the Sids, et al, it ran glued to the water. It also turned poorly. After a year of eating the water of eleven other boats, I bought a Karelsen and on my first test-run exclaimed, "Oh, so this is what it';s about!"

[ZUL8TR]

I don't have a set of Wetback plans, but both of my friends' boats had, IIRC, about a 1/8" concavity in the bottom in the middle of the last two feet of the bottom, and both boats ran flat to the water (and slow) as compared to any of the Sids, Karelsens, and Marchettis out here.

On my Jupiter, built exactly according to the plans, which I still have, the back two feet or so, aft of the big S-curve you remember, was flat, but it (hmm, how can I describe this?) was not on the same plane as the rest of the boat (in aircraft plans this would be called a "waterline") but ran uphill (in the direction of the bow handle, but not that high). Thus, even though the Jupiter had far more built-in "lift" than the Sids, et al, it ran glued to the water. It also turned poorly. After a year of eating the water of eleven other boats, I bought a Karelsen and on my first test-run exclaimed, "Oh, so this is what it';s about!"

Smitty

Sorry to disagree there is no hook in the Wetback design. The design of the bottom stringers and their vertical stiffeners do require carefull carpentry to prevent any hook or rocker in the last few feet of the bottom. I never had that problem with flat running, my boat floated enough to run clean. The last 2 ft of the bottom is specified to be flat on the Kelly Plans (see 2nd full paragraph on right side of instructions) and I was carefull to check and sand as needed to get it flat.

Here is a portion of the Wetback plans

http://www.boatsport.org/PDF/Wetback1.TextMark.pdf

Here is a shot of my Wetback running at an APBA race per Kelly plans except for different front cowl. I later modded the hull and it was even better: