Anybody familier with Banana boat ?
11-02-2002, 07:18 AM
#11
coolrunning racing
VIP Member
the 38 top banana won the race in california with an ave speed around 68mph. the original molds burned in a fire. the boat is on a trailer in the shed at banana boat. i will try to find my pic of it and post it.
11-02-2002, 07:42 AM
#12
Charter Member #232
Charter Member
Biggus on the board had one called Hells Bannana. It has twin blown small blocks with TRS drives. He is on the road right now but should be home beginning of next week so if you keep this thread at the top he probably will reply to you.
Jon
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11-02-2002, 11:35 AM
#14
Platinum Member
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I picked up my old boat @ Port Edgewood, RI...there were about 5 Bananas there with outboards. All were cracked in the transom, as if the O/B's were too much. Most were repaired with metal plates. Frequent, and major, stress cracks are common around the windshields. The style is there, but at $35, 810 with a 454Mag. six (or so) years ago....you get what you pay for. If you would like a copy of their flyer, let me know.
Banana Boat Ltd.
1128 Narragansett Bvd.
Cranston, RI 02905
1-401-941-2000
Banana Boat Ltd.
1128 Narragansett Bvd.
Cranston, RI 02905
1-401-941-2000
11-05-2002, 04:55 PM
#15
Yes, I had one and loved it!!! The one I had was a 24' Bannana with twin small blocks and TRS drives. I had B&M blowers on it. I was told by the guys at Port Edgewood it was the only twin sterndrive ever made. The name was Hells Bannana and the # was M666 
I had bought it from an insurance company as it had been in a fire and totally rebuilt it in "TOO OLD" fashion
What really impressed me was it could take really big water for a 24' boat. I sold it for a 24' Superboat and the Bannana was a MUCH better boat in the rough, although it did have a ballast tank up front.
Is Ray Mooney still at Port Edgewood? He really helped me out with mine, could not have completed the project without his help
Kurt.
I had bought it from an insurance company as it had been in a fire and totally rebuilt it in "TOO OLD" fashion What really impressed me was it could take really big water for a 24' boat. I sold it for a 24' Superboat and the Bannana was a MUCH better boat in the rough, although it did have a ballast tank up front.
Is Ray Mooney still at Port Edgewood? He really helped me out with mine, could not have completed the project without his help
Kurt.
11-05-2002, 08:00 PM
#17
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HEY BIGGUS...I know that boat!!! It was dark blue/black with green lettering on the side...I saw it at lake winni a bunch of times...It used to come out of one of the coves in Meredith...The cove that (I'll bet you know) Gordon Stockwood has/had a place in...Gordan had a 32' HUSTLER that hauled ASS...I saw 96 with 11,yes 11 people in that boat...and they were not small people...hahaha...If you know him let me know...I've got some GREAT stories/adventures/trouble we got into!!! I must know you...too many close calls...
11-05-2002, 08:26 PM
#18
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Banana Boats
Too Slow: I personally built the Banana Boats (not singlehandedly, of course) at Port Edgewood Marina (Cranston, RI, just outside Providence) from 1988 to 1992.
I worked for Ray Mooney (who is still there, by the way), and participated in every stage of construction from spraying the Gel Cote into the mold, to laying up, to rigging the engines and systems into the boats.
The Banana Boats are an absolutely fabulous Don Aronow design, which was originally a 24' Cigarette Firefox (I'm not sure exactly how old the molds are).
The molds changed hands a few times, finally from Charlie McCarthy to Dirk Patriarca, the then owner of Port Edgewood Marina (his son now owns the marina).
Many improvements were built into the boats even within the few years I was helping build them, including a massive knee being glassed against the transom for all the outboard-powered boats. Admittedly, the outboard boats built prior to the incoporation of the knee did suffer from a "softening" transom, evident in the cracks and subsequent metal brackets and such.
I can tell you that, to my knowledge, the boats built with the knees installed (which actually go side-to-side across the transom, running forward down the sides of the hull) held up substantially better than those without.
The I/O boats, of course, never had transom problems, but one area in which we never completely eliminated stress cracks was, as another member mentioned, along the coamings near the windshield. It seems that the boat always seems to "flex" a bit right there. Most that I had seen (countless, it seems looking back) were minor cosmetic spider cracks, but I do remember one that needed structural repair there.
All in all, the Banana Boats are a great, fast, predictable rough-water boat (as rough as 24' can handle, anyway). The hull has a steep deadrise which helps it cut through the rough stuff.
Brand new twin-outboard Bananas (then, 200HP each was pretty much the norm) would run in the low-to-mid 70MPH range.
Single I/O's would run in the low 60's.
Production of the Bananas stopped completely in about 1992/1993, despite us having just built a center-console deck mold, and popping out a couple cc's.
The molds are still at Port Edgewood, and haven't been used since.
Ray Mooney is still the Head Honcho there, and can be reached at (401) 941-2000. Tell him I said "Hi". He's absolutely one of the nicest guys you'll ever deal with, and will be happy to tell you all about the boats. If you do business with him, you can guarantee he'll be fair, if nothing else.
