Seacraft Website.

[cbsynboat]

There is now a Seacraft website (seacraftskiboats.com), mainly plenty of good old photos. Not sure whether they are still in business, as a friend who had
a new boat on order fairly recently was told that they were winding up shop and his order was cancelled.

Cheers Chris.

[bauchy]

ive spoken to a few people about seacraft closing and the main reason they are calling it quits is because any new boat needs to be build to aus regulations which now include boyancy built into the hull. which makes it hard for a woody.

The way some guys are getting around this is saying that any new boat is an old boat and they can register them with out vicroads even seeing the boat.

hopefully the woodys continue getting built.

brian

[Bob Vic]

I watch American Hot Rod on Foxtel every so often. They build from the chassis up, contemporary hot rods to 50's & 60's specs without any of the modern requirements of design regulations of air bags and all that stuff. Clearly there is a way these 'modern classics' manage to get road registered in the US with hot engines and noisy exhausts. Those Americans are an enlightened bunch. Any chance this approach couild be applied to boats in Australia? Let's hope so.

Bob

[antique-boatique]

that guy in America was fined an enormous amount for passing off replicas as original but they also did a great job/ Pity he is no longer around

[cbsynboat]

Hi Brian,
No reason why a wood boat cannot be made to comply with all the current regs including floatation, my old Syndicate had floatation added and so does Wildfire, my Dad's old raceboat. Just think they have try and be a bit more innovative. Will post a few photos later on showing floatation built into a wood boat.

Cheers Chris.

[bauchy]

Hi chris. I completly agree that they should try build it into the hulls. I spoke to a few people yesterday from the seacraft club who arnt to happy about it. I know that its possible but it seems like they are over building the boats so why keep going. I certainly wouldnt want to buy a boat that hasnt been passionatly built by the company. The quality just wont be in it. in the next couple of months i will have my new shed up and will be building new ply boats. The first of the rank is a 26foot glen l design for a very good client of mine then after that we wil be building 19foot6 v bottom hulls which will be suited to ski racing. All the running gear out of my clinker will be put into the first hull which we are expecting to make it the fastest woodn ply boat in ski racing.

[cbsynboat]

Hi Brian,
hope the new boat building goes well. Keen to see the new ski race boat when it is finished. I think there is
definitely a market out there for a new clean sheet design wood powerboat. I think some believe that just because you
build a boat out of wood it has to be an old design, not so. I have had a new Syndicate on order for some time now and
as you are probably aware, they are not easy to come by!

I am lucky to have acquired my Dad's old circuit race boat, which is a proven circuit hull, despite being 50 years old,
the design is not a lot different from the current boats (Evercraft, Childsplay etc). The hull is great, but the deck will need
some work.

Cheers

Chris.

[bauchy]

hi chris. the new boat will be full steam ahead once i get my clinker running. we plan on doing one season racing in the clinker then swap the running gear into a new hull and get some good speed ( 90 mile plus ) which should be possible with the engine i have.

at the moment the design i have worked out is very similar to a deep v 19 foot 6 everingham with different shape sides and deck. basically its the bottom of an everingham with a nice roundish transom. i have been seriously thinking about changing the v abit and running a mercruiser stern drive but to do that i will loose my powerglide so not so keen on that.

the guy who did the stainless work on my boat is very good at CAD so he will go through it all with me on paper then put it thru the cad system which will then give me every measurement and angle needed, from here he can break down the plans which will give me print outs of each frame which i can then trace and cut out of ply. Gonna make it allot easier. will be pretty cool to see the boat in 3d on his computer before any timber is cut so we will know if anything looks strange etc etc.

thats great news that you have your fathers boat, what do you plan on doing with it??? get some pics up or email some to me if its glass whats happening with your syndicate hull or is it not happening???
brian

[cbsynboat]

Hi Brian,
sounds good, any plans to build one a bit smaller, about 17' ?

My Dad's boat (Wildfire) is 15' 6" shallow V, his own design and build.
If you go the "Do you need this" board index and look under "record holder" there are a few pictures. It is plywood but the hull is glassed over
when it was originally built hence the hull is in (or at least appears!) great shape. I am in the navy so have very limited time to work on things,
so will be a drawn out project! Should be able to do some work on the trailer in mid June when I can get back to Melbourne (Mornington). Will
also catch up with Peter Adcock and see where I am in the waiting quewe for a new Syndicate, must be close as I put down a deposit in Feb 07!
Despite the long wait still keen for the Syndicate and will probably never get rid of Wildfire (huge sentimental value).

Cheers

Chris.

[bauchy]

hi chris.
wild fire is a great looking boat. love the history and glad you have it back. will be great to see it sometime.

as of today i decided im going to start building a smaller one 16-17 foot very soon, my black bond wood is taking on allot of water and i think its past fixing, i cant be bothered maybe the real reason. the boat it self handles realy well and leaves a realy good wake for skiing so i think i will probably build a bigger version of that. it will have all my running gear in it to keep it cheap.

i cant believe how long poeple are waiting for syndicates. i know they are a great boat but feb 07?? thats insane
how long does he take to build each hull??

brian