14ft sidewinder

[SHO-OFF]

Does anyone out there have any information about Sidewinder boats made in Palo Alto California. I own a 14 foot super sidewinder from I bellieve the late 60's - early 70's. I've been wondering what is the best setup for a boat like this? And what kind off speed I can expect to achieve? The boat is in like new condition and I would greatly appreiciate any leads on this company, or if anyone out there has a boat like this?

[delawarerick]

I have a 73 16 foot sidewinder. Mine is called a rally sport. These boats are being made in Fl under the name rallysport. I have a built v-4 omc and have seen 68 mph but it was very unstable chime walked and scary to say the least. There was also an 18 foot model. Alot of these were jetboats of the 70s. they are fun but no race winner.

Somebody in my neighborhood has one of the 18-footers sitting out by the road. It's a wreck! It is faded and beat to hell, with a merc inline-six. There is a rusty diamond-plate reinforcement bent over the transom. The interior looks shot. There's no FOR SALE sign on it or anything, maybe the owner hopes someone will steal it. Nice to hear that somebody has one and took care of it!

[SHO-OFF]

delawarerick, the 14ft that I own has a 90hp omc v4 and I haven't seen speeds as high as your's. When you say built, what has been done to your v4, and how is it setup on the boat. I'm just looking for a fast weekend boat, not a racer.

[Raceman]

The first high performance boat I ever owned (or at least I thought at the time it was high performance) was an 18' Super Sidewinder which I bought new in 1974 and put a used 1150, converted to a 1350 on. (My understanding at the time was that the "super" designation described the 18' boat as it was basically a stretched 16. It subsequently had probably a dozen engines on it while I owned it, including a 1500XS (too short), and numerous V6's. The day I picked my boat up, another guy was picking up a 16 with a new 1500. It was one of the worst handling boats I ever rode in with the speeds it was capable of. Even the dealer, who had considerable race boat experience, claiming he could drive anything, couldn't master it. I later traded a 16 in on a Vector I was selling and put a used 1750 on it. It was scary above 65. My 18'er would run close to 70 with an old 225 before it misbehaved, but then would get completely out of whack. I don't think you can make one handle at speed without putting a pad on it to fix the terrible design of the rounded bottom. They're great riding boats at the speeds they're designed, but exceed that and they're unforgiving. Use a blade with a lot of bow lift. I never improved on a chopper on that boat.

[SHO-OFF]

Raceman,
The 14ft super sidewinder that I have HAS a pad that at the transom is 8-10 inches wide. I've been told that a pad like this would make the boat behave better at higher speeds. I've never seen a boat anything like this, I've seen a couple like your old boat and have heard of the jet drive models, but, it sound like I'll just have to try a few different things. Like a jack plate, for starters, unless anyone out there knows why this would be a bad move?

[Raceman]

Since the Sidewinders don't have a notch in the bottom, I'd think the setback would be a good thing. The pad's exactly what they needed to behave. It's curious that they'd put one on a small boat and not on the larger ones.

The guy in my neighborhood has a FOR SALE $2500 sign on his sidewinder. The I6 is a 150hp. Ya think he'll ever sell it?

[delawarerick]

Im sorry I did not respond to your question about the engine mods. Basically Its bored 30 over carbon reeds had port work done electric fuel pumps and 24 raker. Carbs are from omc racing got from country dealer who used to race.Your probably saying why would he do that to a crossflow v-4 I too ask my self that! Had bad overheat problem solved today and ran 6800 rpms and shook ten years from my life, but its fun. Good luck show-off these boats are fun. Rick

[David]

A place in Ontario Canada built 16 & 18 foot sidewinders for a long time.

A couple of years before they stopped building these, another place started building the 14 footer. It sure looked like a Sidewinder, but it as never marketed in Ontario as a Sidewinder. Like the one that started this chain, it had a pad. Maybe the 14 never did come from the original Sidewinder people and that's why it had a pad andt the bigger boats didn't.

I wanted a 14 for a long time. The hot ticket was the 3 cyl 90 HP Merc.

The 14 footer was called the Capricorn for a while, I think it later was called a Fiberton or something like that.

