TOPIC: new member, new boat. '61 Delany catamaran

Lurked around here for a while. Finally landed a candidate for a restore. It is a '61 Delany 15'4" long 83" wide(she is beamy). Considering my power options. Any advice on power plants? She had twin Johnsons of unknown power. Let me know what you think.

Do you have a brand of power that you prefer?

well i am more familiar with johnson but i think like how a couple of vintage mercs would look. what about hp? dont want to over power but certainly wouldnt want it under powered.

Depends on how fast you want to go and if you would like it to look period correct. A couple of Merc 70's from 60-63 should push it close to 70.Sometimes two motors = twice the headache,breakdowns, fuel. Then again the "look" of twins on that type of hull is off the hook but will take more time in your initial set up,controls,steering,$$ etc, but IMHO well worth it.When rebuilding the transom just make sure that you overbuild your knee braces and you should be good to go.The cat is designed for two motors so I would go in that direction.

twin cloud white 70's...ron

Yah that's the look I'm thinking of. Any photos of the controls/steering setup? Can't seem to find any info on twin mercs.

vuyosevich wrote:

twin cloud white 70's...ron

Yep, I'm partial to the JohnnyRudes, cause they're easy to work on but I'm with Ron, twin Merc's would look awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

jgouras,

IF that boat was mine, I'd power it with a matched pair of 1961 Johnsons IF it took me a YEAR to find them but then I'm somewhat of a fanatic about that subject.
(Further, I can see NO reason to run more than 80HP on a 15ft hull. = Trust me, 80HP will make that hull move out smartly.)

yours, satx

"A couple of Merc 70's from 60-63 should push it close to 70"

Ha Ha .... Maybe being pulled down the highway.

That boat will need 2 motors, a single engine on a true cat never works right. A pair of tall Mercs would indeed be beautiful. But if you want to avoid burning 12 gallons of fuel per hour, you better put a pair of OMC loopers on there.

Twin 40's is what you are suggesting? I'm guessing that is close to what was there. there are a few 35's around here period correct. Found a pair of late 60's 65hp. Do they need to counter rotate?

satx78247 wrote:

jgouras,

IF that boat was mine, I'd power it with a matched pair of 1961 Johnsons IF it took me a YEAR to find them but then I'm somewhat of a fanatic about that subject.
(Further, I can see NO reason to run more than 80HP on a 15ft hull. = Trust me, 80HP will make that hull move out smartly.)

yours, satx

Well Bruce A 17' Power Cat has that set up, twin 80 hp, and there is a video of it doing 62+ so you may want to check your facts before you try and make fun of someones post.It's all in the setup.Bruce Gerard wrote:

"A couple of Merc 70's from 60-63 should push it close to 70"

Ha Ha .... Maybe being pulled down the highway.

That boat will need 2 motors, a single engine on a true cat never works right. A pair of tall Mercs would indeed be beautiful. But if you want to avoid burning 12 gallons of fuel per hour, you better put a pair of OMC loopers on there.

jgouras,

YEP. Twin 40s.

yours, satx

If I remember right those were a splash of a Power Cat 14C.
You can see that the 14C was often run with a single engine even for factory photos: powercatboat.com/86.html

www.powercatboat.com/Group/Beaver/14c.html

Also tons of pics with twins:
www.powercatboat.com/Group/tc_14c/tc_14c.html

www.powercatboat.com/Group/SD_14c/SD_14c.html

Look at the transom shape in particular tunnel and sponson aft faces, compare them to the 14C. Better yet, get on the groups.yahoo.com/group/PowerCatBoat/ group on yahoo, where Danny Leger son of the Power Cat founder runs the group and get his opinion.

My guess is you could run twins or a single. Twins, I would think what is available would be a deciding factor, whether OMC or Merc. (Who cares when you're behind the wheel?)

I'm not going to argue about twins vs single, there's good and bad either way on a true cat. I have a single screw cat, and a single screw 14T, at present.
Anyway, if I was in your shoes I would check with the Power Cat group and go from there, my two cents.

