Wow, There has been alot happening around here. It is amazing what you miss if you don't log on for a while. I loved the whole deal with Tradition and Fandango. The suspense was built here on "THEE FORUM" for weeks and when the day finally arrived, the rendezvous was documented to the fullest by the participating captians. I will ask what everyone else wants to know, but is afraid to ask....Who won the race?. Don't try to tell me you guys didn't run 'em.



This has to be one of the all time great shots of a Commander doing what they are meant to do!





Note to Paul: Feelgood will volunteer as photo boat for the 2009 Huron Rendezvous, but you gotta bring the Olympus and various lenses.



Yours Truly, Chris Wade

















Added Link:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/424840/message/1227979292

If anyone wants to know more about the FANDANGO, here is the link documenting the arrival of FANDANGO after it was acquired by Reece Ewton, on it's way from Paris Landing on the Tennessee River, upriver on the Cumberland to Old Hickory Lake, where it is now berthed at Gallatin Marina! Regards, Paul

Well, when we saw TRADITION running full steam down river we soon realized that there would not be much of a rach if it ever happened.

So in theory the 38 would have dominated FANDANGO, plus we had a prop off a bit so we never got above 2400 RPM the whole trip.

Maybe once I get a few "secret" and "sleeper" mods finished we can run them.

I have my eyes on a set of dual supercharged cobra engines.


Hopefully 1400 horsepower will give me the edge I need to pul away from the 38.

I knew FANDANGO was wounded, with a vibration issue, and it would have been poor form to suggest a race under those conditions.

Naturally, being the competitive soul that I am, I would naturally wait for the other boat to take on full tanks, and certainly be willing to run with the empty water tanks and partially filled fuel tanks ! Don't tell my secrets to just anyone, okay??

Paul

DId somebody say race?











Don

Did someone say RACE??? You know that isn't taken lightly here in Tennessee, where houswives and youngsters learn to drive (and draft nose-to-tail at high speed during the morning commute) by watching NASCAR.

So we can race as long as we can run what we brung? Let's keep it to classics, we'll be fine!







Photos below were taken by yours truely, at the Race Boat Regatta, Clayton, New York




























Got to love those vintage race boats!

Paul

That is some of the most exotic stuff I've ever seen afloat. The "look" on those two guys aboard that racing skiff say a lot too, ha, they are SERIOUS racers.

What in the blazes is that thing with the twin hemi motors? Notice the carburetion, it looks like one good 4bbl carb could do the same job. Try buying THAT intake manifold on ebay, ha.

What a treat, thank you Paul for posting these photos. Don't know what I would ever see this anywhere else.

Tom

U14, is that Miss America VII? What would a guy have to give for just a ride in THAT! I wanted to attend that regatta, but I think I had a coat of varnish to tend to or something. Do you know of any plans for a nother ACBS Race Boat Regatta? Paul, if would like to expound on U14, please, by all means proceed........

I STILL HAVE THE NEED FOR SPEED, BAD!!

CW

Those boats are cool. I happen to have what is referred to as a "SLEEPER". Its a 1963 21' Lyman with a 327 Chevy with dual quads. I took it to Clayton NY. for the boat show a few years and had some fun messing with some of the varnished boats. Here are a few pictures of a true race boat. LOL









By the way I degreased the motor this fall and plan on giving her a paint job over the winter.

Matt O'Donnell
Race boat driver extraordinaire

18'er with a 350????????? outta do at least a hundo.....CW

The need for speed in a Commander is somewhat tough to satisfy unless you have a rig like Don's. He's got the power, but he also has the light weight and that equals power. He also has the hull, not too deep of a V, fast planing hull of a 31. One thing about speed on the water: it takes a LOT of power to get it, and it takes a lot more power to get a little more. Water friction is huge. I have my 17' rocket ship in the basement now for boat show grade refinishing, and the way my winter is going it may not even see the water next season. I rally should get that one back on the water. The after section of the hull is darn near flat, and it will fly (within the limits of a 300 hp motor in a light boat).

Here's a hemi in a 19 foot CC Racing Runabout, owned by my friend Keith Brayer, and it will do an honest sixty, and nobody knows how much faster. Sixty in a boat like this is fast. Any faster is nuts.



DANCING BEAR, shown in the previous post, belongs to Keith's dad, Kurt, and he built it, raced it, was high point man in APBA F Service Runabout Class for seven (7) years in a row, and the boat (and Kurt) hold two records in that class that will never be broken because it was discontinued by APBA. I've been in the boat twice with Kurt at the wheel, and it was a ride of the lifetime. I actually have a video of one of the rides, and that big hemi was howling. I think we got up to around eighty and he scared the heck out of me, but he was just smiling. Great guys, both of them. Great family too, Marge is right in there with the boys, they all wear their red team jackets to the events.

The Antique Race Boat Regatta is held every two years, and we really should have a Commander Rendezvous there at the same time. If we can get even one boat to host an on board cocktail I'd be very happy! I know we have several Forum participants "up there" near Clayton, so maybe we could get a group of classic fiberglass Commander guys to all meet up there for the week end sometime? Of course, I too have a wood sleeper, but I am intimidated by Matt's twin carbs. Guess I have to go shopping.

Beware, the Keith and Curt Brayer are my speed consultants.

