f_inscreenname

Anyone know what kind of boat the Jersey Devil #50 was in the 1968 Bahama 500?

Its at 20:39 (and my boat is at 24:38)

larslindroth

That was Ed Sims from Atlantic City in the Nova 24 "Sprint". You know Mark, my faves are still the Nova 19's. 8'6" beam, they're just very fat!

https://books.google.com/books?id=sP...rownie&f=false

BROWNIE

24 Nova.

f_inscreenname

Was it outdrives, inboard? Looks to be a factory boat with the cockpit covered with plywood. Very different from the race boat.
PS, Lars, the 19 is 7 feet, 11 and 7/8 inches wide so it can be towed without special permits (wink wink) but one thing I do know is its wider then the 24's transom by a few inches.

f_inscreenname

Was it outdrives, inboard? Looks to be a factory boat with the cockpit covered with plywood making it real hard to get to the motors. Very different from the race boat.
Lars, the 19 is 7 feet, 11 and 7/8+ inches wide so it can be towed without special permits (wink wink) but one thing I do know is its wider then the 24's transom by a few inches. ….I like big butts and I can not lie....
Those 24's aren't all bad,


Took almost 45 years but it has the same motors O'Dell had in his boat in the 500. I wonder how it turn out today?

larslindroth

"PS, Lars, the 19 is 7 feet, 11 and 7/8 inches wide so it can be towed without special permits (wink wink) but one thing I do know is its wider then the 24's transom by a few inches."

Mark

Yes Mark, I remember reading on your site that the Nova 19 is a couple inches wider at the transom though 'Brownie' has said he used the transom from the Nova 24 on the 19 and he also admitted that the Nova 24 is 8 feet 2 1/2 inches at the transom. Now I can see that the Nova 19 has almost a 'delta' shaped hull a la Sonny Levi's designs, as she's so short, and that might mean that she's got a beam that's narrower than her transom? 'Brownie certainly created something very unique with the Nova 19 and the ride in the 24 got to be remarkable. Never seen either one myself, but we got plenty of 70's Wellcraft Nova's here on the 'Left Coast'. It's so unfortunate that the economic downturn made 'Brownie' and Bill Wishnick decide to unload Nova Marine. Maybe 'Brownie' spent too much money on ammo to be able to keep Don at bay. Their attention to detail seems to have been in a class of its own and the build quality was probably only matched by Cary Marine. I wonder what Brownie's next model would have been like? As far as Ed Sims' boat goes it sure looked like a twin I/O, but only 'Brownie' and a few others would remember. If I'm not mistaken I believe I read somewhere that Ed Sims eventually concentrated on sailing and became quite an accomplished sailor.

P.S. Can't help posting two more of Your images from your fab website Mark: link SuperNova 24 D.S.

f_inscreenname

Even with a stainless rub rail it would be cool as $hit.

larslindroth

Yes, Jeff's Alpha Z 23 was quite a project. Bet Brownie got a few gray hairs from that one. Never seen it in person, but saw Jeff's Van Dam built 1998 Alpha Z several times at Lake Tahoe. He finally had to sell her and she almost got wasted on the French Riviera, but finally found her way back to California again. After a refresh at Van Dam, she's now in a boat collection at a winery here in Northern California. Here's a great article about a test of Alpha Z 23 back in 1992: Boating Magazine Alpha Z 23 test.
Alpha Z idling: Alpha Z at speed:
P.S. Don't know the whereabouts of Alpha Z 23 nowadays, but she's probably still back in Florida. Here are a few current photos of Alpha Z by Van Dam and lastly what must be the prototype/plug for the Alpha Z 23? D.S.

PJRIZ

What did Billy Wishnick of Nova, Bobby Rautbard of Fino and Elton Cary of Cary all have in common ?
The obvious answer explains the why and how Billy and Bobby 1st became involved in offshore racing and how and why all three entered into the powerboat production game.

Top Banana

They all had Don Aronow as a friend and mentor .........on how to start a boat building company.