Needing a history lesson on this Cat
 

Hey guys..I'm back. Looking for some help. Can anyone give me a Little history on this hull...how it ran and fared out in it's era. Was it originally splashed or is the basic hull still being used today. George Linder designed the boats and Rich Luhrs built them. Thanks for any help guys.

I'm interested in just the first 2 pics.. JESSE JAMES..

http://darrensoffshorephotos.homestead.com/jesse.html

31 American Offshore today

the boats in the pics are all Conquest Cats. the 31 American Offshore is a Chris Cat, also designed by George Linder but the 31 AO is not a splash, they were built from the original Chris Craft molds after CC sold them.

Jassman (Jeff),
Good to have you back! My heartfelt condolences.
Always enjoyed your informative posts.
Jeff

The A/O's have nothing to do with the 36 foot custom one-off (although a copy was made for Stu Hayim) boat pictured......... and for the record... Ken Adams did the actual construction of the wood/fiberglass composite hull for my company , Conquest Marine. As to how the boat did, the boat won every race that it finished in 1986, except for the race it was penalized one position for a pre race violation (where it came in second). Unfortunately it is also the boat in which Marc Lavin was killed in the Key West World's at the end of that season which, along with other tragedies of the era, led to the closed cockpit technology we have today ( The Lavin Foundation Cockpit safety standards). There are numerous threads about this on OSO and other websites. What caused this particular question?

T2x

Not quite.

Listen to Steve (Comp edge). AO came from the Chris Cat which was a beefed version of the Image Marine Shadow Cat built by Elbe Eldridge of Lake Hapagcog, NJ... All designed by George Linder. Another version was a stretched (splashed) version by a drug dealer in Miami named Benny Benau aka Bernie aka BB (sp). Still, these were NOT the conquest. This set of molds had a moveable transom plug that allowed for a 26, a 31 and a 36. Bob Saccenti ended up with these molds for a short time. BB and his brother were killed in a drug related execution - shot to death in the same small building where these molds were stored. The last time I saw them, there was a jeep cherokee parked next to the set. The brother was killed in this car - glass and dried blood everywhere. A visual epitaph to the fusion of drugs and offshore powerboats.

The conquest was a great boat. In it's day these hulls dominated, raising the bar of offshore speed limits to the next level.

T

Good to see you back, Jeff. You have been missed.

2 Things..

Jeff I hope things are well for you and welcome back...

Jay hope ur off to a speedy recovery my friend!!

Close....one of my two partners in Image Boat Co. was Elbie Kronenberg...from Lake Hopatcong..

He passed away a number of years ago......

T2x

Agreed on both counts....

Jay: Where in PA are you. Maybe we can get together during your recovery?