Pictures of my new 1978 Vmate2

[ckaluger]

I was bored so I thought I would post 3 pictures I found of my new Vmate2 from August of 1977. This is the day of the first launch. The boat was purchased at Kirkbrides in Zanesville Ohio with the the trailer for $3,200 dollars. I ordered it with only the seats mounted and the dual cable steering, no hardware, no gas tank, battery or motor holes. The motor was a new left over 1977 Johnson purchased at Captina Marine in Powhatan Point, Ohio for $2,250, I think I had around $100 in the OMC gauges, anyway about $5,500 for the package.
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[DropTop5.0]

That's sweet!

 

[RNGRDVE]

Very nice Chuck. Do you still have it or know where it is?

 

[redstrat]

Very cool. How did she handle? Top speed? Why did you let her go? So many questions... Give us the story.

 

[nathan]

very nice vmate2.

 

[ckaluger]

I sold the boat after kalugs22 was born, actually kalugs22 rode many times in the boat, he just could not see very well from where he was sitting. Anyway we were told by the third owner that the boat was burned up in a fire. My good friend, DS280's dad had one exactly like this one only with orange carpet and stripe. The boats came with 22 inch transoms, and the bottom was offset about 10 inches so the boat had built in setback. I had two props, a 23 pitch SST2, which stood for double cupping, and a 26 pitch cleaver modified by DAH Pro pellors, and back then you dealt with Don Henrich himself. The 23 pitch was used for tubing, skiing, etc, and the boat ran about 70MPH with that prop. When I spoke with DAH, back then, he wanted pictures and measurements of the motor mounting and height. He cut about an inch of off the hub, drilled blowout holes and told me to run the motor between 6100 and 6400 RPM, because slightly less or more caused harmonic issues. We had the boats checked with radar and were told we were running around 80 MPH. Anyway back in 1978 on about 100 miles of the Ohio River, the 2 Vmates and a Trimate3 with a modified 235 and a hydraulic jack plate were the fastest boats in the the 2 pools we ran in.

 

[Kurtster]

That was a sweet boat back then --- sorry to here it was destroyed in a fire

Thanks for sharing --- love to see the Checks of yesteryear {and that was a beauty} AND hear from the original owners.

 

[Reed]

sweet boat