bobt427

I've been looking at a 40' Excalibur Hawk online. The boat looks good. It dose have the TRS drives, but with Hydraulic steering. The motors are new 500 hp and only have 100 hours on them...I don't know who's motors they are, but have twin carbs and are closed water cooled..not raw water.
It has real nice looking headers on it..but seem to drop down and exit below the water line....why I have no clue?
I've been trying to find info on this boat...and did find an ad from Wellcraft...which this boat is not..it's made by Excalibur...but dose state the weight at 8500......for a 40 ft boat thats not bad. I assume the real weight to be at least 9500..if not more.
The sales guy I talked to..new basically nothing about the boat tech wise.
But has been on the boat and gustimated it did about 67MPH...

Anybody have info on this boat...know what it might do for MPH with that power?
Any clue as to the cabin height on this?
Any help would be great. Thanks

MILD THUNDER

iTrader: (3)

I have a 1982 Excalibur Hawk 40. Mine does 57mph with 4 blades and a pair of 454'420HP engines. I know of the boat you are looking at, it is red and white. It looks real nice from the pics. Excalibur Marine was in Sarasota fl. Bill Farmer was teh owner. They built a great boat. The hawk 40 was named offshore boat of the year in 1982. It was also one of the more expensive offshore boats in that era. Wellcraft bought excalibur mid 1984, and built some hawk 40's in 1985 under the Wellcraft name, but the 1982-1983 Hawk 40's were the best, all hand laid. Some had notched transoms, mine does not, nor does the one you are looking at. Seems the early ones did not have the notch. I think they notched it for a few mph. My boat has about 650 hours on the hull, and has been on Lake Michigan its whole life. It has a few stress cracks around the windshield area, but the boat has held up great, real good construction and rigging. Every little gizmo on the boat still works, switches, lights, etc. The bad thing is they dont have the "Scarab", Fountain, or cigarette name, and most people dont have a clue about them. I had mine for sale, and couldnt even get 20k for it, and its a turn key boat. I pretty much gave up trying to sell it, Im planning on going with some big HP engines, and a paint job over the winter.

They ride great in rough water, lots of cockpit room, great sunpad for tanning, the v berth is over 6', and the u shaped lounge in the galley is great. The headroom isnt much, and the head is not enclosed. Trust me, for 20-30k, you wont find more boat for that kind of money. I think with twin 500's, the boat should run around 63-65.

MILD THUNDER

iTrader: (3)

Theres some pics of mine here


http://www.putfile.com/joegarf

MILD THUNDER

iTrader: (3)

Oh, the boat you are looking at has that funky exhaust setup. The owner told me he did it to kep the noise police from hassling him. The boat is quiet at idle, and is loud underway. Personally, Id plug those outlets somehow, and go straight thru the hull.

bobt427

Hey Mild...thats a nice looking boat you have there. Plus 57 mph with the stock power you have is not bad for that size boat. That's seems on par with any older 38 top gun with that kind of power.
Your right nobody really knows about these boats...and has no "NAME" recognition. I think I've seen that boat for sale before...like he's been trying to sell it for over 2 years now.
There are a few strange things about that boat and some negitive iteams.
The TRS drives of course, you can't get parts for them..to replace them with something else is big money, but at least he does have what seems to be hydraulic steering on it.
The exhaust headers look great..but then to screw it up with that major downturned pipe and the holes in the trans, mean alot of fiberglass work, to set that right.
I don"t know who built the engines..nor more to the point of why you would use twin what looks like standard 600cfm Holleys for a 500 HP motor. So that mess has to come off.
And the throttles have to be changed..(that's just my thing, the stock ones probably work fine)
So I figure I need to throw about 5K at it to fix the exhaust and what not, so the engine can breath right. Then it should do about 65 MPH. Not bad for a boat of that age and size.
Still thats a little slower then I really want to go. I'd be happy with 75....so rather then throw BIG money for new motors Id probably go with a set of Pro-chargers...which I HOPE would give me that speed.
That's IF I decide I really want to put that kind of money into that old of a boat.

bobt427

The other strange thing is he lists this as having an electric flush head with holding tank. How he has that with out some kind of encloser...I don't get. Unless that was an option at the time? But then again he lists a Loran and GPS on the boat..which don't show in the pic's..or any wires for that type hookup. Unless he's got some hand held thing.