Regards,

Paul

I'm sorry, but you guys are NUTS! I once got my Wellcraft tri hull up to 35 mph and realized what would happen if I hit a log, submarine, or someother boat here on the Potomac River. Whew. Talk about a close call. I had sense enough to shut her down to about 15 mph. Yall have been sniffing too much bilge paint!
Jerry at the point of a fast enough spear.

I say we all hook our trailers up and bring our tenders, dinghies, canoes our whatever and hook up at the next race boat regatta. If we could get a few or even one Commander to raft of off, it could be very memorable. If gas keeps going down maybe I could bring the newly repowered Feelgood......................ah one can only dream! Paul you will have to forgo installing the windshield on the Skiff until after, it looks much faster topless:)CW

I'm sure it is a little faster without the wind screen. That screen would be almost like holding a 4x8 piece of plywood up there. If I'm heading to the Race Boat Regatta with that thing, I would seriously consider installing a 427 in that rig. I wanted to do it from the start, but friend Todd said not to bother and to just "go boating". Probably good advice, but not quite up there on the PCS (Paul's crazy scale) as I'd really like.

The advice was probably good, because that big flywheel on the 427 is probably going to be touching the bottom of the boat, as the 327F flywheel gets aweful close as it is, and as you may have read back before I discovered that hidden open screw hole under an intake flange, would scoop bilge water and spray it around. The only way to tell if a big dog will fit is to give it a try, and that won't happen unless the 327F has to come out for some reason, but then.............?? The existing 2.5:1 reductions are way too big for my skiff too, so I'd be looking for an Interceptor or CC 1.0:1.

For now my need for speed on the water is going to be satisfied with a 17' Sportsman, 1956, which is a light weight hull and has 300 hp, spinning a 12x15. Do the math, it's quick, and may find a few more mph through testing. If that motor comes out, it will go back with yet more steroids. It is strictly a smooth water boat.

The one thing I've noticed with runabouts, is it takes a LOT of additional power to get a few more miles per hour. On cruisers, it's even more of an issue.

Here I am running an old (spare) 13x13 at cruising speed.


here's a 13x14 cupped running a little faster in the skiff. Not much of a speed demon but lots of fun.


Not exactly race boats, but still fun.

regards,

Paul

Finally, a way to categorize our boatitis induced decisions.

" PAUL'S CRAZINESS SCALE "

Further more I must strongly disagree with you for the first time ever!!

Any boat is a race boat when running abreast of another vessel. If you don't believe me, let's go canoeing sometime:).

CW

...........it is still bad form to taunt a fellow boater into a race when you know his boat is wounded a bit.



Regards,

Paul

I think a clarification is in order for new readers world-wide who may be wondering about the WPS and PCS.

Basically the WPS (Weller Pricing Spectrum) is a standard set by Commodore Mark Weller, who hails from All Ports Yacht Club on Western Lake Erie, and unless you stole the boat outright you paid too much for it. The PCS on the other hand, is an easy scale to match or exceed for most avid boaters, it stands for Paul's Craziness Scale, and most of you allready score high points if you are a regular reader of this forum.

Sometimes you find yourself in between both measures, such as the 20' Sea Skiff I recently restored which was high on the PCS (which made me feel good, and was very satisfying), but because I paid too much for it I failed the WPS (which was disconcerting, especially when I was reminded about it, lol).

So guys, if you want to defeat both scales at the same time, get on out there and buy something crazy, pay too much for it, have a ball (and go boating!) Maybe repower with diesel??

Regards,

Paul

Paul,

This scale is originated by Jerry but I have used it in the past. The "JERRY'S BUY IT" scale. If you waited more than 5 minutes to pull the trigger you waited to long. If you see a boat that makes your heart race with a for sale sign on it and you know Jerry would buy it, then you should buy it, especially if its a Commander. All the glory goes to Jerry for showing the rest of us the way. Long live Jerry!

Greg

The JBI scale is best utilized (and savored) as the heart rate is on the way up, and before peaking.



Roy

ALL
As pointed out above, rationality has nothing to do with current tastes and fads. Post production value is based on a function of time, rariety, and personality quirks. When it comes to CCC, I can only say:

HURRY UP! WE HAVE TO BUY THEM ALL BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE DOES. BUY IT, MAN! BUY IT!
(Does any one have any old CCC ballpoint pens?)
Jerry -at the point of the buying spear

I think Jerry should run her on the Uphretes..

Check it out at
http://www.vintageraceboatshop.com/MissAmericaVII.htm

CW

Hi Chris,

Yes, indeed, it was a first class blast, all the way. I almost selected that photo you posted as the "Photo of the day" but thought I'd use the other one. Many good shots came out of the day, and if you use the machine gun approach you will get some good ones.

Here is another shot of the new "Star that was born". Look how pretty that hull is! Sliced through the Cumberland like a hot knife through butter.



As for FEELGOOD being the photo boat, aye Captain, I'd love to bring the camera gear for that ride!!


Regards,

Paul

Chris,

Good points about missing a lot by not logging in frequently, we were on an out of towner, just catching up on my boating fix now. It is so good to see people actually out there on the water using their boats instead of just talking about them, weather and seasonal demands taken into consideration of course.

I like the photo you selected, but here is one that caught my eye. I like the way the boat seems to be catching the only ray of sunshine, against a really forboding background.


Congratulations to Reece and Paul for carrying the flag this week, you guys are an inspiration! That is one of the nice things about this place, there are so many positive perks to inspire people to maintain their boats, and to just go boating in general.

Howard










howard at howardechols@hotmail.com