fdexter

This Larry Smith high deck Kevlar offshore 50 was commissioned by Drambuie Liquors for long distance, rough water racing. It is the ultimate Larry Smith Scarab, being the only Kevlar high deck 50 he built, and Drambuie ordered the molds destroyed after completion. "Tantalus" had four CAT diesels and #6 drives and earned the World Record for the Round Britain Race in 1992 in 44 hours, plus other long distance wins.

See video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx0yd...ature=youtu.be

AND THEN THE TRAIN WAS COMING...........and the train hit the truck towing Tantalus as it was crossing the tracks returning from a Miami promo event. ALMOST end of story. Tantalus was flipped off the trailer and the front 8 feet of the hull was fractured away at about 30 degrees. $1.3 million dollar (1990 money) boat trashed. Thereafter it sat at the back of the storage building at T&T Marine in Miami - for years. When T&T decided to relocate in the early 2000's I was able to purchase both boat and trailer. The trailer was later sold and replaced with a new custom aluminum trailer.

For about 18 months / $65K Tantalus got lots of serious restoration. It was discovered that one of the reasons for the extensive damage was some "dry lay-up" delamination in the bow area. Using Kevlar cloth and LOTS of vinyl ester resin (original spec) the hull was repaired "better than new". The deck also received significant work, but was not completed. Full restoration was never finished - I am 70 with too many projects. But the boat has been saved, to be completed another day.

The bottom has been detailed (not blue printed) and painted with ablative paint, and the sides have white Imron as a base for future graphics - looks great. The transom #6 holes were very carefully, and structurally, closed and sealed. Time for turbines, maybe? 1,200 gallon fuel capacity / 11 tanks provides enough juice for any amount of horsepower.

That's The Story - Drambuie Tantalus Lives !!

Padraig

Great story. Pictures please.

Padraig

bck

I guess this is it.
https://youtu.be/hx0yd1Jdrpg

fdexter

I hope to get some pics up this wknd. Glad you guys like the story. Lotta work. Very cool boat. Thnx to Olli for YouTube link.

fdexter

PS to you New York guys - I am originally from Lake George & Albany. Boat is now in Nevada near Lake Mead (Vegas).

cadillacboats@me

One thing you forgot, me breaking the bow off coming back from Nassau. Running in a following sea of maybe 4 to 5' a fell into a hole on the back of a rouge wave. Very scary. I was the lucky Capt. for Dramburi and Cat for the 46' and the 50". Great people to work for. I even had the pleasure of going to Iyalt to drive the 46' in a TV commercial for Drambuei. Cadillac

fdexter

Cadillac - That is MOST interesting. Adds to the history. Perhaps also explains the delam we found in the bow area which appeared to be from a previous repair, not original. Much or the resto time in that area was grinding out all of the old Kevlar that had separated. And it really did look "dry" from insufficient resin saturation. (DO YOU KKNOW WHAT SHOP DID THE REPAIR?) As part of our fix a 3/4 inch platform (bed) was installed across the bow V, with an small access door down to the bow bilge. That was done both for possible future recreational use and to stiffen / reinforce that section. I hope to get some pics up this wknd. Thanks for the comment, and I am sure driving it was a blast (minus bow issue, haha.)

fdexter

Cadillac - As the person who probably knows the most about the Drambuie Tantalus racing history, could you post any info on those races / records, please? I was unable to obtain much info from T&T Marine at the time of purchase. Thanks - Dexter

olli

Have a look at these two articles from Graham Stevens' incredible archive:

http://www.powerboatarchive2.co.uk/g...2/Drambuie.pdf

http://www.powerboatarchive2.co.uk/g...Tantalus_2.pdf