Talked to Pops this week and of course fishing and boats came up. I asked him about hull weights "back in the day" when he was working there. He said his '77 16'8 was in the 800lb range and his '84 Light and Dry 18'4 was about 850 (ish). He said the advancments in materials, construction and ideas from when he started in '77 to leaving in '85 were like night and day. He said the fastest rig he ever saw was John Stories 16'8. This was back before GPS's and access to radar guns. Pops said he didnt know how fast it was but he (Pops) was fearless back then and it scared him. A close second was John Stories 201 a few years after that.
Intresting story....
In the early 80's Pops said a guy from one of the costal states (he thinks Gerogia) came in and made a custom order. He orderd (4) 201's. They all were to be black mat finished with nothing but a single console, rear fuel compartment, cranking battery and steering/throttle. There was no storage, live wells, rod boxes, trolling motor, carpet ect. He requested for a custom "soft top" to be made so it would snap in over the front of the hull. Basically, it was gutted from the drivers seat to the nose. All were to have 200 Mercs with no stickers and re-painted black mate. The customer paid in full, IN CASH. When they were finished he and 3 other transporters took his rigs and was never heard or seen from again. I asked Pops what the hell he ordered them like that for. He said he didnt know, ask or care cause a sale was a sale and he was in the business of building boats so they built em. Pops said they never put em on a scale but they were the lightest rigs he ever saw leave the plant.
Now my thoughts on the matter. The early 80's was the height of the cocaine smuggeling (think Miami Vice). I think that this client had those rigs built to run drugs from the ocean up the skinny water deltas. Think about it, a fast rig that can perform in all conditions loaded from the "rooter to the tooter" with dope. It could happen......
or
The military ordered them for some type of testing.
Intresting story....
In the early 80's Pops said a guy from one of the costal states (he thinks Gerogia) came in and made a custom order. He orderd (4) 201's. They all were to be black mat finished with nothing but a single console, rear fuel compartment, cranking battery and steering/throttle. There was no storage, live wells, rod boxes, trolling motor, carpet ect. He requested for a custom "soft top" to be made so it would snap in over the front of the hull. Basically, it was gutted from the drivers seat to the nose. All were to have 200 Mercs with no stickers and re-painted black mate. The customer paid in full, IN CASH. When they were finished he and 3 other transporters took his rigs and was never heard or seen from again. I asked Pops what the hell he ordered them like that for. He said he didnt know, ask or care cause a sale was a sale and he was in the business of building boats so they built em. Pops said they never put em on a scale but they were the lightest rigs he ever saw leave the plant.
Now my thoughts on the matter. The early 80's was the height of the cocaine smuggeling (think Miami Vice). I think that this client had those rigs built to run drugs from the ocean up the skinny water deltas. Think about it, a fast rig that can perform in all conditions loaded from the "rooter to the tooter" with dope. It could happen......
or
The military ordered them for some type of testing.