Sterling tunnel hull or?

[Mr. Demeanor]

Theres a guy in our group with a Sterling. Looks just like that best I can tell. Not sure if he is a member but Ill reach out.

[Mhall222]

I pulled the carpet out and It looks like whatever the core may be is still good and solid. I did not see any bubbling and everything sounded solid when tapping on it. The stringers however are somewhat hollow and rotten inside. I am not sure what this hull weighs but i can grab it and lift the rear off the trailer fairly easy.

[duckrazee]

mine is a Sterling. Not the best angles but yea.

[Mhall222]

Duckrazee, more pictures please. Also any setup specs you want to share would be fantastic. Is that a 150efi for real or ?? if it is a 150hp what kind of numbers are you running?

[PARKER RABE]

There's was one on lake tarpon for ever , had a 2.4 with a 12 inch mid on it standard case, Michael Vincent bought it then , I don't know where the boat went , boat was a 82 or and 83 beautiful boat , all original gel , The original owners name was Billy hunt from lake tarpon ...
then Lonnie had one in Jacksonville , his screen name was racemore , he had a 12 inch motor on it also .....u gotta have a REAL SHORT mid on those boats , 20 inch motor just doesn't look right . When u rig it get ahold of Marty Powell and have him make u a real short mid.

[duckrazee]

Parker I believe my boat is Lonnie's old boat. Definetely looked alot better with the 12". Mine used to have a similar style jack plate as the green one ITT.

It had the 20" when I bought it and will eventually cut it to at least a 15"

[duckrazee]

Best I've seen is 82 by myself. Powerhead is 2.4 laser efi turning 24" Yamaha Drag most of the time. Haven't played with set up much because the mid is too long to get the prop up enough. Center prop shafts is about 3/4" above the sponsons.

[PARKER RABE]

Yeah that's his old boat in those pics for sure, what ever happend to him?

[PARKER RABE]

If you saw the one that came off of lake tarpon you would've been speechless it was absolutely beautiful ....seven color gel matching interior, Michael vincent owned it , old 12 Inch down draft , 2.4 , mint 1981 cowl , I would've bought it and put it in a museum if I had the extra cash. Matching trailer .......I mean just such a neat piece of history.!!!!!! Hopefully somebody will have some pictures of it. BILLY HUNTT was the original owner I think , his brothers name is terry.

[PARKER RABE]

I remember when Lonnie had some steering issues with that boat he ran it into a cypress tree or something and really damage the front can you see where the boat was damaged?

[duckrazee]

I'm not sure. I bought it from a guy outta Knoxville a year and a half ago. I haven't noticed anything. One spot on front right sponsons has a small chip where I can see the original orange under the yellow. Somewhere along the way someone added the wedge on the transom too. Was really surprised at how well it handles rough water though. Fun little boat for sure!!

[PARKER RABE]

Yea, look good at the front, i remember the steering going out, hit a tree hard from what i remember, probrally 15 years ago. Jack barsh would know about the dammage i bet.

[PARKER RABE]

I remember. He had some home made steering, for a 12 , it was dual ride guide. He rigged to work on the steering. Arm some how......everybody said it wouldnt work , scott vicory constantly gave him shiit about it . he was right tho!

[duckrazee]

Yea I'll definitely have to check it out good underneath. From the naked eye everything looks fine though. And I wash/wax after everytrip. That's pretty wild to learn though! One of the main reasons I like this site. Sorry to OP didn't mean to hyjack the thread though. Thanks for the history though Parker.

[RabidGatorFan]

We had two different 19' Sterlings back in '82 or '83. One was a white base with multi-colored red gel layers. The other was yellow base with multi-colored layers with matching interior. Sterlings were built in Orlando right off of I-Drive. Cannot remember the guy's name. I know there are some pics of both boats at the house. I'll dig them up. Beautiful boats in their day. Yes, a copy of an Eliminator.

Definitely need a 12" or 15" mid for the boats to look right. Dad ran a Merc 225 7-petal with nitrous on a cut 20" mid down to 15". Not sure on the speed, but I believe 105 - 110mph.

Sterling also produced a Mod VP Laser copy. Until the F-1, fastest boat I ever drove by myself. 93mph on the Suwanee River at 18 years old was fast enough at the time.