16' Raveau Hull Photo

[XSRaveau]

Here is the Raveau's "Z-Plane" hull from the stern, showing the notch in the pad of ~4" and the ~10" afterplanes. Bottom is very solid, about 1", and is nailed and glued. Transom height is 22". Should put the XS propshaft just below the pad.

[nelsoncat]

Do you have to fill the hull with water to swell the wood like my buddy does with his Chris Craft?

Nelsoncat

[Flat Out]

Don't scratch that nice transom. It's a shame that you may have to drill holes in it.
Looks fantastic, enjoy it.

[XSRaveau]

that I have to drill holes in it. Bought a set of forstner bits from garrettwade.com just for the job. Bad part is, once they are drilled out, they are pretty much there unless I wanted to dowel them in later. Given that, I am pretty much obligated to a given engine height.

Having a 1/8" stainless plate sheared to fit to the outside, will polish it up bright for the nice look. Inside, he has a 1/4" aluminum plate for the transom clamps.

Boat is watertight, no soaking needed here:)

[dragonwolfe]

XSRaveau:

Got any more pics of that beauty? Some of the best times of my childhood were in wooden craft. Nothing like wood, my girlfriend will agree with that!

[XSRaveau]

if the sun is shining!

[Liqui-Fly]

You aren't in NY are you?
David

[XSRaveau]

where winter days are 80 degrees sometimes:)

[Liqui-Fly]

I thought those boats were being built by someone in Upstate NY and remember HotBoat doing a special on the resurrection a few years ago. Sweet boat with an inline.
David

[woodco]

Nothin like a good Woodie............

Fly,

I know the company yur talkin about I'll send ya the info in the mornin.

[nelsoncat]

Anybody know what issue had the article on the RAVEAU. I have been trying to find it with out sucess.
Nelsoncat

[XSRaveau]

August of 2000, the Trailer Boat's issue was Febuary of '99.

BTW, how fast is that TigerShark running with the 1400?

[dragonwolfe]

I found an interesting history on these boats, read on,

Raveau Boats
....a brief history
Raveau boats were first built by Marcel Raveau in 1939 in Long Island, New York. In the late 1940's the boats became known for their success in racing the grueling Albany to New York Marathon down the Hudson River.

In 1957, Carl Kiekhaefer, owner of Kiekhaefer Corp., ordered four Raveau boats to be used to test the Mercury outboard motors. These boats were used for the famous "50,000 Mile Endurance Record". Two 15' Raveau hulls were rigged with Mercury Mark 75 engines. The United States Auto Club (USAC) was on hand 24 hours a day to certify the test. At the completion of 25,000 miles, the motors were inspected and then installed on two 16' Raveau hulls for running the remaining 25,000 miles. The longer boats were used because of the windy weather and rough water, which was developing. Click on this sentence to see a copy of the Official USAC Record. This feat led to the development of the test site that is now known as "Lake X".

In 1959, Kiekhaefer hired Marcel Raveau to build a fleet of racing boats for the newly formed "Outboard Pleasure Craft" class of the American Power Boat Association. A facility was opened in Sarasota, Florida, and Bob Walwork was hired to work with Raveau. For the next 15 months many different types and sizes were developed. Boats were built for each size Mercury motor from 40 h.p. runabouts to twin engine catamarans powered by 6 cylinder Mercurys. The boats were successfully raced in everything from short closed course races to marathons lasting as long as the famed "Nine Hour Orange Bowl Regatta".

When Raveau's contract was finished, he continued working by himself building racing boats until he was again joined by Bob Walwork in 1962. The following year Raveau and his wife, Lucy, decided to retire to France. They turned the business over to Walwork, who continued to build the Raveau race boats until April 1965. At this time Raveau boats had set more than 50 World Records!

In 1993, while attending an antique boat show at Mt. Dora, FL, an old friend, Gene Fleming, suggested it would be nice to see a Raveau on display at the show. Two years later a second generation, original 15' Raveau was displayed. After this a 13' class "DU" was built.

In April 1996, Mr. Tim Newman of Apopka, FL, produced a photo of a 1961 16' Raveau "Bomb", being driven by Craig DeWald, and and asked if a boat like this could be built again. A new interest in Raveau boats was becoming apparent. It was decided to build this boat again, but using a new style V bottom, which would be more comfortable for today's use. The new 16' V bottom was launched during the Mt. Dora show in March 1997. The boat, powered with a 1962 Mercury 100 h.p. engine, was driven by Jim Hunt, an old Raveau driver. It is considered by several old-timers to be one of the finest Raveau boats ever built. At this time the second generation Raveaus, which are not a reproduction, but the continuation of the production by one of the original builders, is underway on a limited basis.

[nelsoncat]

With the original 1400 and a 21" aluminium prop and 4 guys it would do 53 according to the Mercury speedo but with the replacement powerhead and a 22" stainless chopper its best is about 49 depressing mph. See my story in thread titled While we are on the subject of old Mercs. I know there is more to achieve but didn't know where to begin. The motor will easily rev 5800 with that prop but haven't had the opportunity to try anything bigger. The boat has a 15" transom so even with the short shaft mid it still could use a jack and more pitch. I weighed the boat a couple of years ago and fully rigged, full of fuel and life jackets ski gear etc it weighed about 1200 lbs. I don't know if that is heavy or not. It is a great ski boat and handles like a Corvette so I didn't want to give that up.
Thats why I bought the Vector to satisfy my need for speed but still want to squeeze more out of the Shark; Part of the reason I am so interested in your project. Keep us posted.

Nelsoncat

[22VelocityProMax300]

XS Raveau, Back in 1957 I used to race against a Raveau,in New Jersey. The owner had a 40 hp Merc on the boat he would run 46mph in light runabout outboard pleasure craft. I had a 15 Lyman with the first Mark 75 shipped into New Jersey. I would turn 51 mph . I would beat the Raveau the on the straights but then he was able to turn his rig a lot quicker on turns. we wound up splitting the number of races we would win. We used to use shims of wood to jack up the engines,and a 2 blade bronze prop that was cupped was the speed prop that gave us a few extra miles an hour. Boy things have sure changed. Frank

[XSRaveau]

pics from those days?

Bob Walwork, who is building the Raveau's, and who built them with Marcel Raveau (and later worked for Carl K. heading up the Boathouse Bulletin program at Lake X) has lots of old photos of the boats during their heyday.

Really is fun seeing the history.