The other MAJOR problem..as you stated....you can't sell the boat! Like I said I think he's had it up for sale at least for 2 years...not that the boating market is good for selling any type boat now. But a non "Brand" name boat that's an 82...like you said..you have to give it away.
I'm going to wait till the season is over to buy anything.....
If he's still tring to sell it....I'd really only offer about 25K considering I have to throw 5K at it, to fix what he did.
I can buy a 88-90 34 Scarab 3 for that money, with Bravo's, or a Donzi 33......and at least get most of the money back on it after a couple of years.

MILD THUNDER

iTrader: (3)

My buddy has a 1988 Scarab III that I run with all the time. I have much seat time in that scarab as my Hawk. Scarab III has no comparision quality wise, and obviously the ride isnt as nice as mine in the rough. Nonetheless a great boat. I think he may let it go for around 18k with the trailer. Hull has a lot of hours, but engines and drives were recently rebuilt.

Back to the Hawk. Mine has a electric head too, its just not enclosed. Its on the starboard side in the cabin, and has a curtain that you close for privacy. I hear you on the carbs, I dont get that mess either. The exhaust would have to go. The TRS drives have been great to me, havent blown one yet. Im easy on the holeshots though, I mean, its a old heavy wave crusher, not a drag boat. Plus with Konrad drives around, it makes owning a TRS a better idea. They bolt right on the TRS gimble. Doesnt get easier than that, and drive worries are over for good. As a reference, I paid 25k in 2005 for mine, but that one looks like it may be a cleaner boat than mine. Mine has lots of little nicks and stuff from the docks, etc. But at the time, I couldnt find anything decent for the big lake for 25k, and Id take the Hawk anyday over a Scarab III, or Donzi 33. But i like going out in the rough water, and not getting beat to death. If you go to the Excalibur Section of this site, there are a few hawk 40 owners and some good info on Excalibur Marine. Retail on mine in 1982 was 115k with the trailer.

excalibur32

Well, Reggie Fountain thought Bill Farmers Excaliburs were pretty good, that is who built the first executioners, fountain and excalibur.Let's see Chris Craft like the design they built their 390 hulls from them molds, 312 stingers from them there molds. They are great boats way ahead of their time, and still alot of them around, and no pesky steps to kill you with a barrel roll. Buy it!

bobt427

I don't have any seat time in the Scarab 3 but I did own a 88Donzi 33 Crossbow. Just from inspecting the 2 boats the Donzi seemed to have a better built hull...at least heavier. But with that hull design..I could still go 65mph with stock 365hp mercs, with bravo's. The cabin in the Donzi is pretty cramped, compared to the Scarab. How does the Hawk cabin compare to the Scarab? Same height? or shorter?

Putting Konrad drives on the Hawk..would cost more then the Boat..LOL Unless there prices dropped alot. There at least 10K a drive, i think.
The boat is "mostly" going to be used in the bay and i don't slam the throttles for take off. The boat will NEVER come out of the water in the bay..no matter who's wake you cross. The Donzi never did so i don't expect the Hawk too...going 65-75 with the TRS "SHOULD" not be a problem....I only run full out for a few min's at a time....mostly for races. Most of the time I cruse at 3k.
The only problem I see..with the drives anyway..is running off shore and slamming the throttles on and off, when the boat starts to "fly" and the props come out of the water.
Then again how well is a heavy 82 hull going to stand up being slammed in the ocean?
I'm sure you get some nasty lake waves...but not sure it's like the ocean. Even on a pretty com day you can "fly" the boat at speed.

Ted G

iTrader: (1)

Those engines were built by Innovation if you're talking about the Ex here in MD. I saw the boat out last year and it looks fair for it's age, dated, but still pretty much together. The fresh water cooling is nice and the exhaust is kinda cool, those headers will kind of wear you out on long idles.