Got a photo that shows the twin hulls at the transom and all the way down to the keels?

here it is.
seabuddy wrote:

Got a photo that shows the twin hulls at the transom and all the way down to the keels?

thats exactly like my mantaray. i've found by having a single engine in the middle of the tunnel you will have a cavitation problem. i have to run my 700 in the next to last pinhole to avoid cavitation. ron

Ditto Ron. I suggested twins based on actual experience with my Powercat 15C that I had a number of years ago. When I bought it, it was fitted with a single Merc 1000. It was a total dog. It threw up an absolute ton of water onto the transom wall, and into the splash well. If the motor was raised, the prop would blow out horribly on even the slightest turn under light throttle. A catamaran performs best with twins, unless it has a center sponson just ahead of the motor. It's common to see a cat with a single motor, and the transom cut down a couple inches - because someone was trying to make it run right. The sponsons of the boat push down on the water as they support the boat. The lower unit and prop, being just behind the sponson are fed water at the correct height. When an engine is placed behind the tunnel - the water is not at the optimum level for efficient operation.

bruce, the 61 and 62 mantarays were designed with a slight center sponson at the rear of the boat which solved this problem. crosbyboat ran a 61 mantaray with a single 1150 and didn't have this problem. franks powercat has the center sponson also. ron

It's looking like twins are the answer. Im thinking of 35's for the moment. There are a couple early 60's Johnson's for cheap then I can always add more later.

do you know the weight of the delaney cat. i'm thinkin 70 hp won't get you much over 35mph...if that. the highest i've got was 37 on the hudson river going downstream and my boat weighs 670 with motor, full tank, and battery.

well maybe I need more then. Hmmm? I need to have the trailer weighed anyhow. Maybe I will weigh before and after I take the boat off so I know how much she weighs in at. Those twin merc 65's are sounding pretty good again. Although I cannot seem to find any vintage controls for twins from merc only johnson. Any ideas where a guy could find some controls for a reasonable price? Period correct of course;)

vuyosevich wrote:

do you know the weight of the delaney cat. i'm thinkin 70 hp won't get you much over 35mph...if that. the highest i've got was 37 on the hudson river going downstream and my boat weighs 670 with motor, full tank, and battery.

cruise ebay..i see them time to time. don't know how much of a rush your in.

Based on your transom photo, I really like twins for your boat. She is going to take some time. Always watch for parts during that time. You will not believe the joy that you will feel when a hard to find part surfaces.

As others have said the Delaney was a splash of the Power Cat 14c with a few cosmetic changes. Twin motors are the best choice of
power but I usually don't recommend twin 6 cyl. inlines. Having 400 lbs of rigging in the back of a boat that small is hard to balance.
It has/can be done, but it limits the use of the boat to strictly
a smooth water hot rod that is a bear to handle. Any pair of motors in the 25-60 hp range is the best choice.
Danny Leger

Why is the Delany listed as a Delaney by most people and on this site. Based on the badge the spelling is incorrect. Not that it matters but google doesn't even like me to search for it. Does anyone have anymore info about the company as there does not seem to be much available.

My hope is to rig the boat up and be able to use it the rest of summer. Then begin the process of making her pretty. She is sound and leak free with no rot in the transom.

After looking more at your photos and pondering your measurement of the length at 15' 4" I am now not sure this is the Delaney model I was thinking of... I never realized they had this larger model but in looking at some photos I have collected I see one other that was
similar to yours. Anyway, yours being larger may allow you to go
up to motors as large as 70-80 hp. combined weight of the rigging added to the boat of 500 lbs. Still would be nothing wrong with
a nice pair of 60's on it.
Danny Leger

Can you read the detail on the plaque of your boat? Is it a city and state?

seabuddy wrote:

Can you read the detail on the plaque of your boat? Is it a city and state?

Looks like it agrees with the record in the Glassic Library of Woodburn Oregon

For all it's worth I have a 63' PowerCat 14C will get to it next year due to a Glen-L Zip in progress. I also had to figure out what power to go with. My final choice came down to twin 64' 650's. You have to think what your really looking for in the cat hull there made for speed and just don't make the mistake to " Under Power" Good luck and have fun. Travis

Here is the nameplate Delany used on the smaller cat from a 1959 model

Here is one that I believe is the larger
15 footer like yours with twin inline 6cyl..

