TOPIC: Introducing myself to the main forum

New member here, I made my first post over in the aluminum forum. I own a 1971 Starcraft Offshore 18 foot with a 3.0 mercruiser. It's my fishing boat for Lake St. Clair.

I'm looking for another project, a 14' glassic. Just a little something to cruise around in. I've never really liked the finned boats from the 50's but suddenly they have an irresistable appeal. Ther are so many to choose from it makes it hard.

I'm new to this whole Glassic thing so I hope you don't mind me asking a bunch of rookie questions. I have my eye on a couple of Glass magic boats, a 56 and a 58. Today I discovered Power Cat and now I want one of those. The problem is I can only have one more boat. This makes it tough to choose.

Thanks to the owner of this site for having me. You've got a great place here. I can't wait to get into another project.

Don

Hey Don, welcome aboard. Where is the power cat??

i have my own glass magic playmaster its a 56 i have pics on here search the forum of need help finding parts i like the boat but it doesnt have fins but still nice

www.powercatboat.com/
I found this website. I don't know how old the adds are but ther's a 14' in Grand Rapids MI. Very cool boats.

SC15 the 56 is a nice boat, the barrel back design is very clean looking.

OK, I see it, if it was in Sarnia I would come and get it.

What do you know about powercats? Are they worth restoring? How do they ride?

I don,t have personal experience with the power cat. It would just give me a good reason to have 2 identical Mercs to put on it.

Apparently the Power Cat in Grand Rapids was in real rough shape, didn't find an owner, and was sent to the dump. Sorry to disappoint.

Keep your eyes open, some very nice garage queens have popped up in the Detroit area over the years. A FiberGlassics old-timer, John Gambill, is in your area and has found some real beauties over the years.

That's too bad. The Powercat is a cool looking boat. Twin outboards on a 14 foot boat would be awesome. I prefer Johnson over Merc because I can work on them and find parts easier. Mercs are sexy though.

I guess I'll keep looking. Anyone here have any experience with PowerCat?

lots of folks have experience with power cats! they are sought after specifically for their exceptional handling abilities. i have a '62 14T that i mildly customized, with '63 merc1000, also mildly customized. my suggestion would be to focus on some of the build pages over on the power cat site.

we just got ours on the water last summer, and got it dialed in by late september. i've had number of boats, but nothing anywhere near as fun.

check out my build pages. there are a bunch of videos on the last page.

www.powercatboat.com/Group/FA_14t/FA_14t01.html

good luck!

frank

That's a very cool boat. Now I really want one! Big fin boats are kinda neat but now that I've seen the powewrcats I gotta have one. Merc 1000, is a hundred horse? On a 14 foot boat, that's crazy man.

Any advice on finding one, on a budget? A search CL and Ebay but I'm sure there are other places to look. There are some adds on PowerCraftboat, are they more or less up to date?

My 7 year old is going to be so geeked, a hotrod for the water. Wifey not so happy, I told her we'll get a small cruising boat. I'll just tool around when she's in it.

Thanks a bunch,

Don

danny leger, son of the owner and builder of Power Cats, keeps that web page pretty well up-to-date. he goes by the handle "powercat" on these forums. you can join the power cat email group on yahoo right off the power cat web page and when you do an email, everyone in the group gets it. mostly these boats are in the south west as they were made 1st in calif, then tx. i was just real lucky to find one in ny.

frank

Don:
Currently I do not know of an available Power Cat in
your immediate area. Since I assume your looking for
a fixer upper at a low cost, finding one not too far
distant is going to be key to keeping the cost down.
Depending on your choice of power the "C" models are
the twin hull versions and run best with twin motors.
You can run them with a single engine but the setup is
at best a compromise. The "T" models are tri hulls and
can run a single engine. The C's can be found as the
12c (very rare), 14c, 15c, 16c, 18c, 20c(also very rare).
The T's can be found as the 14t, 15t/16t, 17t, 18t, 19t,
20t, 23t. The fiberglass models like these as listed were
made in the years from 1958 to 1962 in California and from
1962 to 1986 in Texas. Power Cat boats go back to 1950 with
the original wood boat versions. We also made other models
such as hydros and bass boats, and in the last years of the
company V-bottoms, but for most people the C's and T's
are what people think of when the name Power Cat is used.
The for sale listings on my website are posted by me when
I get a request from an owner wanting to sell. They do tend to
get out of date as often the owners forget about the listing.
I keep them up for reference as often I can identify a particular
boat when it surfaces again under new ownership.
Thanks for your interest, and if I can help in your quest I
will be more than glad to assist.
Danny Léger
Austin, Texas

Don,
Good luck on your hunt. There are a lot of glassics in the Michigan area. I am very familiar with Lake St. Claire since I grew up in East Detroit then Shelby Township. My '60 Wagemaker Clipper ran on Lake St. Claire most of it's life while it was my grandfather's then when it was my dad's. I pretty much grew up on that lake and in that boat.

Bob

welcome don,you could put a post in the glassifieds under "wanted",john.ps i saw franks boat in person,its a great boat,he put alot of hard earned sweat into it,and it shows.

Thanks for the reply Danny, I would be looking for a 14C. Those twin outboards look very neat. I'm going to need to make a road trip if I want one, that or pay shipping costs. I'll start saving my nickels and dimes now.

John I'll put a wanted add in when I'm a little more ready. Looks like I'll need a little more boat fund money and possibly some vacation time for a road trip. I'm afraid if I put an add in before I'm ready one will show up and I'll be short of cash or won't be ready for a road trip. I really want one though.

I wonder how an 18c or 20c would do in Saginaw Bay? Looks like they would handle a 4 foot chop pretty easily.

Thanks guys.

18c's pop up once in a while. haven't seen many 20's. i think with the right power & steering one would work well in the bay.

frank

There is a 17' Clipper Craft for 350 listed in the Detroit CL.Looks to be all there and in good shape.

I've got an 18 foot Starcraft which I spent all summer fixing up. I have room for it and a 14'. If I got an 18C Power Cat I would have to sell off the Starcraft Offshore. Which I'm not sure I'll do.

A 14 footer would compliment the 18 footer nicely.

If I can't find a Power Cat in the 14' then I would like a Custom Craft Devil Ray (14'). I really like the catamaran style of boat. I have a feeling these type of boats are hard to find though.

Any advice on a catamaran style of boat would be appreciated.