HELP !! what is this boat

[duskyboy561]

So maybe to some this is an easy one but with my zero knowledge of "speed boats" i cant figure it out. However before i get into all this I would like to admit Ive never been over 55mph on a boat but i badly want to go much faster so I would just like some info and first hand knowledge of this particular hull. I am not in possession of the boat yet and just wanted to know what is it, how many feet it is, possibly a year, what size motor is good for it, how it rides and handles and other things of that sort. Any and all help would be appreciated.

[pointer]

Sidewinder perhaps?

Pointer

[TooStroked]

Hammered.

[Capt.Insane-o]

free I hope, but yeah Sidewinder.

[duskyboy561]

Anyone know anything about them then ?

[Da Bull]

It could also be a copy of a Sidewinder. It was one of the most copied boats of all time i belive. Actually Sidwinder copied the Tahiti. Thats windshield looks added.

DB

[Raceman]

I like Sidewinders. I have 2, including one that I bought new in 1974. I start off with that because I do know a little bit about them. There are several details on the side of the boat that make me think it is not a Sidewinder. If not, it's certainly similar but there were a lot of knockoffs back then. That one looks to be a mess. There is a windshield their somewhere under all that cheezy vinyl wrap. Who knows what it looks like after it's removed. As with any old boat you need to know if the transom is solid. The wood can get wet and worthless after years of bad storage. Also, the Sidewinders and their cousins don't have stringers in the bottom under the floor. They are a piece of plywood layed on top of foam similar to styrofoam. This can become soggy and either swell causing humps in the floor or just be useless as support for the bottom. It would be a pretty big project to replace the transom, remove the floor and replace the foam with a few stringers and glass as they should have been made and then glass a floor back in. The Sidewinders and all of the similar boats had a V bottom with a rounded V that has no defined pad at the bottom. They become hard to drive in the low 60's and virtually unmanageable in the mid 60's. They can be made to handle similarly to most high perf V bottoms by glassing something similar to a pad on the bottom giving it some definition rather than having it wallow around on that rounded bottom at speed. The other problem that I see with that boat is that it's sitting on a trailer that's way too short and it's not properly supported under the bottom. If it's been like that long it's almost sure to have a severly hooked bottom that will be another major challenge to fix. Even if the boat was in good shape I don't think you're in danger of running much over 55 with it with the engine shown. Probably less. There's what looks to be a lot better one on E Bay right now that I got a notice on this morning since I keep Sidewinder on my saved searches list.

This is an 18' Sidewinder. Notice the difference in the shape from the one pictured above where the windshield meets the hull at the backs of the braces. The black highlights were added by a previous owner one of the 3 times that I sold it. They will be removed when it's restored and it's getting a pair of 1500XS's.

[Slimm]

you can use the HIN here ==>> http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/mic1.aspx and hopefully that will tell you something about it.

Slimm

[duskyboy561]

thank you raceman i appreciate the incite. I am certainly not afraid of the work I do fiberglass for a living and this project would certainly be a challenge but id be up for it. If i do get it I am getting it bare with no engine and had planned to redo the entire boat using high end composites and vinyl ester resin to try to make it as light as possible. So if you were to do this project if it were worth considering no hooks in the hull or some other sort of non fixable nightmare what engine do you think you would go with and is there any other modifications you can do to the hull or otherwise to make the boat design better than factory.

[Slimm]

I do window film and vinyl sign work so I am used to having to remove that stuff without scratching or harming what's under it. So if you do get the boat and decide to remove the vinyl covering the windshield make sure you use a heat gun to warm it as you pull. Not too hot but when it gets warm the adhesive is a little more apt to release from the windshield which I assume is lexan. If glue remains you can use original 409 to dissolve most adhesives that I have encountered.

Good luck with your project.

[Instigator]

Thats windshield looks added.

DB

Yep.
I think thats part of the deck and never seen one on a Tahiti.