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Ron boucher
22-07-2010, 10:53 PM
G,day gents im new to this, but i most say i have enjoyed reading the threads with great intrest. IM a west aussie that loves cats, right from my very first ride on a marlin broadbill 5.2m with mercury 75hp,s at a port hedland boat show in 1984, i was seven years of age and i have never forgot that day. I have owned a 6.2m marlin broadbill which was very wet and a 5.2m kevlacat that was like driving a sports car on rails, both have been wonderful boats in thier own right. Now my latest is this 23ft sharkcat see photo's attach, QUESTION WHAT IS THE BUILD DATE, LATE 1970,s or early 1980,s my plan is to do a full rebuild and bring it back to the classic it was and still is. any info would be great to here good or bad.
go the cats.
cheers Ron boucher.

Noelm
23-07-2010, 12:38 PM
not too sure of how old that one would be, I don't think there was very much difference in the early ones to the early 80's, but I am sure there probably was some things different, I know the very early 20' had the fuel tanks above the floor, but I think the 23 always had them below the floor. I am sure someone will hop in and have a bit more of a clue for you.

cormorant
23-07-2010, 02:34 PM
with a couple of my old boats I have asked the rego people and they have been able to tell me when first registered to narrow it down a bit. Depend on state as different states recorded stuff differently.

Sometimes fittings have had dayes on them in the serial numbers

I had they exact material on cushion covers in 1984 ha ha - must have been fashionable back then and I saw it for years.

If that is a original trailer it will have a welded number in the crossbar just behind the hitch or on the starboard side ? I know what number my trailer was. Trailer grew a extra axel. We had a tri. Trailer weighed in at 900kg

Most never had the lower buffer on the side so it may have been used commercially?

Noelm
23-07-2010, 03:03 PM
lots of them had the black rubber thing on the molded bit on the side, and they almost certainly require a tri axle trailer, pretty heavy old tub in their day

Ron boucher
23-07-2010, 03:07 PM
hi Cormorant far as i know the boat was brought in noosa some where, the owner then sold it to a work friend of mine down in south aust where my friend supply the trailer in the photo's so no good looking at the trailer. the boat was on sold to vic port whelsh pool where it has been for 8 or so years. now its in perth w.a, the boat seen more of the country than have. i have looked for commercial nms so far none, will try rego root.

Ron boucher
23-07-2010, 03:13 PM
hi Cormorant far as i know the boat was brought in noosa some where, the owner then sold it to a work friend of mine down in south aust where my friend supply the trailer in the photo's so no good looking at the trailer. the boat was on sold to vic port whelsh pool where it has been for 8 or so years. now its in perth w.a, the boat seen more of the country than have. i have looked for commercial nms so far none, will try rego root.

Ron boucher
23-07-2010, 03:28 PM
Noelm do you think this was a bruce harries design ? yes she heavy, still the 150s give her top speed 42knots she carry 800ltrs fuel over four tanks, plenty fast enough for condition we get over here, not sure what engines i will put on in the future!! first thing first new trailer being built the old just won't cut it.

julian1
23-07-2010, 03:31 PM
it looks like the older style deck with the second generation hull (ie the hull sponson are not curved toward the top at the front), must be an early second generation 23, someone on here might know when that approx was

screaming reels
23-07-2010, 06:31 PM
G'day guys, just trying to pick my memory but was'nt there a certain time frame mid 80's where bruce Harris widen the sponsons by 50mm in the 23's and created the v hull with planning plank, might be a little off track but i know this happened to the 18 footers

Dean1
24-07-2010, 09:35 AM
Awsome mate, id say early 80's. Classic hull. If only we all had a truck to tow one around hey ;D Ive never been in a marlin broadbill what do they ride like??? They are cheap boats 2nd hand. Compared to a 5.2 KC? Good luck with the restore im sure it will be well worth the effort.

Deano.

Ron boucher
24-07-2010, 04:27 PM
Dean the marlin broadbills are very wet boats lots of mist around outboards and back deck, in saying that they had wide hulls and high tunnel which gave them a good ride, you could carry lots of weight in them such as dive tanks camping gear and fishing gear. they have a great walkout transom which i think every cat should have. with small outboards you get good performance. they are very forgiving cats to drive unlike your KC. The cuddy type with no cabin had great big deck which made them nose heavy just like the old 18ft sharkcats, the 6.2m with the cabin which they called back then sportsman was the pick of the bunch. they where made from very light aluminium construction using box tubing my 6.2m hull weight about 800kg. with the half dozen boats i know of they all cracked down the tunnel due to the way they where built so might explain the low resale value. you can't compare it to your KC totally different class of boat, softer ridding, way better finish, such a great boat for its size unless you need to go bigger like i have i would never sell your kc. i love mine fished it up and down the west coast, easy to tow, and played with the big boys way way out wide got some funny looks from the 40ft boats. hope that helps. always love to chat about cats ..............and etechs ops might of started somthing here!!

