Long time ago in the factory in Rhode Island where it all began

[Buoy]

So as the 24's were taking on a life of their own, we moved up to play with the big boys. A new 38 footer was tasked to French designer JC Simon. I wanted a race boat that was the latest in design and could also be used to build a pleasure boat version.

We were able to block the mold at 4 feet shorter and take both 38 foot and 34 foot boats out of the same mold. JC Simon wanted to build boats oput fo the mold also for his European customers, so we agreed to share the molds. He would call his boats Coyotes and they would be 34 feet long. Mine would be called Banana Boats and would be exactly the same size, but for marketing purposes for sales to the USA customers I called mine 33 footers.

I built one 33 footer for myself, to see how it would turn out and these are the photos of the boat from beginning to end. The boat was delivered to me in all white gelcoat. I had it painted black with a tan boot stripe and left the deck white. I put in twin Mercruiser sterndrives of 454 cu in and 370 HP ratings with TRS drives and cleaver props. This was going to be a pleasure cruiser not a race boat. I kept it in the water in Newport RI to watch the America's Cup races that summer.

I wanted to change the standard interior of these go fasts with a little more comfort. The cockpit floor and cabin floor was done with a wood parquet. Extensive use of teak through out the cabin area was used. Upon entering the cabin, you were greeted with a circular couch with a pit for your feet. You could seat 8 people in this first cabin. Above your head was a skylight that flooded the cabin with natural light. The next area forward was for clothes storage and the sound system. Then the next cabin forward has the vee berth with porta potti under and a teak arch above to support the long deck span. The interior fabric was corduroy and suede in various shades of brown / tan. The hulls sides next to the berth held teak shelves for watches or billfolds or whatever. Standar large hatch was over the berth. The rear seat carried a deflated 10 foot Avon raft tender and a small 4HP Merc outboard for the tender.

Not sure if I missed it, but what year was this?

 

[Top Banana]

Not sure if I missed it, but what year was this?

1983.....after that, the races moved to the West coast!

 

[Top Banana]

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So we then took the 34 / 33 and focused on getting the name out, by giving good deals on race boats unrigged.

As long as we knew the team, the boats were going to or the rigging shops that were hired to do the job, we felt comfortable the teams would give a good showing of this design.

Somewhere I have a photo of John Carbonell's outboard powered 34. If I find it later I will post it. There was another boat all black called CHAOS. Here it is at Key West one year. We blocked the mold 4 feet at the transom and blocked the bottom strake 1 foot for the smaller boats.

As you can see by the photos, the Gone Bananas was sold and then became Nasty Banana. This boat had both company's names on the boat.....Banana and Coyote.

The photo of Gone Bananas in NJ, was at the Benihana race with Betty Cook's boat right in front of him in the docking area.

Power Play was owned by the guy that later started Power Play boat co, Danny Weinstein.

 

[Top Banana]

This photo shows JC Simon and me in a 31 foot Cobra that he had designed.

It was powered with twin big blocks and as you can see he didn't really move away from this basic deck design. We had just come in the Fort Lauderdale inlet after an afternoon of winter testing.

 

[Ratickle]

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So as the 24's were taking on a life of their own, we moved up to play with the big boys. A new 38 footer was tasked to French designer JC Simon. I wanted a race boat that was the latest in design and could also be used to build a pleasure boat version.

We were able to block the mold at 4 feet shorter and take both 38 foot and 34 foot boats out of the same mold. JC Simon wanted to build boats oput fo the mold also for his European customers, so we agreed to share the molds. He would call his boats Coyotes and they would be 34 feet long. Mine would be called Banana Boats and would be exactly the same size, but for marketing purposes for sales to the USA customers I called mine 33 footers.

I built one 33 footer for myself, to see how it would turn out and these are the photos of the boat from beginning to end. The boat was delivered to me in all white gelcoat. I had it painted black with a tan boot stripe and left the deck white. I put in twin Mercruiser sterndrives of 454 cu in and 370 HP ratings with TRS drives and cleaver props. This was going to be a pleasure cruiser not a race boat. I kept it in the water in Newport RI to watch the America's Cup races that summer.

