North Kent based marine carpenter Kyle Abingdon reports that he and his parter have built this very striking 15ft6in 1940s class C hydroplane from designer Bruce Crandall’s plans, and that she’s up for sale.
Here’s what he says:
‘She’s made out of Robbins Elite marine ply sheathed in biaxle cloth and epoxy and has Douglas fir for stringers, stem and keel with plywood web frames.
‘We’ve given her a sapele deck, although the racing boats would not have had this. I couldn’t resist given the lovely barrel shape of the deck. Also she has a teak rubbing strakes.
‘The stainless steel fin will help her turn when she’s up on the plane.
‘She’s sitting on a new galvanised trailer.’
Drop me a line at gmatkin at gmail dot com and I’ll pass your enquiry on to him.
Looking at this page about hydroplane classes in 1951 seems to suggest the maximum permitted engine capacity for this kind of hydroplane would have been about 2.9 litres – though the very thought of that big a lump makes a lump in my throat. Take care, Kyle – I think engines may be more powerful for their size these days!