giusedtobe said:
I remember Glasspar but not the others. How about "Jolly Roger"? We had a Jolly Roger Tri-hull runabout when I was a kid.
Took leave of my senses a few years ago and bought an old cabin cruiser project. Its a behemoth and sadly I really did not realize that most of the cost of these things is in the upkeep and not the initial purchase price. Still a project and draining me like dracula every month Lol.
Even a fiberglass boat has a fair amount of upkeep. But if the cabin cruiser is wood, you might as well make it a life-long task! Always some paint to scrape & renew, screws to renew, trim to scrape/strip/sand/varnish, caulking, etc etc etc. Plus the annual ritual of "wetting the hull" so the planks would swell and seal off the leaks! Not so much of a problem with boats build with marine plywood and fiberglassed bottoms.
Glasspar is a very-well-known name in WA, since they had a boat-building factory in Olympia. My Dad bought a brand-new Glasspar Avalon (about 16') runabout from the local dealer back in '64 and I have very fond memories of riding in that boat. Including one time fishing when the Selectric lower unit on the Evil JohnRude V4 busted a Fwd Gear spring and we had to go in Reverse all the way to the boat ramp! My Uncle and I had to sit on the bow, so we wouldn't be swamped with water over the transom.
One hull you might recognize is the very popular G3, a performance-oriented 14-foot ski boat. They sold JILLIONS of them. A good buddy of mine works almost exclusively with Mercs, and he built a super-high-performance Inline Six (probably well over 150hp), and put it on a G3 (which he named "Wild Thanggg"). You can imagine the performance! I think his top-speed was around 72 or so. I went for a ride in it once, and it was white-knuckle the whole way. Too rough for top speed, but he had it over 60 a few times and it was a bit Scary! :shock: He regained his senses after the reinforced transom broke, and bought a bigger Hydrostream, designed to go fast. A much safer hull for 70+.
The Jolly Roger was a "California Ski Boat" primarily, although I think they had a few other models like your Tri-Hull. Their most famous is the typical low-profile ski boat, with or without a windshield. I can't remember if the Tahiti brand was first, then copied by Jolly Roger, or the other way around. So many of that type of ski boat were "splashed" (copied by using the boat's hull as the fiberglass mold) and there are probably a dozen different mfr's with very similar configuration. I had a Sidewinder 15'-9" ski boat with windshield and a 1350 Merc. It was pretty fast, and could rip any slalom skier out of the water without breathing hard. That boat lived up to its name; my daughter, who was quite young at the time, has vivid memories of the boat going up on its side during hard turns!
Another good boating buddy had a 16' Jolly Roger V-drive with a Ford 302. Man that was a screamer. When the throttle was mashed, you better be holding on, or you'll probably be thrown back, over the transom!. So much weight in the back that when the boat was coming off plane, a huge wall of water would appear behind the boat, and he had to gas it to avoid the cockpit being doused! Loads of fun!!
Those were the days; gas, boats, and motors were cheap. Not anymore, that's for sure! :|