Rich would you say that the 35 Jesse james was heavier or lighter the sal's 36 seahawk?

If i remember correcty the 35 JJ was about 8,000 pounds?

hi TX2,i was talking about the 37 i think it was not made from fiber and wood but only from ply wood(outside)

I would guess that the Conquest was slightly heavier than Sal's tubular framed 36. I would also guess that JJ was lighter than Willy Falcon's 38 Cougar, but Brownie and us didn't exactly share notes back then. Sometimes I wish we had.

T2x

I am confused..... The 37 was a wooden plug that was later reinforced with Fibreglass. But it should not be rebuilt as an all wood boat. Cougar proved repeatedly that there was not enough strength in pure wood construction for offshore cats.

T2x

Did JJ got heavier when the canopies were added?

yes....... it not only gained weight from the canopies but also from the additional reinforcements, etc.

T2x

Interestingly enough, the tube frame boat was heavier, but more durable than the plate bulkhead boat. It had so much lift that we had to put a dam just behind the nose of the tunnel top. A big luxury to be able to make minor modifications from boat to boat and not tell Rich...............

Well there you go......

Sal gave me a tour of that boat and was raving about the extra strength and weight savings............

one out of two aint bad........

At that point in time the aluminum Cougars ruled the World's race courses...... and we took our best shot at them.....

In retrospect....it turned out that Skater was the ultimate victor...... and it makes you wonder why Cougar didn't sustain its position. In the following years CUV, Ten Cara, Victory in addition to Skater all managed to out perform (or at least out sell) the Cougars.

Brownie: Any insight into what caused the loss of Cougar's dominance?

Tee too ECKS

When I agreed to leave Magnum (best job in the world except for the money) and become Prez of Cougar, they had not yet reached their dominance. Like most things, at least in my life, they were not exactly as they appeared. We were going to be the marine branch of McClaren, the Sabre Diesel distributor, etc. Never happened. Instead, we became the US racing arm of Cougar, Ltd. James Beard was my hero. One of the neatest guys I ever met. Big brain, very large stones. You could buy a Kevlar Cigarette for $24,000. We got $85,000 for a 38' Aluminum cat.

They sent me the cheese to buy Donzi's yard on the row, when the exchange rate was about 1 pound = $2.50 US. We operated at a small loss or a small profit, with "Mommy" sucking out the profit. After five years, the exchange rate was 1 pound equalled $1.03US. The yard had appreciated 50%. All in all, we bought the yard for 300,000 pounds, and sold it for 1,000,000 plus. Nobody makes that kind of bucks in the boat building business. The rest, as they say, is history.

I never regretted a minute of my time there.

And you did a great job........ I saw a documentary showing Stevie working on a composite cat in England during the 90's... and they still make great RIB's. Did the racing thing wear out with the Curtis family....or was it just not generating enough return?

T2x