Bezoat Info

[TomSki]

Hi All,
I picked up last fall, what I believe to be a 1974 ish Bezoat B/C hydro. Overall good condition, no rot, but in need of a good cleanup and paint. Needs a cowl as well. I have never had a true race boat, but have had boats since my childhood. 75mph on water is not new to me. Anyhow, the plan is to give this boat the TLC it needs t bring it back to life. I am amazed at the craftsmanship in its construction. A work of art.
A little help in identifying the hulls origins would be great. Some pictures of a complete boat would aid in cowl dimensions and construction.
There is a serial badge on a stringer below the steering board with the number 973032 . Could this be the date of the build? Sept, 1973, hull 32?
Again, any history of this boat, pictures, or general Bezoat history, is appreciated.
Oh ya, I have located a 1985 Merc 25XS for power..... Just for fun!
Thanks
Cheers
Tom 20200119_201745_resize_67.jpg 20200119_201942_resize_27.jpg 20200322_093629_resize_0.jpg

[John Schubert]

Hi All,
I picked up last fall, what I believe to be a 1974 ish Bezoat B/C hydro. Overall good condition, no rot, but in need of a good cleanup and paint. Needs a cowl as well. I have never had a true race boat, but have had boats since my childhood. 75mph on water is not new to me. Anyhow, the plan is to give this boat the TLC it needs t bring it back to life. I am amazed at the craftsmanship in its construction. A work of art.
A little help in identifying the hulls origins would be great. Some pictures of a complete boat would aid in cowl dimensions and construction.
There is a serial badge on a stringer below the steering board with the number 973032 . Could this be the date of the build? Sept, 1973, hull 32?
Again, any history of this boat, pictures, or general Bezoat history, is appreciated.
Oh ya, I have located a 1985 Merc 25XS for power..... Just for fun!
Thanks
Cheers
Tom 20200119_201745_resize_67.jpg 20200119_201942_resize_27.jpg 20200322_093629_resize_0.jpg

The boat was built by Shannon Bowman & probably had some help from his brother Craig. BTW their parents were very famous Outboard boat racing authors from the 50's,60's & in to the 70's and all were friends of mine. Sadly Shannon passed away a few years ago from severe heart condition & parents years ago. Craig is still with us & built the famous Broccoli runabouts. Yes, the craftmanship in their boats was phenomenal
but did not sacrifice performance. Shannon won several national championships with his boats & other owners won several as well. Incidentally, a bit of trivia, they were built on a former chicken farm in a building that Craig & Shannon restored to build boats. I believe that Brown Tool & Machine BTM race boat hardware maybe in the same area getting his start in manufacturing raceboat hardware by the Bowman brothers
If you need Bezoat decals, I have them available. my email address is jschubert19j@gmail.com

[Fastfrank]

I have a D Sid Craft hydro in a little better condition than your Bezoat. I am restoring it also.
Perhaps we should start a Show and Go Association for old hydros, runabouts and motors.
FastFrank

[opie see]

Let me know when you are ready...I've got a 55h on a (Ron and Ted) Jones DSH cabover and a 44 cid dash 1 on a Blide DU (marathon).
Have trailer, can travel.
JGS

[ZUL8TR]

Great find show pics along the way of the restore. For that 25xs power check the transom height for the very short tower. here are pics of a finished Bezoats with 20H power. Also a Bezoats with 25ss power underway. Hope these help with the
cowl replace

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...6FORM%3DHDRSC3

[TomSki]

The 25XS I have is one of the first gen long tower units. Pretty much the same as a 25ss tower, but beefed up a little. I believe it is 15"
I do like the idea of a show n go events. Would be a blast to run these in a not so competitive environment
I will post pics as the resto progresses. Be patient though. I have a lot of things on the go right now.
If there are any photos of an original I can use for reference, that would be helpful.
Thanks
Tom

[DeanFHobart]

To all interested,

The AOMCI.... Antique Outboard Motor Club, Inc. already has the events you are looking for.... Both show and events on lakes that you can run your outfits.

Go to..... AOMCI.org. This will tell you their events. They have Chapters country wide.

I belong to the Southern California Chapter.

[ZUL8TR]

The 25XS I have is one of the first gen long tower units. Pretty much the same as a 25ss tower, but beefed up a little. I believe it is 15"
I do like the idea of a show n go events. Would be a blast to run these in a not so competitive environment
I will post pics as the resto progresses. Be patient though. I have a lot of things on the go right now.
If there are any photos of an original I can use for reference, that would be helpful.
Thanks
Tom

I have the same tower on my 1st gen 1973 25ss and on the hydro I run right near 16-1/4" vertical transom to get prop shaft rear center near 1/2" below bottom. Could run higher but around 65 speed fast enough for lake playing at AOMCI meets. Your 15" is too low but for the 25xs powerhead still a fun ride. Measure transom "vertical" from rear top edge to bottom. Actual check is mount engine on transom, parallel the prop shaft to bottom with angle adjust and see where the rear prop shaft center is below the bottom. Do you have 16:21 prop(s) assuming the gears are that?

Dean is right about AOMCI meets, lots of fun and great people, here in Central Fla there are 12 meets during the year, this year pending :-(

[modhydro]

The MOB chapter of the AOMCI has a large meet on July 10-12 at Constantine Michigan at the same great venue as the races. There are set times through the day Saturday for quicksilver type racers and then other slots for open exhaust engines.

There are already places and organizations to run the stuff and get it back on the water. Just come join us and have some fun. Hit the events tab on the AOMCI site, scroll down to Constantine and open up the registration form. It is only $15 to register for the event.

Steve Roskowski

[ottawamercguy]

48-W is a sweet looking rig. We all like the sound of a bunch of conversions coming up to
the starting line but gold 20-H's sure look great and we could actually go testing with them.

[TomSki]

Thanks for the pictures of your boat. It is a spectacular rig. I started on the cowl yesterday, using your photos.
Ottawa Merc guy , I live in Ottawa as well. Greely to be more specific.
Howdy neighbor!

[ZUL8TR]

48-W is a sweet looking rig. We all like the sound of a bunch of conversions coming up to
the starting line but gold 20-H's sure look great and we could actually go testing with them.

Did you buy 48W from the owner I know in Michigan that bought it several years ago or are you just commenting about it?

[ottawamercguy]

I was just appreciating the great images of 48W! TomSki you have a private message.

[Fastfrank]

There is a D Bezoat for sale on Craigslist. Michigan, Detroit or Chicago. Good pic.



Type in hydroplane.

[TomSki]

Thanks for the tip FF.
Have some spare time due to mandatory Covid isolation. Been putting it to good use plugging away on my boat. I was planning to go completely natural finish on the topside, like 48-W, but that plan was shattered. There is a big repair on the deck up front. Booo! Will have to go with a color/natural finish.
Had to grind the epoxy coating off the decks to get to the bare wood, then block sand to get the grind mark's out. Big job. Started working on the cowl as well.
this is going to be a challenge. The plan is to use strips of mahogany and oak, laminated with epoxy. I have a bunch of scraps from the local mill, so it is free.
The biggest pita will be sanding the inside, with all the stringers. Patience and persistence be with me!
Thanks for all the help gang. You are all inspirational.
C 20200325_182350.jpg 20200325_182409.jpg heers
T