Cool cat! not many around. Based on the Feds formula for max recommended HP, 2 x L x W – 90 = HP your boat is 2 x 15.33 x 6.92 – 90 = 122.17 HP. Most boat builders would round this number down based on what was available. Twin 50hp’s would be my guess, good overall performance without trim/tilt, a 15’ Power Cat is rated 40-50hp. If the builder did testing they could increase this number. The similar styled 14’4” Fleetcraft Bobcat is rated at 150hp & the 16’4” Cougar is 200hp. The more hp’s you add the more you are going to need trim/tilt or a power jack plate to get the most from the extra ponies. I like the Merc inline 6’s so would be thinkin’ twin 70’s. Having a counter rotating motor is not needed. I would recommend cleaver style props and highly recommend twin tachometers or at least a synchronism indicator gauge. With twins you’ll want them as close to the same power output as possible. Check the compression on each cylinder and total then compare the 2 totals. I think 35hp’s would be underwhelming unless it’s a big fish in a small pond. You’ll find yourself pushing it to WOT a lot. Roughly speaking WOT with 35hp’s would equal about half throttle with the 65hp’s. As for controller, with the old Mercs 2 singles can be bolted together. Some models you would need to make a spacer. There are also aftermarket controllers available, just picked up a Morse top-mount for the Whaler. If you go Merc get the white Mercury Service Manual for your motor. I have the ’65 and prior, it has all the info and pics for rigging twin Mercs, the modern copies do not. Find your motors first then go for the controllers. Finding 2 outboards from the same seller is often cheaper than from 2 sellers. I just scored a 2-4-1 deal on a pair of 115hp Mercs. One’s for the Boston Whaler and I think the other will go on the CC Manta Ray. Best of luck and keep us posted.

Good advice.

Thanks for that info. Very informative. Too many options...

CAT*FIN*k wrote:

Cool cat! not many around. Based on the Feds formula for max recommended HP, 2 x L x W – 90 = HP your boat is 2 x 15.33 x 6.92 – 90 = 122.17 HP. Most boat builders would round this number down based on what was available. Twin 50hp’s would be my guess, good overall performance without trim/tilt, a 15’ Power Cat is rated 40-50hp. If the builder did testing they could increase this number. The similar styled 14’4” Fleetcraft Bobcat is rated at 150hp & the 16’4” Cougar is 200hp. The more hp’s you add the more you are going to need trim/tilt or a power jack plate to get the most from the extra ponies. I like the Merc inline 6’s so would be thinkin’ twin 70’s. Having a counter rotating motor is not needed. I would recommend cleaver style props and highly recommend twin tachometers or at least a synchronism indicator gauge. With twins you’ll want them as close to the same power output as possible. Check the compression on each cylinder and total then compare the 2 totals. I think 35hp’s would be underwhelming unless it’s a big fish in a small pond. You’ll find yourself pushing it to WOT a lot. Roughly speaking WOT with 35hp’s would equal about half throttle with the 65hp’s. As for controller, with the old Mercs 2 singles can be bolted together. Some models you would need to make a spacer. There are also aftermarket controllers available, just picked up a Morse top-mount for the Whaler. If you go Merc get the white Mercury Service Manual for your motor. I have the ’65 and prior, it has all the info and pics for rigging twin Mercs, the modern copies do not. Find your motors first then go for the controllers. Finding 2 outboards from the same seller is often cheaper than from 2 sellers. I just scored a 2-4-1 deal on a pair of 115hp Mercs. One’s for the Boston Whaler and I think the other will go on the CC Manta Ray. Best of luck and keep us posted.

Mercury Marine started making 4 cylinder 40 Hp outboards in around 1954.

Merc started with their 6 cylinder design in 1956-57, first offered with 60 Hp. Let someone else chime in on the early 6 cylinder's "Silent Neutral" feature.

The idea of the tall six and some of the its design features led to a similar "tower of power" Mercury 1500 in 1974.

ok johnsons, i found a glasspar and posted it in sitings it is a complete boat parked and left there key is still in the switch. i got a picture of the outboard but i cant remember what hp it is if is something you might be able to match let me know i can go back and find out what hp it is. just a thought.

billy

Sometime in 1975 Merc went to a different design for its six cylinder outboards.

When I bought mine that's the way it was spelled for me and I couldn't find any more information on the boat. I'm extremely happy to have seen this emblem as mine doesnt have the name anywhere.

And a bump for this I am interested in how it went, or is going.

I am in no way qualified to give advice but just as an FYI I have a single 1957 Johnson 35 on my 13'4" Delany and I get almost 30 mph with just me and my wife.