On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 06:40:16 -0700 (PDT), wrote:


My uncle sold some boats called AquaKarts once in the early 70's They
had McCullough engines and looked like miniature hydro racing boats.
The boat you describe sounds like one I had seen in Florida when I was
in grade school.

What I saw might have been a one off. It was a real simple shell,
like a 12" deep bathtub with the sides flared out 6".
If I see something like it I'll post a link.
Maybe my memory is failing too, but I saw it pretty close a number of
times.

--Vic

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:24:02 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Back in the late '50's when I spent my summers rowing around fishing
in Bluff Lake in Illinois' Chain-O-Lakes, there was kid about my age
who had a little speedboat.
He didn't take it out often, and never bothered the fishermen, which
at the time were virtually the only lake users.
The boat looked to be for a single person, and had about 6" of
freeboard. Maybe 10' long, 4' beam.
He had a "huge" motor, maybe a 25hp Johnson or Evinrude. Not a Merc
for sure.
That thing would fly, maybe 50mph, and jump even small waves.
Had to be almost flat and the lake almost empty for him to take it
out. I got the impression he used it because he had it, not because
he particularly enjoyed it much. Never saw him out for more than
about 15-20 minutes.
Only one I ever saw. It was red, and I'm almost sure it was glass.
Ring any bells?

That's nothing, there was a ten foot three point hydroplane on Spirt
Lake Iowa, back in the fifties. Had an eighteen horse motor.

Casady

Richard Casady wrote:
On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:24:02 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Back in the late '50's when I spent my summers rowing around fishing
in Bluff Lake in Illinois' Chain-O-Lakes, there was kid about my age
who had a little speedboat.
He didn't take it out often, and never bothered the fishermen, which
at the time were virtually the only lake users.
The boat looked to be for a single person, and had about 6" of
freeboard. Maybe 10' long, 4' beam.
He had a "huge" motor, maybe a 25hp Johnson or Evinrude. Not a Merc
for sure.
That thing would fly, maybe 50mph, and jump even small waves.
Had to be almost flat and the lake almost empty for him to take it
out. I got the impression he used it because he had it, not because
he particularly enjoyed it much. Never saw him out for more than
about 15-20 minutes.
Only one I ever saw. It was red, and I'm almost sure it was glass.
Ring any bells?

That's nothing, there was a ten foot three point hydroplane on Spirt
Lake Iowa, back in the fifties. Had an eighteen horse motor.

Casady


An Evinrude Fastwin? Great motors. I had a couple.

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:23:20 GMT, (Richard
Casady) wrote:

That's nothing, there was a ten foot three point hydroplane on Spirt
Lake Iowa, back in the fifties. Had an eighteen horse motor.

My brother and I had a homebuilt 3 point hydro in the early 60s. It
was 8 ft long and scary fast with an old Merc 7 1/2 on it. Control
was a big issue and it required a bit of body english to get it
turning properly. Freeboard was just about non-existent, with a 1 ft
wake enough to submarine it.

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:39:17 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:23:20 GMT, (Richard
Casady) wrote:

That's nothing, there was a ten foot three point hydroplane on Spirt
Lake Iowa, back in the fifties. Had an eighteen horse motor.

My brother and I had a homebuilt 3 point hydro in the early 60s. It
was 8 ft long and scary fast with an old Merc 7 1/2 on it. Control
was a big issue and it required a bit of body english to get it
turning properly. Freeboard was just about non-existent, with a 1 ft
wake enough to submarine it.

In Norwalk Harbor there were always a bunch of home made little
hydro's. They used to have plans in the back of magazines that told
how to make one using two sheets of plywood. It didn't take much power
to make them fly. Lots of kids built them in woodshop class.

"Richard Casady" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:24:02 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Back in the late '50's when I spent my summers rowing around fishing
in Bluff Lake in Illinois' Chain-O-Lakes, there was kid about my age
who had a little speedboat.
He didn't take it out often, and never bothered the fishermen, which
at the time were virtually the only lake users.
The boat looked to be for a single person, and had about 6" of
freeboard. Maybe 10' long, 4' beam.
He had a "huge" motor, maybe a 25hp Johnson or Evinrude. Not a Merc
for sure.
That thing would fly, maybe 50mph, and jump even small waves.
Had to be almost flat and the lake almost empty for him to take it
out. I got the impression he used it because he had it, not because
he particularly enjoyed it much. Never saw him out for more than
about 15-20 minutes.
Only one I ever saw. It was red, and I'm almost sure it was glass.
Ring any bells?

That's nothing, there was a ten foot three point hydroplane on Spirt
Lake Iowa, back in the fifties. Had an eighteen horse motor.

Casady

The "Crackerbox racer"