Hi Richie, I think a lot of us owe our start to Marcel..he and Lucy were wondeful people..and Bob Walwork still builds them, with a bottom of his own design..They are fantastic..The one in the picture belongs to Frank Vidal from Sheridan Lumber..he is in the front seat..
Dave asked about you, and I told him you were still around..his home phone is 321-269-7244, and I'm sure he would to talk to you..You can also check out the Raveau website..

Butch

http://hometown.aol.com/raveau/walwork.htm?f=fs

I think I may have posted this progression on here before but in any case....

Marcel Raveau started on Long Island and had two employees, Bob D'Argagnon and John Ives, who stayed behind after he moved to Florida....... and met Richie P.

Bob and John started Eltro boats after Marcel left and pioneered the "non constant vee" bottom quite by accident on their 16 to 22 foot plywood hulls. (some of which are still plying the waters today as Fire Island ferry boats). in the 60's George Linder, Gene Bianco, Sonny Werner and I all raced Eltros (see picture below for example), and the hulls did quite well in early marathons and offshore races. After an initial aborted effort to take Eltro public fell through, John and Bob retired to Florida, and Linder incorporated the non constant bottom and designed the Challenger/Shadow 21 ( see second picture below).

Later, When George and I created the Shadow and Conquest cats a lot of the Challenger/Eltro vee technology went into the sponson designs as well as the respect for wood that we gained during our days in the Eltros.

(Continued below)

So ................

Ultimately this.........

was the great grandfather of this

In 1974, El Diablo a 28ft. SS Cigarette won the Bahamas 500...sport class. Bobby Garr (17 year old) was driving.

Regards,
Col. JCG
USMC (Retired)