OPTI
24-07-2010, 05:04 PM
just had a second look ,its a series one late 70,s id guess .the series two were the better hull [still current]

Ron boucher
24-07-2010, 07:53 PM
opti, why do you say the series two is a better hull????

Mister
24-07-2010, 08:18 PM
just had a second look ,its a series one late 70,s id guess .the series two were the better hull [still current]

This is a second generation evident by the straight bow, the series one had a bow that curved at the top.

OPTI
25-07-2010, 06:38 AM
opti, why do you say the series two is a better hull????
series two had wider sponsons,handled a following sea a lot better,it could be a series two ,its hard to see cause of the antifoul,need a closer shot of the side from the stern ,as others have stated straight bow as well ,i can only pic them from the wider hulls.

Dean1
25-07-2010, 10:32 AM
Series 2 for sure the straight front is always a giveaway. Series 1 were a wetter boat but a bit softer riding, required more power to push tho.

Both hulls have plus's minus's i think.

Dean1
25-07-2010, 10:41 AM
Dean the marlin broadbills are very wet boats lots of mist around outboards and back deck, in saying that they had wide hulls and high tunnel which gave them a good ride, you could carry lots of weight in them such as dive tanks camping gear and fishing gear. they have a great walkout transom which i think every cat should have. with small outboards you get good performance. they are very forgiving cats to drive unlike your KC. The cuddy type with no cabin had great big deck which made them nose heavy just like the old 18ft sharkcats, the 6.2m with the cabin which they called back then sportsman was the pick of the bunch. they where made from very light aluminium construction using box tubing my 6.2m hull weight about 800kg. with the half dozen boats i know of they all cracked down the tunnel due to the way they where built so might explain the low resale value. you can't compare it to your KC totally different class of boat, softer ridding, way better finish, such a great boat for its size unless you need to go bigger like i have i would never sell your kc. i love mine fished it up and down the west coast, easy to tow, and played with the big boys way way out wide got some funny looks from the 40ft boats. hope that helps. always love to chat about cats ..............and etechs ops might of started somthing here!! Thanks for the reply Ron. Interesting. Love a good yarn about cats myself ;) Yes i have considered selling my KC at times but i know ill miss her. The extra size would be good for 2-3 day trips but losing the ease of easy towing would hurt. When im based at Rules Beach/ 1770 i may step up to a bigger cat ;D I hear you about playing with the big boys i am guilty of venturing to wide grounds in horrible conditions only because i can, you kinda forget what size boat your'e in. Ive never felt threatened yet.

Are you repowering the big Sharky???

Deano.

Ron boucher
25-07-2010, 01:15 PM
some more photo's of stern

Ron boucher
25-07-2010, 01:29 PM
Deno, that's why i have gone the bigger boat we do alot of camping on it and the kids your getting bigger so just had to up size what a shame hey!!!
the two yam's have only done 550hrs so ill run them to they die. thinking 150 etechs at this point, or might be talk into 175 sukies that's a big might. I'm a marine engineer by trade so i look at the spics very closely and to tell you truth its getting pretty hard to pick a motor these days, they are all great engines just make sure you keep the fuel clean and fit water separators or you will pay for it in the long run.

OPTI
25-07-2010, 05:19 PM
definately a series two.you can see the extra width added at the water line gunnal.still the best cat in that sieze.
you carnt really go wrong ,i had a mate buy one about 5 years ago for 15 k with twin 140 yamahas.ended up repalcing the floors and the stainless fuel tanks ,but just a legend of a boat from all prospectives:P

boatboy50
25-07-2010, 07:12 PM
Later model hull for sure. I think they started that hull in about 1980, and used the same hull with modified decks all the way through until about 2006.

The current 2700 is the same hull, just with pods added.

I would say your boat is an ex Coast Guard/VMR Boat, early eighties, which was finally repowered in about 88 by the looks of those motors, before being sold off for private use in about 1990 or so. The colour and sampson posts in either corner are dead give aways.

You've got a great boat which would suit twin Suzy 175's great. I've run that same hull with engines ranging from 140 Suzuki's, 175 Yam 2's, right through to 250 Suzy 4 Suzuki bangers. I think the 175 would be great for family use, but the 200/225/250's would be sensational. Cats are made and respond well to power

Have fun.

Darren