Originally Posted by T2x

I remember seeing the Docksider boat at its first race....it was one of the first Shadow cats built after George and I left.

Prior to that I was the only one at Shadow who said "NO!"....... Elbie would say "maybe" in a few thousand words and leave everyone dangling regarding "deals" and "specs" and "delivery dates"...until I stepped in and over ruled. People who dealt with Elbie were frequently left believing that many things were agreed to but in fact were not. Among other things during the start up of Shadow I had to straighten these "misunderstandings" out, often a frustrating and needless waste of time. The people I dealt with directly were shielded from Elbie, had fewer problems and fortunately they were in the majority. However, after George and I left, many "black and white" issues became "grey" and integrity took a hike.... In fact that's why we left in the first place as a customer and Elbie tried to "wheel and deal" together around our new 36" Cat plug....so I had it destroyed.

To the point...... When I first saw Docksider (we were busy setting up Conquest at the time)...... Bill Gazelle proudly told me that he had "spec'd" the boat himself and convinced Elbie to build it significantly lighter than our dumb old laminate schedule. ( A schedule that we had updated and modified after literally thousands of test hours and a few years of racing....but what did we know?). I looked and listened and nodded and smiled and couldn't get away from the thing fast enough lest someone think that I was somehow involved with this "potato chip". You may blame Elbie...rest in peace...but he never understood or was involved in any of the design, engineering or building of the boats. He really couldn't give a solid answer because he had no basis to agree or disagree on any technical point. In short he couldn't help himself. He certainly wasn't evil, but he loved to meddle and leave doors open that should have been locked in the first place. If that boat did not live up to expectations you have to remember that too many hands were in the stew and there was no decision maker with any real understanding of the boat to step in.

In my opinion the boats and construction were fine when we departed and the standards and production techniques quickly turned into a reflection of the latest "bright idea" from the peanut gallery until the Shadow Cat became a sad relic of a once mighty tradition.

T2x

Originally Posted by Gladhe8er

I thought the molds were sold to either Awesome or American Offshore. The old Chris Cat mold was sold to whoever the Shadow molds were not sold to.

Originally Posted by shadowcat

Hi T2X !

what month and year did you roughly leave shadowcat?

how do I determine when my boat was made- is there any identifying numbers or codes?

my ownership says 1984 but are there any other codes or numbers?

Ted

Originally Posted by T2x

We left late in '82 or early '83.

Originally Posted by CanDo

You have said in previous threads that you came into Elbies fiberglass/rigging beginning in 1979 with the last of George Linders 21 Challengers, then George created Shadow Boats. Man, you were'nt in that very long, what, 2 or 3 years? How many years did Conquest exist?

Originally Posted by T2x

Before I answer this ...again...

What is your name?

and why are you trying to ( fairly obviously) stir up sh*t ?

T2x

Originally Posted by CanDo

Its not that important that you answer, especially if you take offense to it. No worries. Just trying to follow the history and stay on topic.