14 foot Raveau

[David]

I've had a hankering for a Raveau since reading about them in Hotboat in 2000. This year I finally bought one. The boat is the last Raveau ever built, in 2018. As near as I, or the previous owner, can tell from the serial number, the motor is a 1962. I hope the motor is serviceable, as it looks right on the boat. The motor did require some work, so I have not used the boat yet. I picked up the boat from repair today and the Merc got new magneto covers and bearings, new shifter parts, new gearcase seals, a new waterpump, and a new propshaft bearing. Weirdly, the motor has no alternator and never did have one.

There are no registration numbers on the boat. The seller says its only been wet three times.

Just to piss some of you off, I attached a picture of my EV attached to the boat and trailer. It's a light boat - for today's 52 mile tow, the EV was fine. We did not take the EV to Michigan to collect the boat from the former owner. Even with a light boat, a long trip in an EV would be a pain. And sorry Frank Mole, for not using your services. I wasn't going to go to Florida or Maine where I also found Raveaus for sale and had contacted Frank about delivery. Michigan was manageable.

For short tows with my SS2000, the EV is awesome. AWD and instant torque.

[CUDA]

Termite

In 1959, Mercury founder Carl Kiekhaefer signed Marcel Raveau, a highly regarded builder based in Long Island, to a one-year contract to build boats in Sarasota, which he would then enter in the new American Power Boat Association (APBA) Outboard Pleasure Craft racing classes as an unofficial factory team. One of the men hired to help build, test and race these boats was 20-year-old Bob Walwork, shown in this 1960 photo testing a 13-foot Class D Utility Raveau powered by a Mercury Mark 55 outboard. Walwork had recently moved to Florida with his family after his parents sold a marina in Penn Yan, New York, where Bob had worked since he was a boy and had started racing boats at age 7. Walwork worked with Raveau until the contact was fulfilled. The pair teamed up again in the early 1960s, when Walwork won several offshore endurance races in the Miami area in Raveau hulls. Raveau retired to his native France in 1963, and Walwork enjoyed a career working at several boat companies and later as an independent design consultant based in Palmetto, Florida.


Come on you like that French name


I remember what the other one you were looking at $$$

I just bought a dingy, Stryker 1250 sport fiberglass with 2001 40hp 4 stroke Yamaha, trim and tilt ,nice factory trailer, $3,400.00, a lot less than yours's Huh




I was at Home Depot and they said price increases are on the way, Tariffs our new TAX, that should stimulate the building, make it more expensive

[David]

Mr Walwork worked with Mr Raveau making boats in the early 1960s and continued after Mr Raveau returned to France. Mr Walwork shut down Raveau in 1965 as boats had shifted to fiberglass. He built a boat for the Mount Dora show in 1996 and then resumed production due to the interest the boat generated.

[CUDA]

I see the different accents, cool

Now RBT needs to buy this one so you two can race,
That Mount Dora show is always good

I'll be moving to East Palatka Fl later this year,

So if your down for the show you can camp out, Dora is 75 miles away from the Saint John's river.

You just have to bring some real

Peameal Canadian Bacon


They have no idea what it is around here




The boat below has spent 60 years in storage

I never saw a motor like this one.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...22570459%22%7D



That motor is very rare
https://www.mecum.com/lots/518991/19...rd-boat-motor/

[John S]

That boat is beautiful David. Congratulations, and what a great rig to cruise the shoreline of your lake. SS for adrenaline, Raveau for nostalgia. Two different kinds of dopemine rushes.

And who cares what people think of the EV. Like everything else, they have an application that works for some things, doesn't for others. Kinda like boats.

[DangerNewb]

Mr Walwork worked with Mr Raveau making boats in the early 1960s and continued after Mr Raveau returned to France. Mr Walwork shut down Raveau in 1965 as boats had shifted to fiberglass. He built a boat for the Mount Dora show in 1996 and then resumed production due to the interest the boat generated.

Congratulations. She's a beauty!

[mr fun]

Don't change a thing ! Awsome as is , guessing low 40's mph , play with some props but don't expect to much from her , hold your head high and ENJOY ! don't break that motor , no parts

[CUDA]

http://www.antiqueboatamerica.com/Bo...Raceboat_40598

RBT special

[David]

0 mph so far. The motor dies when I put it in gear. I will try to get it fixed after next weekend’s boat show.

The boat in Cuda’s post above is a 13’ kneel down. I am past kneel down boats, so I did not consider that one.

[David]

34 mph with two on board. It has no power trim and clearly did not have enough trim with me in front and my repair guy driving. On the other hand, I'm not sure it would plane trimmed up another notch or two. Time will tell.

I have not driven it solo yet. On Saturday my brother and I went on a 2 hour cruise. We came very close to running out of fuel. The 5 gallon tank was down to 1/4". I ran light throttle the whole time.

For the day, an hour tow each way in the EV, 2 hours of boating, and only used 5 gallons of gas. Cheap fun, except for the part about buying the boat, fixing the motor, and buying the EV. And only embarrassing when I was backing up the trailer. I'd best practice.

[CUDA]

Have you had it Inspected for termites ?

Looks good

So you have the woodless Allison

and Da Woodie

[John S]

I love the old motors. The design teams really did their work back then to make those motors beautiful. A foil on the cav plate would probably solve the trim angle issue. But I'm pretty sure you don't want to drill any holes on that time capsule, lol.

Some more pics of it in action would be appreciated.

[108]

That's is beautiful, congrats

[XstreamVking]

Cool boat David. Looks like a lot of fun to be had. It will run out a lot better when you are solo.

[David]

38-39 solo today. It was the first time I ran the boat by myself and the last this year. I trimmed it out another notch. It was perhaps too much trim for solo - in mild chop the boat porpoised a bit. I can see the limitations of 1960ish 2 blade bronze props. The prop would lose bite in turns, especially with 2 of us in the boat. It also sometimes lost bite accelerating. 15" mid, 16.5" transom. Next summer, I can drop it a notch and see how that works solo.

On the other hand, the 2 blade prop looks perfect. There is a borrowed 3 blade aluminum prop on a shelf in my garage that is not going on the motor.

40 would have been nice, but its fast enough for a smile. It goes into storage this weekend.