I wanted to change the standard interior of these go fasts with a little more comfort. The cockpit floor and cabin floor was done with a wood parquet. Extensive use of teak through out the cabin area was used. Upon entering the cabin, you were greeted with a circular couch with a pit for your feet. You could seat 8 people in this first cabin. Above your head was a skylight that flooded the cabin with natural light. The next area forward was for clothes storage and the sound system. Then the next cabin forward has the vee berth with porta potti under and a teak arch above to support the long deck span. The interior fabric was corduroy and suede in various shades of brown / tan. The hulls sides next to the berth held teak shelves for watches or billfolds or whatever. Standar large hatch was over the berth. The rear seat carried a deflated 10 foot Avon raft tender and a small 4HP Merc outboard for the tender.

Do you recall if all the wood added a lot of weight?

 

[Bobcat]

I was curious about the Powerplay name.

 

[Top Banana]

Do you recall if all the wood added a lot of weight?

Are you asking if the wooden bulkheads we used back then added weight?

Or about the wood in this boat with the teak floors and arches?

The 38 foot race boat with wooden bulkheads and transom and a portion of the deck was made from plywood, was laid up in fiberglass and resin....no Kevlar used at all.

The boat came in without power or tanks at 3,800 lbs. We spent a lot of time chippng out the hardened resin the day after the layup was done.

 

[Top Banana]

I was curious about the Powerplay name.

I have no idea at all, we just sold bare hulls and decks to the racers and they would bring them to the various rigging shops all over south florida. Crouse use to call them "Power Caves".

 

[Top Banana]

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Brings back old memories looking at these photos. My wife and I took a quick trip out to Block Island to meet with some friends. Next morning we got up early and took the Avon in to the beach to get breakfast at,the hotel right there in the harbor. What to do next? It was around 9:30 and we decided to spend the rest of the weekend over in Nantucket. At the gas dock at 10:00AM and topping off when a group of sailboaters comes sauntering over.

Hey, that one of them Cigarette boats? No I answered, this is actually a French military sub surface craft that we bought at a military auction and refitted it to look like a pleasure boat. Now they have no smart ass comeback for that answer, so they try to come up with something so they don't look stupid. Yeah one guy says, I think I heard about those French military boats. So I pick up again and said quickly....Well then you probably noticed that when we refitted it, we did it in a way that it no longer runs underwater anymore,,the oxygen rebreathers were so expensive to keep maintained.

Now the sailboaters are dumbfounded. You can see those little brains trying to come up with another remark. Listen to the silence as not a sound is heard except the fuel pump filling my tanks at probably $1.85 per gallon. Well guys nice chatting with you, but we have to run we are meeting some friends for lunch in Nantucket. Now this is even more damaging news to their world. It is already 10:20 by now. One guy stammers.....Are you kidding? I untie the boat and,push off,the dock and say a gentle....hell no I wouldn't kid about that, but just imagine how quick we could get there if we didn't change it from a sub surface craft!!

They might have said something, but with twin big blocks and open exhaust, I don't really remember. Yes, we were on time for lunch in Nantucket.....even without the sub surface help.

 

[Top Banana]

The name of this boat was Buchephelus. It can be seen on the bulkhead in front of the bolster on the right.

That was the name of Alexander the Great's favorite war horse.

Way back in the day there was an SK boat that ran the big 500 mile and 9 hour marathons and the boat was black with nice blue trim. The name, which I thought was really cool in 1967 was ......Black N Blue. That boat in those races would produce a driver that looked just like the name of the boat!

 

[Ratickle]

So, how many sailboater friends do you have?????:sifone:

 

[Top Banana]

So, how many sailboater friends do you have?????:sifone:

Let's just say I started with a lot more than I have today.

Some of the best racing in the northeast was coming back into Newport harbor, from the Americas Cup races that were offshore between Newport and Pt Judith, RI.

Big spectator fleets so we had to get going fast so we didn't disturb anyone with our wakes. Just how close can you come to the breakwater at Fort Adams when your running side by side with someone at 85MPH?

Answer....Very close.

 

[Ratickle]

I bet you are wishing they would have had Go-Pro's back then......