[SHO-OFF]

David the boat I have has trim pieces with "Sidewinder Palo Alto California" on it. Inside on the USCG tag it says 14 super. I believe we are talking of the same boat it's very low, no windshield, no lights, or cleats at all. I don't know the exact year, but when did they start using the USCG tags? Thanks for the merc tip, i'm sure it would be the way to go.

[delawarerick]

Sho-off the 3 cylinder OMC called a stinger is another light and very powerful engine. They were made in the mid 70s and were a looper with very mild mods they turn 105 hp. They were notorious for blowing away the four cylinder merc 85s. If you can, post a picture of your boat. Delawarerick

[SHO-OFF]

Delawarerick, as soon as I can get a camera and figure this whole thing out I will have pictures of the sidewinder for you all to see. It's in excellent condition, however, it is brown metal flake with a gold stripe around the gunale, typical 60-70's color theme. Anyhow, the older stinger motor you mentioned, how are they any different from the normal three cyl. say triumphs, or hustlers? What mods would it take to get these horsepower figures? I've been a omc guy for a while and I've never heard of anything other than v4 mods. Also, is there anyway for trim/tilt. I've got an older 115 hp no tilt, SUCKS!!!

[bakkermth]

Does anyone out there have any information about Sidewinder boats made in Palo Alto California. I own a 14 foot super sidewinder from I bellieve the late 60's - early 70's. I've been wondering what is the best setup for a boat like this? And what kind off speed I can expect to achieve? The boat is in like new condition and I would greatly appreiciate any leads on this company, or if anyone out there has a boat like this?

I got my SS14 in July of 1975, actually drove to the factory in Ontario to pick up the boat. I mounted a 75hp Johnson Stinger w/o power trim. When I could get the boat on plane in the highest trim hole, she would chime walk so badly that I nearly flipped her on many occasions. I installed 12" SS Manual Adjust Trim Tabs and power trim on the Johnson. Chime walks went away, and top end was about 55mph. The hot number for this boat would be an 85hp or 90hp Yamaha in-line 3cyl w/ power trim. I would also recommend the 12' SS Trim Tabs to overcome the chime walking. This set-up should be a shade under or a shade over 60mph, but w/ the tabs it will be controllable. Mark Haytmanek, Sales/Finance Mgr., Bakkermarine.com, Lake Wallenpaupack, PA, bakkermth@hotmail.com, 570-226-4285-office line

[outasite]

I had a 16' about a 72 model,bought it in 76, and put a new 150XS on it.Pads were just coming around at least where I live,and after getting blown away bad by the first vector I ever saw, we decided, all it needed was a pad, so we put one on. I forget but it was 16-18" wide. At 24 years old, bigger is always better right! anyway we did see 71-72 with it untill the pad blew off:eek:---Damm! those were the good old days!!!

[bakkermth]

I had a 16' about a 72 model,bought it in 76, and put a new 150XS on it.Pads were just coming around at least where I live,and after getting blown away bad by the first vector I ever saw, we decided, all it needed was a pad, so we put one on. I forget but it was 16-18" wide. At 24 years old, bigger is always better right! anyway we did see 71-72 with it untill the pad blew off:eek:---Damm! those were the good old days!!!

Hello Again, After I cracked the bottom of the SS14 on the Lower Delaware River near Phila., I purchased a 1978 Glastron Carlson CVX-116 w/ 115hp Evinrude V-4, nice boat, Orange Metalflake w/ Yellow, Burnt Orange upholstery+Orange shag carpet. Kept until 1985, graduated into I/O's and in 1995 purchased a Wellcraft 23 NOVA XL. Today, my wife and I have a 265 Ciera Cruiser, but tucked into the back of our driveway we have a very special package, 1981 Formula 17' "Formula One" Sportboat w/ Mercury 140hp "Tower of Power", in-line 6cyl, this one is a kick to drive, but we try to baby her since the transom is not 100% like when new. Thanks for the reply. Mark Haytmanek, Sales/Finance Mgr., Bakkermarine.com

[phillnjack]

In the uk we had boats called dateline bikini and dateline bounty.
they came from 14ft upto around 19ft
Many people said they were copy's of american sidewinders, and some say the sidewinder was a copy of dateline ??? eitherway they were the same boats.
most of the bounty version were v6 and jet drive, and never heaerd anything bad about the jet versions.
these being copy's might be true as i had one and it went good on dead calm water ,but a dangerous boat
when opened up on the sea.
anything over 30mph and it started to wander wherever it wanted to, like bad steering etc.
chinewalking did happen around 40mph !!!! as well.
but the steering was good, and like i say good boat on dead calm flat water and very quick to plane.
mine was a 1979 boat with a 3 cylinder volvo penta 70hp(last year the volvo's were made).
They were nice sleek looking boats,typical seventies styling.
ive seen many newer boats exactly the same except instead of the tinted screens they have wind deflectors made of glass.

