Looking for a rare Ragatta ski boat

[sidewinderwoman]

I grew up in Simi Valley, Ca. In the late 60's early 70's we owned a 16' or 17' Ragatta outboard ski boat. This boat was orange and black and very low profile. It sat about an inch out of the water in the back. It had a 125hp or 135hp merc outboard on it. The guy we bought it from used to race it. He had it set up with one seat. My dad changed it to seat four. The previous owner had also installed a type of hand lever pump to be able to tilt the trim. My dad named this boat "Her-ass-er". My mom and I wanted to name it spooky due to the color and the fact that the song Spooky was popular at that time. I have searched soooo many web sites looking for even one of these boats! Can anyone give any suggestions on how to find one of these boats? I would be happy just to get any kind of history on this boat. The ragatta is a lot like an Avenger, Baja and my Sidewinder. I can remember my dad and I cruising around every lake in so. cal. looking for people to race against. He would seek out Baja's and Hondo hulls.
We sold the Ragatta around 1970 because we were boating on Lake Mojave and needed a much bigger boat. We bought a 24' Sea Ray with twin Chrysler i/o and kept it at nelsons landing. Any help on this Ragatta boat info would be appreciated. I don't even know if Ragatta is the model or the manufacturer.
Thanks Luana

[WharfRat]

Regatta was a manufacturer back around that time. A friend had one similar to the one you describe. I'm sure someone else will have more info than I

[bhabben]

Luana,
Does it look like any of these for sale over on boat trader?
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/7/9/75188079.htm
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/7/4/75371474.htm
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/7/2/75234572.htm

You can do more searches from the main page. But the first one even appears to have a good Merc 1350 (135 hp inline, not a V6 as described) and is probably as close a match as you'll find.
Good Luck!
Brett
PS. I could only find references to 'regatta', none for 'ragatta'...

[sidewinderwoman]

Boy do I feel stupid! Thanks to both of you for the info. Okay I just want to know how you found the three boats on boat trader?
I have searched that site and many others. I have spelled it every way I could think of and the only time I even came close was on another site that I can't remember and they spelled it ragatta. I have Boat trader in my favorites and I browse it all the time with no luck. The funny thing is that two of those boats look almost exactly like my 1971 sidewinder. I'll have to take a better picture of it and post it. I don't know what it is about these low profile closed bow boats, but I really like them.
I bought my Sidewinder for $800 and it's not very practical for carrying 4 people,ski's, kneeboards, a tube and all the other gear it takes to have fun on the lake. But it's fast and lot's of fun. Thanks again for the info and I'll give you fair warning! I'm going to be asking for more help, but I'll try to keep it shorter and space all the ??? apart. Luana

[delawarerick]

Can you post a picture of your sidewinder? There are a few of us that own sidewinders on the site. Mine is a 73 which I bought for 500 with a merc 1500 and trailor. The boat you are looking for resembles the sidewinder is the bottom the same? Rick

[sidewinderwoman]

I posted pics (probably did it wrong) on the members gallery. They're not real good ones. I am taking some more. The boat needs new seats and I am having a hard time finding that style.
Any suggestions? Also the manual tilt is broken so it makes it difficult to beach it. I'm looking into finding an electric tilt. It's a 1971 Johnson 125hp. The Regatta we had was an early 60's and I do believe the bottom was the same. The back end went a little wider and a lot lower.
Luana

[captcarb]

I wanted the original seats redone in my Hydrodyne, click here (http://forums.screamandfly.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61582&highlight=hydrodyne) . It's the white boat with the red and blue stripe about half way down the first page.

I wound up buying a used walking foot sewing machine and doing them myself. I've done enough of my own stuff now to pay for the machine several times.

Jim

[delawarerick]

Sidewinder woman mine is converted to centersteer with one seat. I just went and looked at a 74 18 ft sidewinder with a 235 evinrude on it. It is all original interior and all got a phone number to call if there is anyway this will be my new ride. Its alot different than the 16 and was really clean. Will keep you posted on if I can get it price etc. I think you might have to remake your own seats. Rick

[KDM]

Luana,

I have a 69 Regatta just as you describe. It is the burnt orange with black seats. It has a 150 Mercury on it and has served us well for 20 years and still going strong. I have kept it well maintained over the years and still gets many compliments.

[old rigger]

sidewinderwoman,
I know it's a long shot but my dad's friend's had Regatta's and one of them Bob Blocker, would make trim units for his boats and his buddies boats, like you described. At that time here in Long Beach there still was a great aircraft surplus store by the old Douglas plane factory. Bob would buy surplus hydrolic rams and make these hand pumped trim units. Another friend Roger Hoover, who crewed for Bob Massey in fact the guy that last year bought Masseys old switzer wing out in lake elisnore sent me a picture of it and Rogers name is still on the boat, anyway he too had a Regatta with that hand trim unit on it. Both guys are still around and I wouldn't be surprised at all if you owned one of their old boats. They were very fast for the time,
late 60s and early 70's. Cool little boats.

