WTB Volvo/Roca Speed Rails
05-19-2012, 01:47 AM
#1
WTB Volvo/Roca Speed Rails
I know that the speed rail discussions are prone to some interesting responses, but I have a valid reason for looking for a set, so lets avoid the drama.
Long story, but my family has been in the boat business since 1962, until today (weird). So, needless to say, we've owned a LOT of boats. Dad has way too many toys now and is very much the cobbler w/o shoes. I'm hoping that with todays sale, he can focus on finishing the restoration on his '71, 42 Grandbanks. It's at the 85% stage and looks amazing, just needs the last 15% in the staterooms.
The true love of his life in the boat world though is his '73 Chris Craft XK-22. My grandfather took the boat on trade in 1974 and sold it a year later. My dad was so obsessed with that boat that he went looking for her around 1990. He found the previous owner and they still had it, but not for long. I remember the commotion of all his friends and how excited everyone was to have the boat back in the family.
A couple of days later on a cold October morning, we had a boat full of people and splashed her in the Ohio river for a quick evaluation run. I was about 14 and remember being tasked with keeping an eye on the oil pressure gauge in the engine compartment and how it never really came up. So, the patient needed a heart transplant along with some plastic surgery.
I remember the boat being tucked back in the back of his main building behind two 50+'ers and being stripped down to nearly nothing. This was my first big block building experience and as much fun as the engine work was, I had my plate full with varnish and sanding. Since dad likes those 10+ coat jobs, I spent a LOT of time with the highgrit!
A year later, the monster arose. I know a single screw 23' boat is small for this group, but monster is the right word. 400hp 454, all new interior, gellcoat wet sanded, new teak platform, barrier coat inside and out. After just a couple of test runs, it was obvious how fast the boat was. He was running a drive that wasn't designed for the application (volvo dp), but it did surprisingly well.
Around that time, he bougt a set of speed rails. He installed them per the instructions and the results were surprising. Picked up 500rpm and 5-6 mph on the top end. The boat ran a legitimate 79-80 mph and handled like a dream. I was only allowed to drive w/o him in the boat maybe 3-4 times and I can attest to the butter smooth ride once she got aired out.
He was prety agressive with the boat and loved to do some street fighting with the "hot boats" on KY Lake. I remember the look on the faces of the guys with flame red checkmates, flashy bajas, baby fountains or scarabs as they got spit out the back. The most fun was the bass boaters with neck collars and helmets. Sorry boys, that ranger with a 200 may be quick, but...
We had several people over the years stop by the houseboat to ask about the boat b/c they had never seen one till they ran against it. Without fault, they would be shocked to hear they had been dusted by a '73.
That boat provided the soundtrack of my high school summers with the sound of the 454 through 4" wet pipes. At one point it even scared one college girlfriend enough to yell at my dad, lol. She wasn't a boat boat person.... The story took several twists and turns as we grew and went off to college, but the boat now sits on its trailer, wrapped in two tarps in a barn w/o an engine.
I've tried unsuccessfully to wrestle it from him for the past seven or eight years always thinking, this year, this year..... Usually every four or five months I'll do a search online for a sister ship, but have never found a viable candidate.... till last week. My wife told me, "No", but you can guess how that went.... She doesn't know yet, but the friend/mechanic that checked it out for me may have let the cat out of the bag.
I live ~900 miles from the boat, so he checked it out and took pictures for me. He called and said two words, "send money". Since he couldn't get the pictures to me via email, he printed them and mailed them. Problem is, I just moved to San Antonio and my wife is in Alabama till August... where he mailed the pictures!!! Monday or Tuesday could be interesting It has given me ideas for names though. "Marital Bliss" or my best friends suggestion, "She got the horses", lol
Back on topic, we love these boats for numerous reasons. Obviously heavier and slower than modern designs, but it has a great 24 degree design that was well ahead of its time due to the genius of Jim Wynne. The speed rails proved to be a great addition to our other boat, so I'm looking for a set for mine. New, used, incomplete set, whatever, so long as they're for sale.
Sorry this was so long, but it wasn't just about the rails, you needed to know why I wanted THIS hull so badly. The boat makes for such a great sleeper water rocket, clean lines, unassuming, classic!
Long story, but my family has been in the boat business since 1962, until today (weird). So, needless to say, we've owned a LOT of boats. Dad has way too many toys now and is very much the cobbler w/o shoes. I'm hoping that with todays sale, he can focus on finishing the restoration on his '71, 42 Grandbanks. It's at the 85% stage and looks amazing, just needs the last 15% in the staterooms.
The true love of his life in the boat world though is his '73 Chris Craft XK-22. My grandfather took the boat on trade in 1974 and sold it a year later. My dad was so obsessed with that boat that he went looking for her around 1990. He found the previous owner and they still had it, but not for long. I remember the commotion of all his friends and how excited everyone was to have the boat back in the family.
A couple of days later on a cold October morning, we had a boat full of people and splashed her in the Ohio river for a quick evaluation run. I was about 14 and remember being tasked with keeping an eye on the oil pressure gauge in the engine compartment and how it never really came up. So, the patient needed a heart transplant along with some plastic surgery.
I remember the boat being tucked back in the back of his main building behind two 50+'ers and being stripped down to nearly nothing. This was my first big block building experience and as much fun as the engine work was, I had my plate full with varnish and sanding. Since dad likes those 10+ coat jobs, I spent a LOT of time with the highgrit!
A year later, the monster arose. I know a single screw 23' boat is small for this group, but monster is the right word. 400hp 454, all new interior, gellcoat wet sanded, new teak platform, barrier coat inside and out. After just a couple of test runs, it was obvious how fast the boat was. He was running a drive that wasn't designed for the application (volvo dp), but it did surprisingly well.
