T2X- The Shadow and Chris Cat's were so far ahead of their time these boats are not "obsolete" 20 years later. Truly great designs stand the test of time and you and George Linder did just that with these hulls.

Wannabe

While we certainly appreciate the thought and kind words, I'm becoming more and more convinced that marine design has stagnated somewhat since the mid 80's. In retrospect there was so much development from 1960 to 1985...that the subsequent years may have been spent simply trying to catch up and perfect all of those concepts. Please look below at one of the best race hulls from 1958 compared to an "envelope pusher" in 1986 and you'll see what I mean.

I know I sometimes rant about old wine in new bottles, but I was there when the grapes were originally squeezed.

T2x

Awesome history. These boats are still stout in rough water conditions compared to another boat of equal length. I have been 132 in a 31 Awesome, hard to believe for 1980's technology!!

cool pic's ,love those old cats,kinda remind me of the lines of my ocean express

I'd love to see those pics!! My neighbor who bought the Whipple boat used to own it.....

Capt Ross

Rich....

Do you have any history on the Shadow Cat previously owned by Fred Gellert......SF Bay area guy....twin Chevy small blocks & ssm's? It was maintained by PSA Marine back in the day ..mid 80's. I know Paul Abreu throttled it during a POPBRA race at Lake Mead after Fred hurt his back. It was called "Catapult".....

The Whipple Boat?

Yes Fred is an old friend... and a perfectionist. We actually spent more time on his trailer specs (custom built, galvanized ) than we did on the average boat design....
He had owned two 21' Challengers prior to buying the Shadow Cat..... a single and a twin. His most interesting boat is none of the above, however. He currently owns a one of a kind, 28' classic "woodie" with a Hacker Craft style topside....from the waterline up. Underneath is a sophisticated original Linder designed vee hull with a big block and stern drive combo. It is now the fastest, best handling, single engine monohull on Lake Mead....and leaves a lot of go fast guys scratching their heads in its wake

T2x

The awesome's are state of the art, how do they differ from the shadow and chris cat. know the owner of the awesomes, which hull is the best. is the 31 a fast hull. he has redesigned the decks and interiors but said the bottoms were good to go.

any chance on finding pics of that woodie, sounds pretty interesting. great thread guys i always like learning a thing or two about the lineage of some of todays boats