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fun boats from the 50's and 60's


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When I was a kid in the 50's,  there was a small 8 ft fiberglass boat called a Superdink. A friend of mine that had a go kart business at that time bought one of these and put a 40hp mercury outboard on it. I remember we had to stand up and lean over the windshield onto the bow to get it up on a plane. But once it was, what a blast to run out in the Long Beach marina in California. Soon after that, I bought a Glen L marine boat kit for a 13 ft runabout called the Tuffy. I was 14 then and it took two years to build with my best friend. I powered it with a used 70hp mercury and it hauled ass.  It was a flat bottom so pounded you to death but I was 16 so who cares. Now I'm 72 and still an avid boater and yachtsman. I have a 1969 38ft Chris Craft yacht restored to pristine condition. It has twin 69 corvette engines and is a blast to use even today. I would love to find a Superdink. If anybody knows where to find one I want it. Its on my bucket list to have that feeling once again.

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A SUPER DINK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   WAY back when I was a kid in the 50s, I saw a TV show about four men and two Superdinks doing a river trip. They were pram style boats with 10hp motors on them. I thought they were really cool. Years later, I've had a few different dink sized boats, including a Cypress Gardens Flivver Boat with a Mark 30 on it. Tiller steer. I made a mold off of it and built a few for friends. We mounted throttle and steering, and a bass boat seat, and used 25hp Johnrudes on them. One friend mounted a 25ss Evinrude stock racing motor on his. (25 hp Evinrude powerhead mounted on a Mercury Quickie lower unit. This was a legal racing motor in 25ss back in the 70s.) What a blast!, but I have never found another Superdink. Always wanted one. As a matter of fact, It's on my list of projects to build.

 

This isn't my Flivver, but you can get the idea.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

   A river trip?  These aren't Superdinks but there's an annual river race here called the Avon Descent.  There are paddlers as well as power-boaters who participate. The powerboats have flat bottoms, tiller steering and two-person crews.  I'm pretty sure Chick will get a kick out of this video (although you'll have to turn the sound off and make you own motorboat noises) and hopefully you will too, Denny.

   Some of these boats have flat vertical sides  and a pretty hard chine so they'd be easy to build and they might provide something similar to the Superdink experience.

 

 

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I should have known you'd already have seen it Chick.  That looks like some good fun (mostly).

Hey Denny - I found this discussion from a number of years ago and I thought it might interest you.  There are some links to other little powerboats and some plans.

 

 

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When I was about 14, my dad brought home a red and white little boat called a Volksboat. We rigged a Mark 15 on it. I spent many hours blasting around Snug Harbor area of Tampa bay with it. My friends and I even learned to water ski behind it. Can't imagine a 15 pulling a skier up now, but it did. This is the boat that figures into one of the adventures I wrote about in the Boating and Cruising Stories.

This is what it looked like: https://onatrailer.com/1960-volksboat-jetra/

 

 

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