Here's and old regatta ad for you.

The company that built Regattas, KF fiberglass in Downey. They're still in business, in the same location today but now build fiberglass parts for motorhomes and big trucks.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/flyin-t/02-21-12.jpg

[sidewinderwoman]

Hey Old Rigger,
Thanks for the info. I really appreciate it. My Dad bought
it from a guy who raced it and I think he bought it down in Long Beach.

[Old fiberglass]

Someplace I have a picture of Bob Massey running a Regatta with a single Merc. The boat had 8 X written on it if that rings any bells. Bob was out of Bellflower Ca.

"Ass Repairs By Rodger Hoover" can be seen in the picture of the wing. By all accounts Bob had a good sense of humor and had that written on both sides of the Switzer. The chunk missing out of it happened when a inboard boat cut into the pits too fast punching a hole in the side almost sinking it.

[2us70]

The Regatta was a very cool looking boat but in J class here in South Florida they just couldn't keep pace with the Critchfields, Kennedys and others. I got involved in trying to set one up to run in FJ but we could not find enough speed. The bottom on this one had a pretty big hook and we only got it to run fast by using the jack from the owner's Vette to jack the hook out of the bottom. We figured a few more passes like that we would pop the deck right off the hull so we abandoned that project.He wound up with a couple of Banshee boats which became the start of Action Marine a couple of years later.

[old rigger]

hey oldfiberglass,
this is Rich, I'm the guy that put you in touch with Roger. I spoke with him awhile back and he said he had heard from you and then he went on to tell me some more stories about Massey and his wings, and about the accident that killed him when they were testing at Elisnore. He also wanted to know if I could remember playing in the wing the many times it was in his driveway over on 64th street in Long Beach while he made repairs between races. I do!

Were you able to pick his brain like you wanted to? Hope so. How's are all your boats coming along? the wing and the powercats?

I have a picture of Dick Scheer (sp?) running a Regatta back then too, which is ironic. Dick is the one who bought out Massey's biz after he was killed. And to make things even more interesting I have pictures of guys running Stylecraft/Regattas. So, somehow Stylecraft, which was located here on Signal Hill in Long Beach and who was famous for their cats, and Regatta which was up in Downey, were connected for a while.

[old rigger]

2us70,
I'm sure you're right about the Regatta's. I was just refering to their speed back in the day on the river in the 60's and early 70's. With a 125 hung on the transom they ran pretty well against other obs on the water back then, not in a sanctioned race, just river racin.

Well... they sure seemed fast to my 12 year old mind at the time. lol

[fyremanbil]

I drove one w/115 merc about 20yrs ago. What a blast, it would slide sideways like a sprint car!

[Back To Havasu]

I raced WOA and Pacific Lagoon in Long Beach from 59-61. Dick Sherrer drove one of the glass over wood Regattas with a 75 Evinrude on it very successfully. He told me he was able to adapt a device to create a forerunner of "power trim," which of course helped him win races. Query: do any of you know whether the glass over wood Regattas were made by the same person/company that made the all glass Regattas of the late 60s-70s? They share the same name, but bear very little resemblance to one another.

[martyblair]

We had two of these boats, from what my dad told me we had the first one (white with orange "target" and a 100 merc) and the 2nd had the same colors also a target paint scheme with a 115.

I also remember our family going to Havasu with Bob and his wife when I was 5. He had great patience, as he taught me how to ski and it took over 20 tries but he finally got me out of the water!

Attached is a photo of Bob in his twin at Havasu

[Hilton]

missed out - 2 years ago

I owned a 1980 18ft Ragatta for 24 years

Check out the "Under 20 ft Section" 9/23/04

Had I listed it as a Ragatta instead of a 18 ft Ski Boat "Sidewinder Woman " might have seen it

Had I read the Forums back then I would have seen her interest in these boats

I did not think any one remembered what a Ragatta was

I also had a 1975 17ft with a Evinrude 135 hp Silver Starflight Motor

[Pinkfloyd]

How rare is this boat? Would a 1969 model be worth much in good condition? And last, are there any links that have further info on the Regatta?

It looks like a really nice boat.

Thanks in advance!

[dbasch]

Thanks for preserving all this history here guys. I am fortunate enough to own a 69 which I will restore someday. It is really neat to learn the story behind my boat. It makes me appreciate it even more now.