Here is some pics of my old dateline just before i got shot of it around the mid 1990's.

[bakkermth]

G'Day Mate, Yes, my SS14 was very dangerous at high speed at first. Called California Glass Marine, The company who made the boat in Ontario, Canada. They told me to add 12", manually adjustable trim tabs to the back of the boat. Did this, and she settled down quite nicely, even at full trim, wide open throttle, quite amazing. Your boat appears to be a 16' model, my SS14 did not have a windscreen, they do look identical. Sadly, I do not have any pics of my boat, I split the bottom on the Lower Delaware River near Philadelphia, repaired her and then sold her in 1981. Best wishes, and thanks for the note. Mark Haytmanek, Bakkermarine.com sales manager, Lake Wallenpaupack, PA

[flatbackcanoe]

I have a SS14, painted red. They dont have a windscreen. I have 4 inch setback. 88 115 Mercury inline.
Ohhh boy. It will go over 60 if you could stay in the throttle but... gets way out of shape.
With the trim down at full throttle it will do around 50 on a GPS, stable.
You can edge it up to 58 GPS if you fiddle around and play.
A chopper prop, and set back are what the SS14 needs. Once you get the bow out of the water the rest of the boat will follow. But it likes to porpoise/bounce.

The 16 is much different, there really is no comparison. Not nearly as much fun.

Always wear a life jacket at least.

[58Evinrude]

Sidewinder boats were made by a lot of companies, California Glass and Marine in Ontario was only one. I have 2 'Winders, a 16' SS and a 16' Lo Pro. The SS has a 150 Johnson, the Lo-Pro a 115 Johnson. The 14' models ( I don't remember the designation..Super?) did come with a pad, it was the only version to have one. My SS has a 6" jackplate, and I get just over 60 mph out of it. Without the jackplate, it's has almost uncontrollable chinewalk, with it it's still a handful to drive. The Lo-Pro runs a steady 50 mph, rock solid, no chinewalk, with the 115. Both boats like having as much of the motor out of the water as possible. I don't have LWP's on my motors. The Lo-Pro is getting a pad, and I'm going to try a worked 140 OMC on it. Neither one of these boat is a true speed boat. I bought a Charger SK for that.;)

[58Evinrude]

try the Sidewinder site, www.sidewinder-boats.com (http://www.sidewinder-boats.com) for more info.

[bakkermth]

G'Day Mate, My SS14 came from California Glass Marine in Stoffville, Ont. Picked her up in late July, 1975. Took her home to Allentown, PA and installed Johnson 75hp Stinger, my craft was metalflake brown w/ a gold sheer. Stinger had no power trim, so I had to raise the pin to the highest hole and hope she would get on plane. When she did, chime-walking was very bad, the higher the bow came up, the worse it got. Installed a pair of 12" SS, manually adjustable trim tabs+OMC power trim kit, this solved the problem. 57MPH at full trim, WOT and steady as a Porshe. I broke her bottom on a very windy day on the lower Delaware river near Philadelphia. Under the Betsy Ross Bridge, could not go any further south, too rough. Turned to go back north, a barge had just past, 7' wave in my face, what to do, go through and swamp, or go over the top? Quick thinking, firewalled the throttle, went over the top, put the entire boat out of the water, had to throttle back so as not to redline, came down very hard. Caused a 14" crack along the chime, starboard side, just forward of the transom. Fixed her, sold her, and hung the Stinger on a 1978 Orange/Yellow, Glastron-Carlson CVX-16. Today we have a 1981 Formula 17' Formula One with Mercury 140hp "Tower of Power". Thanks for the notes, stay well and keep screaming. Mark Haytmanek, Sales Manager, Bakker Marine, Lake Wallenpaupack, PA