Who had the first (production) stepped hull?
 

Now I am not talking about some rare one-off race boat from the late eighties. I'm talking about your "typical" production boat. I know that the 33' Scarab got "stepped" in '98 (the 38' in '99). I know the Formula got the Fastech hull in 97. And I saw a '95 Fountain that was stepped in the classified section. But what about , Cigarette,Apache,Advantage,Pantera,etc. Just curious....Mike

Chris Cat was '85 I think.

Hustler in the 80s as well.

Not fur sure but I think the 38 Cig was done in the mid 90's. Also If I remember right, Michael Peters helped w/ that bottom!! Again, don't hold me 2 this!!!!!!!!:party-smiley-004:

Hustler power boats did in the mid 80's. When they wanted to add a 40' to there line up of 21', 26' and 32' they took 8' of the back section of a 32' hull and bolted it to another 32' to get the 40' and started sea trials and achieved the 1st step hull. Fiores did this with the help of Mark S from Activator.

I am with you on this Jim, i believe it was 1984 when Chriscat had the first stepp in theyre hull ?!

This is really going to upset the US Patent Office.

They issued a patent for a "Stepped" hull in 1904.

For sea planes?

Airplane count?? Take a look at some WWII toons on old planes??

Ok first one I personally saw was in 1994 Boat model was a (1995) 27 Fountain Fever, but I am sure their were some berfore that?

WILL

Gancia de Gancia was stepped in '88. Don't know if it was a 'Production hull'.

Would production be defined as produced in a mold?

Was the Hustler molded or assembled from pieces?

Harry Scholl was the original daddy of step bottom hulls.
Prove that I am wrong..Where talking 1970"s

This is correct, however, I think the earlier Shadow Cats had steps. They came out in 1980. i could be wrong, but I don't think so.

WWW II.. PT boats.. then there were a bunch of "experiments' in Europe.. then trickled to US. I saw a stepped hull from the 70's. (almost bought it) but I think the first "production" steps were in the late 80's early 90's/ Most major builders start doing it around the same time. Early 90's.
My dad had a steped wood boat in the late 60's.
Challanger Offshore Hull No. 1 in 1994 had blackhawks and Harry's step. (later the AT step)
A good question would be who has the "Best step" ??? :party-smiley-004:

The Unlimited/Offshore genesis began around 1910. That's when the first "step" hydroplanes appeared. The "fast-steppers" skimmed over the surface of the water with a notch or "step" located approximately amidships on the underside of the hull. The "step" allowed the boat to plane over the water with much less friction than was possible with the old-style displacement craft. (The latter subscribed to the only known theory of water speed at the time--plowing through the water rather than planing over it.)

Offshorer in the 50/s/60's. Bob Hobbs/Cal Connell. Rybo Runner, same guys. Italcraft in Italy, Sonny Levi, early 70's. Steps come around every 17 years, just like the f**king locusts.

Shows you what I know I thought it was 1918..

What significant thing happened in 1923 regarding stepped hulls and race boats?

Viking ships had steps

We made some 21 Shadow vees with steps starting in 1980. Of course the Shadow Cat, from which the Chris Cat was made, also had steps starting in 1980.

However, for the record, Cougar Cats had steps a few years before that and OPC tunnel hulls had them going back to the early 70's. In addition Switzer Wings had steps, as did some other molded fibreglass and wooden in line 6 outboard cats and hydros going back to the mid 50's. Of course Stock Outboard, Inboard and Gold Cup "hydros" had them from the earliest part of the 20th Century ( A "Hydroplane" by definition is a stepped, 2, 3 or 4 point hull).

The bottom line is that steps in Offshore at any era after that division started (1959) were in no way "new" technology...and have been used more as a fictional marketing ploy rather than a real innovation regardless of who claimed "ownership". Reggie probably learned about them when Mercury and Billy Seebold put them on his Seebold tunnel hulls in 1973 or so, and I know the steps on our Shadows got a lot of attention on Long Island where the Hustlers were later built.

Steps were recognized as a speed advantage (for boats in the 40-60 mph range) to the point that the APBA had specifically made them illegal in the "stock", monohull classes of Outboard Performance Craft(OPC) racing from 1961 on....and many Offshore events were run in conjunction with OPC classes.... (Chicago-Milwaukee Race, Around Long Island Marathon, etc......)

The bottom line is there is little true significance in debating who the first guy(s) were to put steps on Offshore type hulls since they had been around for many decades prior to the first application in that genre.......and most of the designer/ builders knew all about them.

T2x

You're wrong. Harry wasn't born when the first stepped hulls hit the water.

T2x

All Ocean Express cats from the mid 80's on had stepped hulls.

38' stepped hull, 8000 hp 124.9 mph 1932.... and the rudder was under the bow..

Older than you thought technology
 

Using the definition of production being more than one boat being built exactly the same. There were wooden hull steamers built back in the 1800s with stepped hulls.:drink:

I thought that was how they developed the 37 Outerlimits Stilletto. I remember the boat they used. Scott Langbeins' White Lightning

If you want to split hairs and talk about "Production Fibreglass hulls", below are examples of a few (and there were more) that were available in the early 60's.

T2x

I am always amazed at how this topic always morphs from "Who was the first to put steps on a hull?" to "Who was the first guy that I ever heard of (or had drinks with and have been duped into believing is an "icon").......who put steps on a hull?"

To a lot of our OSO members, it seems if it happened before you bought your first boat...or went to your first race...it didn't happen.

:p:p:p :D

T2x

More stepped hulls.....that predate any of today's nonsense.

T2x

Here's Art Asbury in the boat that created the great Rooster Tail in my earlier post above while setting the Canadian Water Speed Record back in the day........... before the LOTO Shootout was a gleam in somebody's Daddy's eye.

T2x

Noah's early prototype:D

The best answer by far.............Definitive.

That's not production that's a custom one off.

That was a cut down 40' Hustler.

And I think the question was what was the "First Production Stepped Hull" not one off experimental

amen t2x you are right as usual . robbie

Ok, Now lets get down to business.

If you are looking for an early "Production" stepped Mono hull........

Here's one.....and not the only one.

circa 1961

T2x

T2x - OK, i know you are not a fan of the modern stepped V hulls, and George Linder is, is this correct? Why do you not like them? and does this apply to Cats? And how old were you when the first time steps were used? (just kidding)

Thank you Sir. As always :ernaehrung004:

That's cool T2.. That's a lot like my Dad had in the mid -late 60's and I grew up on. Ours had no windshield, tho.
(WTF with me and winshield less boats?? ):evilb:

Now that's some serious offshore!

Well, this thread sure took on a life of it's own. I figured that ole T2 would be jumping in here at some point. Nice archives of those old runabouts....memories.

To answer your question....no, not for seaplanes, the first patent issued was for a racing type hull that was basically a flat bottom with many steps built into it.

If the newbies would like some more info, check out a great book on marine design by Uffa Fox. A lot of racing stuff and a lot of offshore stuff is covered too.

Cat Killer has the BEST step set-up!! :-) The point is not to have steps, the point is to have a well balanced hull that runs fast in all kinds of conditions. Then steps are (in my point of view) neccesary. The one that spends most time and money with the best guys, wins.

I am amazed about how many boats that have "steps"... One Wellcraft I saw the other day had steps in the chines only, NOT the hull........