By the way, the 24' Hells Banana, with the Racing # 666, was the ONLY twin I/O ever built, and is probably the fastest. I only saw it run once, and not at top speed, but I heard a rumor of 90+MPH. That particular boat, from what I know, lived up to its name, with a bad karma history. Rumor has it that it: 1) rammed a navigational bouy, 2) Sank on Lake Winnipesaukee and was towed along the bottom, and 3) I personally saw it burn on the trailer after its owner at the time had jusk sunk thousands into a complete refurbish, and had no insurance (ouch).
A guy named Mike Snow was probably the most consistent racer of the boats, starting with B73, a twin 200HP setup, soon to be upgraded with a new Banana, set up strictly for racing.
We built the hell out of that boat, extra bulkheads, stringers, cored-hull (most only had core in the deck), and a pair of Merc EFI's. That boat hauled ass, cracking the 90MPH mark, also. He still has the boat, but hasn't raced in years.
'Sorry for the dissertation, but I couldn't help but spew what I knew.
'Lemme know if you have any questions at: [email protected].
Good Luck!
I worked for Ray Mooney (who is still there, by the way), and participated in every stage of construction from spraying the Gel Cote into the mold, to laying up, to rigging the engines and systems into the boats.
The Banana Boats are an absolutely fabulous Don Aronow design, which was originally a 24' Cigarette Firefox (I'm not sure exactly how old the molds are).
The molds changed hands a few times, finally from Charlie McCarthy to Dirk Patriarca, the then owner of Port Edgewood Marina (his son now owns the marina).
Many improvements were built into the boats even within the few years I was helping build them, including a massive knee being glassed against the transom for all the outboard-powered boats. Admittedly, the outboard boats built prior to the incoporation of the knee did suffer from a "softening" transom, evident in the cracks and subsequent metal brackets and such.
I can tell you that, to my knowledge, the boats built with the knees installed (which actually go side-to-side across the transom, running forward down the sides of the hull) held up substantially better than those without.
The I/O boats, of course, never had transom problems, but one area in which we never completely eliminated stress cracks was, as another member mentioned, along the coamings near the windshield. It seems that the boat always seems to "flex" a bit right there. Most that I had seen (countless, it seems looking back) were minor cosmetic spider cracks, but I do remember one that needed structural repair there.
All in all, the Banana Boats are a great, fast, predictable rough-water boat (as rough as 24' can handle, anyway). The hull has a steep deadrise which helps it cut through the rough stuff.
Brand new twin-outboard Bananas (then, 200HP each was pretty much the norm) would run in the low-to-mid 70MPH range.
Single I/O's would run in the low 60's.
Production of the Bananas stopped completely in about 1992/1993, despite us having just built a center-console deck mold, and popping out a couple cc's.
The molds are still at Port Edgewood, and haven't been used since.
Ray Mooney is still the Head Honcho there, and can be reached at (401) 941-2000. Tell him I said "Hi". He's absolutely one of the nicest guys you'll ever deal with, and will be happy to tell you all about the boats. If you do business with him, you can guarantee he'll be fair, if nothing else.
By the way, the 24' Hells Banana, with the Racing # 666, was the ONLY twin I/O ever built, and is probably the fastest. I only saw it run once, and not at top speed, but I heard a rumor of 90+MPH. That particular boat, from what I know, lived up to its name, with a bad karma history. Rumor has it that it: 1) rammed a navigational bouy, 2) Sank on Lake Winnipesaukee and was towed along the bottom, and 3) I personally saw it burn on the trailer after its owner at the time had jusk sunk thousands into a complete refurbish, and had no insurance (ouch).
A guy named Mike Snow was probably the most consistent racer of the boats, starting with B73, a twin 200HP setup, soon to be upgraded with a new Banana, set up strictly for racing.
We built the hell out of that boat, extra bulkheads, stringers, cored-hull (most only had core in the deck), and a pair of Merc EFI's. That boat hauled ass, cracking the 90MPH mark, also. He still has the boat, but hasn't raced in years.
'Sorry for the dissertation, but I couldn't help but spew what I knew.
'Lemme know if you have any questions at: [email protected].
Good Luck!
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Black banana (03-07-2022)
11-06-2002, 05:57 AM
#20
Thanks for the info! Yes, I have pics somewhere of Hell`s Bannana. Most are of pulling motors in my driveway late at night We had many night wrenching parties, can`t even count how many motors I blew up in that boat.I had sold it to someone from Winni back in 1996, saw it once in 98.
I remember Gordon, have not seen him since the Tiger Marine days. What happened to his 31 Express cat "Eye of the tiger"???
Risky, are you a Snap On dealer, I was one for 18 yrs. Really miss my old customers.
Kurt.
We had many night wrenching parties, can`t even count how many motors I blew up in that boat.I had sold it to someone from Winni back in 1996, saw it once in 98.I remember Gordon, have not seen him since the Tiger Marine days. What happened to his 31 Express cat "Eye of the tiger"???
Risky, are you a Snap On dealer, I was one for 18 yrs. Really miss my old customers.
Kurt.