Around that time, he bougt a set of speed rails. He installed them per the instructions and the results were surprising. Picked up 500rpm and 5-6 mph on the top end. The boat ran a legitimate 79-80 mph and handled like a dream. I was only allowed to drive w/o him in the boat maybe 3-4 times and I can attest to the butter smooth ride once she got aired out.
He was prety agressive with the boat and loved to do some street fighting with the "hot boats" on KY Lake. I remember the look on the faces of the guys with flame red checkmates, flashy bajas, baby fountains or scarabs as they got spit out the back. The most fun was the bass boaters with neck collars and helmets. Sorry boys, that ranger with a 200 may be quick, but...
We had several people over the years stop by the houseboat to ask about the boat b/c they had never seen one till they ran against it. Without fault, they would be shocked to hear they had been dusted by a '73.That boat provided the soundtrack of my high school summers with the sound of the 454 through 4" wet pipes. At one point it even scared one college girlfriend enough to yell at my dad, lol. She wasn't a boat boat person.... The story took several twists and turns as we grew and went off to college, but the boat now sits on its trailer, wrapped in two tarps in a barn w/o an engine.
I've tried unsuccessfully to wrestle it from him for the past seven or eight years always thinking, this year, this year..... Usually every four or five months I'll do a search online for a sister ship, but have never found a viable candidate.... till last week. My wife told me, "No", but you can guess how that went.... She doesn't know yet, but the friend/mechanic that checked it out for me may have let the cat out of the bag.
I live ~900 miles from the boat, so he checked it out and took pictures for me. He called and said two words, "send money". Since he couldn't get the pictures to me via email, he printed them and mailed them. Problem is, I just moved to San Antonio and my wife is in Alabama till August... where he mailed the pictures!!! Monday or Tuesday could be interesting It has given me ideas for names though. "Marital Bliss" or my best friends suggestion, "She got the horses", lol
Back on topic, we love these boats for numerous reasons. Obviously heavier and slower than modern designs, but it has a great 24 degree design that was well ahead of its time due to the genius of Jim Wynne. The speed rails proved to be a great addition to our other boat, so I'm looking for a set for mine. New, used, incomplete set, whatever, so long as they're for sale.
Sorry this was so long, but it wasn't just about the rails, you needed to know why I wanted THIS hull so badly. The boat makes for such a great sleeper water rocket, clean lines, unassuming, classic!
05-20-2012, 01:45 AM
#3
Charter Member
Man, that's a blast from the past.
I have an unused set of the Ocke Mannerfelt speed rails.
Actually, I have a half set; they came in sets of four in two different sizes, I used one pair on a boat and have one pair in my garage.
They are the bigger sized ones, 1.3 meters long by 4 centimeters wide by 3 1/2 high.
Let me know if you are interested.
Greg
I have an unused set of the Ocke Mannerfelt speed rails.
Actually, I have a half set; they came in sets of four in two different sizes, I used one pair on a boat and have one pair in my garage.
They are the bigger sized ones, 1.3 meters long by 4 centimeters wide by 3 1/2 high.
Let me know if you are interested.
Greg
Last edited by SFOcean; 05-20-2012 at 01:56 AM.
05-20-2012, 10:40 PM
#5
Funny enough, dad's boats name, "A Blast From the Past", lol.
We used the larger ones on that boat, so that's the size I'd prefer to find. Will be sending PM's, thanks for info!!
I'll post some pictures in a minute once I've uploaded them somewhere.
We used the larger ones on that boat, so that's the size I'd prefer to find. Will be sending PM's, thanks for info!!
I'll post some pictures in a minute once I've uploaded them somewhere.
05-20-2012, 11:07 PM
#6
A couple of other little fun bits about this story.
Like I mentioned before, the family business was in continuous operation from 1962 through today. I think that the reason that I couldn't get him to let me have the boat was because he knew that he'd one day sell out and have time to restore the boat a second time. His focus the last couple of years has been the restoration of his 1971 '42 Grand Banks.
I joked with him and said, "since I can't get you to give me yours, guess I'll just have to buy my own" to which he replied, "There are five plots left in the grave yard for us, think I could get a 23' foot boat in the ground in that much space?" I think he loves the boat...
When he got to see the pictures via email and called me, I think he was more excited than I was. He started rattling off different things that he had in storage we could use on the boat and ideas for puling it back together. It's funny how as I've gotten older, the two of us have been able to connect more and this just shows how similar we really are.
When I told him today about the mechanic's slip, he got a pretty good chucklebut went right back to the list of parts we need. It's a pretty short list, but said, "need to get a hydraulic steering system" which he backed up with, "double cylinder".... Think he knows what this thing will be capable of?? lol
Like I mentioned before, the family business was in continuous operation from 1962 through today. I think that the reason that I couldn't get him to let me have the boat was because he knew that he'd one day sell out and have time to restore the boat a second time. His focus the last couple of years has been the restoration of his 1971 '42 Grand Banks.
I joked with him and said, "since I can't get you to give me yours, guess I'll just have to buy my own" to which he replied, "There are five plots left in the grave yard for us, think I could get a 23' foot boat in the ground in that much space?" I think he loves the boat...
When he got to see the pictures via email and called me, I think he was more excited than I was. He started rattling off different things that he had in storage we could use on the boat and ideas for puling it back together. It's funny how as I've gotten older, the two of us have been able to connect more and this just shows how similar we really are.
When I told him today about the mechanic's slip, he got a pretty good chucklebut went right back to the list of parts we need. It's a pretty short list, but said, "need to get a hydraulic steering system" which he backed up with, "double cylinder".... Think he knows what this thing will be capable of?? lol
