Need help picking a fast old hull for an old Mercury 1250

[eddog]

I`m familiar with the old Carlson`s,the no windshield Sidewinders .....But I`m an old fart now and getting the itch to put something together fairly inexpensive and know I probably wont be able to outrun a good bass boat.Anyone have any experience with those two?Other V hulls? How bout some old tunnel hulls? I know some of them just wont get up and run no matter what you do.....and some of them will. Been away from the hot boats for a long time....anybody remember Speedliner ,Cliff Schomberg and son Steve ,Sea Jay Boats......grew up around there. What do you think would run? Thanks eddog

[Mark75H]

A Rabco or Magnum would be my choice or a small V bottom Glastron from the 1960's; an old Sidewinder would be a good choice too.

You are right about not being able to outrun a good bass boat with a 1250 ... too many advances in props, hulls and lower units and way too much power available on them ... half the power - you'd need 1/4 the boat or less

[T2x]

Carlson's are (were) not particularly fast. A good 16 foot Checkmate or Sidewinder from back in the day would do nicely as well as a 14 or 15 foot Glastron (The Checkmates and Sidewinders were "popped" from Glastrons). Best boat for top speed would be a Switzer Shooting Star or an Allison (either Vee or the older flat bottom models), but the ride and handling will not be the best in choppy water.

T2x

[Mark75H]

I agree, the Carlsons, esp the V bottoms are not actually fast compared to the others

[CRMERC]

Hydrostream Viper!! it is a fun little boat with an inline 6 and i would think it would net you the best top end speed out of that motor.

[Viper GTs]

16 foot Checkmate Predictor. 79 and up. Al

[delawarerick]

A 16 rallysport is another clone of a sidewinder and lighter. Rick

[TomAprilsswitzers]

Google; Switzercraft Mash Site And you can pick up an old flat back transom Switzer SS...Quick boat in her day or,depending how much you want to spend, I can direct you to a phone number of a guy who just pulled out a 1965-66 Replica of a Switzer Playboy...with my 1968 125 shorty and a 22 chopper I get about 63mph by myself, not bad for a 700lb boat...I will try to attach some images of it from September where I had her in a car show for the Special Olympics and was able to get the Hooter Girls to climb in and take a few pics....Tom

[oldskier]

A well built Powercat 15c should get you in to the high 50's and maybe more, with a nice ride, PLENTY of passenger space and comfort. They don't have that sleek build of some of the others mentioned but they seem to attract a lot of attention at the ramp.....and they are a BLAST to drive.

[Sutphil]

The 16 Sidewinder Low Pro was/is a nice boat. Seventeen foot J Craft is also nice for skiing on flat water.

[largecar91]

I have a nice old MX-16 Checkmate for sale. Just add a motor. This boat ran a solid 70 with a 150 short shaft Merc. I am pretty close to you too. It is covered up in my barn ready to bolt on an engine and go! There are pictures on this site of it. It has new floor and transom. Dual Ride Guide steering. The transom is drilled for a inline Merc. It's a rock solid and light boat.

[largecar91]

Here is a current pic

[Freddie Webb]

My choice would be a 1969 14' Allison like the one I have. I am a little biased and I think Raceman would agree.

[eddog]

Thanks a lot for those great ideas guys. Looks like there should be more manufactures of little cats ..........Powercat can`t be the only one. I used to run 57/58 with 100 Mercury on a SeaJay pleasure boat class in the late `60`s. Thanks again ed

[Mark75H]

There were a lot of cat makers in the late 50's early 60's era, but the style fell out of favor in the mid-60's ... so you are more likely to find one from that era than newer.

Magnolia, Manta, there is almost an endless list. Few of them were really made for single engines though and the performance of some really suffered with a single engine of the same power of a pair.