Sort of a trick question because these are Australian Scarabs but I suspect they were built under licence or possibly flopped from the U.S. models.

Built from mid 80's as Scarab then Fastlane but all finished around 1993-4. The main models were 23, 26 and 29 which shared a common beam and the larger two shared a common cockpit, just adding 3' in the bow. The first pic is a 26 which I owned back in '86. The other pics I have pinched from an Aussie site boatsales.com.au They are 29's and listed for sale.

The 29 was the best hull, usually running a single 7.4 with Bravo drive. Standard 330 hp only did mid-high 40's but with bigger power, you could see mid 60's. Very small number had twin small blocks or outboards on a bracket. The measurements exclude bow sprit and boarding platform so the hull is a true 29'.

Interested to know if they relate to anything in the old Scarab/Wellcraft line, maybe Panther 30 or the Nova Spyder in the case of the 26'? (Just guessing) There's no similar forum in Australia that I can find and the manufacturers are long changed. I'd be very happy to hear any info you guys might have, I'm considering a project boat to reminisce on old times. Lol

RR

The first pic with the girl on the bow reminded me more of the wellcraft nova then the scarab family of boats....actually none of these resemble the scarab's....

Done a bit more searching, I thought the 29 looks a bit like the 30 Scarab 11 but maybe with a bit more freeboard. The deck line around the aft 10' looks very similar. (I'm still a little confused over the Scarab vs Wellcraft models, you had so many!)

They sit very level in the water, even at speed. They plane out very easily, if anything, a bit hard to get the nose up and aerate the hull, even at speed.

RR

Wellcraft was the company.....scarabs were the models..they had different versions like the Scarab II and Scarab III then they had the Scarab Excel's and thunders....
Like Chevy Camaro rs/ss etc...

Thanks for that, a little more clarity for the 'dumb Aussie'.
I'm still at a loss trying to find out the origins of the hulls. One thing I'm pretty sure about, they were flopped from something else!

RR

Looking at the 29 some more...its reminding me of a webbcraft....maybe do a search for those....i dont know.
It could be anything....they probably splashed the bottoms and made their own deck molds...

These so called Scarab models produced by a fellow 'down under' by the name of Allan Jones had nothing to do with the Larry Smith designed Scarab boats from the U.S. The 2900 was supposedly a splash off a Cigarette hull, but I can't even see which one that would be. Quality was pretty poor according to folks that owned them and I see no reason to pursue one of these and bury hard earned money into one.

Bit harsh. Lol
I owned the 26 pictured and had a few mates with 29's. We all spent many good avo's at StKilda beach. My 26 was fastest with twin Yammies but the 29's handled the chop a lot better.

Never had an issue with the build, we gave them plenty in rough water and never anything more than a small stress crack. They were pretty simple fit out but quite functional.

Alan Jones Marine did build them and also took on Fastlane. When he went belly up, Grant Kenny (iron man champion) and his swimming star wife Lisa Curry took over. Kenny Curry industries I think? That business didn't last very long, tough financial times, etc etc. I've never seen the Aussie Scarabs again except the 34' which re-emerged along with a 29 Fastlane which was previously a Norm Jenks 'Jenkscraft' but all was short lived.

Looking at the deck line aft, they still, in my eyes, resemble the American 30' Scarab 11 or 111? I'm sure they were copied from somewhere, just never been able to trace the history. The 23, 26, and 29 were basically all the same, just stretched (or shortened?) for the different models. Same beam, same design. 26 had more cockpit than the 23, the 29 had more cabin as well. You may be right on a Cigarette copy somewhere, just because of the name, I can't help thinking Scarab.

RR

P.S. Alan Jones (marine) was the Formula One world champion in 1980. It was a few years later he got into boating with the Scarabs and the Fastlane 40.