Can you identify my boat?

I recently acquired a boat from my in-laws estate in upstate NY and relocated her to VA (after $2500 of trailer repairs). I suspect she is from the late 50's..maybe '57-'59. She is roughly 18' long and is wooden. She has an Evinrude "Four Fifty" outboard. According to my wife, she hasn't seen water since the early 80's. The most recent registration we have was from '83 but just shows her as 'wood' (no make/model). It's been sitting in my in-laws garage for at least 30 years. The bench seat across the stern lifts and houses the fuel tank.

Can you help me know what brand/make and maybe model she is?

All things considered, she's in very good condition. The inside is in remarkable condition. All the trim (skid strips on the sides, cleats, etc.) are all in tact. No doubt she'll need some hull sanding and refinishing plus a little repair work on the fore deck. The canvas is shot but that's an easy fix. But for boat that's nearly 50 years old....she's not too shabby.

Any help you can offer to identify her is greatly appreciated. I'm also open to tips and tricks on the restoration.

 

When I saw this I was reminded of some how-to-build articles I'd run across.

Swish, from March 1958 Popular Mechanics (you can see these free on Google Books), had similar thick fins but at 15' a bit short.

Cobra and Seafury, both in PDF format on Svenson's (http://www.svensons.com/boats/) had thinner fins and were likewise 15' long.

Close but no cigar.

This book, http://www.amazon.com/Tail-Fins-Two-Tones-Fiberglass-Runabouts/dp/1928862101 , or something like it may (or may not) have info.

Have you gone to Google Books and looked through mid-to-late 1950s Popular Science or Popular Mechanics (or similar publication) to see if it's from plans they printed?

EDIT: a thought, if she WAS home built then her plans may be among packed away magazines or shop stuff, maybe even filed away ... have you searched the (proverbial if not literal) attic?

 

Wow, that engine would be more than 50 years old, it looks more like 1950's.

 

Yeah ... the whole thing (notice the reflection in the finish on the wood bench seats?) screams for TLC and faithful restoration. Beautiful engine included. May not be like finding a pristine Duesenberg is some garage but it isn't to be sneezed at ... I mean, we can't all be Leno, right?

 

Yes, it seems in pretty good nick from this distance, and might be a nice restoration, complete with the vintage engine. The idea of restoring something that looks like a pile of junk to start with, doesn't appeal to me, but this seems to have good "bones".

 

The engine is 1958 or 1959, by my memory. The Starflight II came out in '60 I think. The boat looks familiar, but I can't place it without running though some old brochures. Maybe a "Holmes" out of Texas.

 

What a difference that being in a garage all this time makes, eh?

I wish the original poster well with that sweet find.

 

Well, some make a living out of it . . . ​

Near Melbourne, but that's in Florida . . . ​

 

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says that the '58 starflite had a metal hood and the '59 had a glassfibre one.

 

That's right Angelique, people can be suckered into buying stuff that is in an advanced state of decrepitude, especially if it is given a description suggesting an intriguing attribute, such as "antique finish" or "historical charm".

 

Thus the movie: The Money Pit.

... which I highly recommend, btw.

(Captain Ron was probably way, way too optimistic about the value of spit shine)

 

That's a 'glass cover, so maybe it's a '59, but I've found the "I-Boats" site less than reliable in regard to accurate information.

 

About restoring an old house ? Such places are called "ideal renovators" by real estate agents. Or more colloquially, if the foundations are ricketty, "movers and shakers"

 

Restoration suspects are a very difficult thing to quantify. It takes a pretty experienced eye to tell what's really what and which should be taken on as a project. A seemingly pristine exterior can lead you down an ugly path, many of us know well. A title search might lead to a manufacturer or builder as might a registration search. Also looking around under the fore and aft decks might yield a builder's mark or plate. If you have the registration, it will have a "HIN" on it. The first three digits of the HIN will offer up the manufacture. If the HIN has a "Z" as one of these first 3 digits, it's listed as a home built, likely because when the HIN was assigned, they didn't know what it was.

As to restoration, well this is a can of worms and you have to initially decide what you want from this boat, as this will determine how and what you'll do to this old lass. The first thing to do is get it shored up properly, so the hull can't distort as things get removed. This means the trailer isn't enough, so make up some athwart forms to conform the the boat's deadrise, at two or three locations along its length. Next you'll want to remove and catalog all the hardware and little bits of stuff, with the eventual goal of stripping everything off the boat, engine, controls, steering cleats, tanks, plumbing, electrics, moldings, etc. The reason is, the bedding under these things will need to be renewed anyway, but the finishes will need attention first. With all the metal and plastics removed, you can better assess the condition of the boat's surfaces.

 

The chances of finding something like that in its seemingly good condition in Australia would be near zero.