Older 13' speedboat

[bcharris]

I recently obtained a cool 13' speedboat, but can't find any i.d. plate to give me a make and model. The only thing I can find is a Wellcraft cover plate on the center of the steering wheel. Nothing I search about Wellcraft has anything with a 13' long hull. The hull been repainted from red to blue, but is in generally good condition. It has an Evenrude Simplex throttle mech and a Johnson 35 hp motor. I'd like to clean it up and make some minor repair, but would like to learn more about the boat first. Can anybody out there make some recommendations on reference material or help identify it???

Thanks bcharris

[Lt. Holden]

Your initial best bet would be to post photos here. The crew is very adept at identifying most UFOs (Unidentified Floating Objects). We love a good mystery!

[bcharris]

Thanks Lt. Holden,

I uploaded some photos to my member gallery bcharris. Not fancy, but they get the point across.

bcharris

[Ike]

Back in the early 80's before the PWC era a lot of boat companies built small out board two seaters with 40 hp or less and called them thrill craft. They were just catching on when the first Jet Ski hit the market. Oops! mistake.

Anyway. Mercury had one of it's own and there was one called a Cougar Cat (it had a sort of catamaran hull) It would not supprise me in the least if Wellcraft made one. However, I have not seen this particular model before.

Does it have a Hull Identification Number (HIN)? It would be in the upper right corner of the transom and would be 12 characters. The first three identify the manufacturer. Some side shots, stern view and close ups would help.

[bcharris]

Thank Ike,

I posted three photos of the boat. I thought it looked older than something from the 80's, could you take a look at the pix and give me your thoughts?

bcharris

[SamSam]

I used to have one. I bought it in the mid 80's and it was allready used and abused and repainted. As with yours, there was no hull # or ID plate, but there was 1 'Wellcraft' logo plate attached to the hull. Mine came with a 60 hp motor but that was too much, a 40hp Yamaha worked swell.

I looked here but didn't find anything, maybe you can join and ask questions or follow some links.
http://www.fiberglassics.com/

[PAR]

That boat appears to be long before HIN requirements were established. There may be a factory ID number stamped into it some place, which might give you some options with Wellcraft records. Does the title say what year?

[Ike]

Here's another one similar called a VaporVette



these were so popular the USCG created a special set of regulations for them. They were:

13 feet or less in length.
Outboard Powered.
2 or less passengers.
Remote steering and 20 inch transom height.
There was a specific test course. The boat must be run through a test course successfully. You can rate it for the horsepower at which it was able to maneuver through the test course successfully. The Maximum horsepower cannot exceed 40 horsepower.

[Wayne West]

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME ANY INFO ON A 1980 VAPORVETTE BOAT BUILT IN LODI CALIFORNIA ? CONTACT wayne4boats @aol.com, PLEASE

[CODY WEBER]

I can help you on the VaporVette Boats Made out of Lodi, Ca. What did you want to Know ???

[JLIMA]

Looks exactly like a boat I redid back in high school, from what I can remember there were several layers of paint with the lowest being red I believe, there was a WellCraft mark on the wheel. Although when i got her she was completely in the $h!ter deck was rotten no controls, seats and the port side of the windshield was imploded. Unfortunately i can't immediately be more helpful....

[Sirenix]

I'd also like to get an aproximate year and model name of the boat too. I got the same boat as the original poster, mine was also origanally red, with the wellcraft steeringwheel. The engine I got on it now probably wasn't original, it has a Mark 35a (built in 1959)

[Ike]

Try the Antique Outboard Motor Club http://www.aomci.org/ Maybe some there can ID the motor for you. they have an Ask A Member board at http://www.aomci.org/faq.htm

By the way, Mercury had a model called Mark 35, but that's just a guess on my part that your engine is a Merc.

[Sirenix]

Oh ya It is a Mercury engine. I just got a service manual on it. That was the easy part finding out what the motor is. but the boat doesn't have any numbers on the Transcom. I got two of the previous registrations for the boat, one of them says 1969, and the other says 1959. I don't really believe that the boat is from 59 but I have no way of really knowing since Im not a boat expert.

[Ike]

It is probably not a 59. Prior to 1972 Hull ID numbers were not required So you won't find any.