desilva delta wing

[Bill Van Steenwyk]

That boat looks somewhat similar (can't see the bottom, so can't be sure) to a boat built by Bill and Ralph in the late 60's or early 70's as a C Service Hydro. It was a tunnel boat completely, and was brought to Kansas City for the Leavendusky's (Butch and Stan Sr.) to test. I helped them test it on the Missouri River north of Kansas City, Ks. I don't remember the exact results, but I don't believe it was as fast as the Marchetti Hydro they were running at the time that set many records and won many Championships, including National (APBA) and World (NOA) titles.

I think they still lived in California then and were on the way thru from the west coast headed somewhere else. Maybe Tim can ask. I am curious what happened to that boat and whether anyone ever had any success with it.

[BRIAN HENDRICK]

Sorry, no bottom pix, but if I recall it was a '4pt tunnel'.
Don Saulsbury, western NY runs it now with a 4-60.

[Tim Weber]

The boat you refer to as the wedge was a boat built for the antique F class with a 4-60 on it. David Riser drove it at the nationals in Depere Wisconsin.
It's sort of a single step, hydro and tunnel in one.

The boat on my trailer with the busted nose was the first Delta 2 that Ralph built for me. It was a experimental boat with a 40" bottom. It turned amazingly well but it was a handful. I blew it over at Ocoee that day going into the first turn and then again at Jesup. With that wide bottom it had lots of lift and it was twitchy. The stuff I am running now is much more driveable and they have a 34" bottom.

I sold the boat in the pic to a collector in South Carolina. He was going to put a KG-7 on it and play around with it. It could have been yours!

Tim

[dsaulsbury]

Here are 4 pics of the Wedge that Brian was talking about. As you can see the transom was built up to use the 4-60 on it. I don't know what it was originally designed for. I'm currently working on the 4-60(stock pumper powerhead), installing steel rods, aftermarket heads, etc. Hoping to get another 1200 or so rpm's from the stock 4600 it is turning in the picture from the AOMCI East Sidney meet in 2005.

[Glenn Coates]

When was this boat built??

[Seanp3]

The motor is a legal OSY 400 motor, the boat would be a legal hydro in Mod

Our boat won OSY400 this year at Depue with the same motor. We borrowed it from Bob Wartinger.

[dsaulsbury]

My understanding is there were 4 (they were prototypes I think) built in the late 80's. There is a stamping on a floor frame that is 88 ? (can't remember but is lower than 4). With the 2 bottom fins it and large 4-60 l/u fin, it doesn't like to turn at least not at the speed it is at now.

[Mark75H]

I have one of them. I have cut the step off the center pod but haven't had a chance to run it yet with that modification. My center pod's step was deeper than the one shown. When you tried to turn the center pod would settle down on that front step and the front just walked around to the outside no matter how hard you had the motor cranked the other way.

My boat also made a wake so big other racers refused to go on the race course with it. I hit the wake at speed myself at one race and came about 2 feet off the water (but it stayed completely level). I asked Jim Russell about reducing the wake and he correctly guessed that the center pod was deeper than the sponsons. He said a change to shorter than the sponsons would probably significantly reduce the wake. At the transom, my center pod is about 5/8 below the sponsons. I plan on cutting off about an inch of the pod.

On mine, the tunnels are symmetrical, but the left sponson is not full depth. As if it is designed to lean a little to the left to turn.

The boat did not seem to drive any differently with high rake or low rake props as far as speed or turning, but I could feel the difference in the seat of my pants. It has very good speed and acceleration, I never topped it out on a race course.

My boat also differs from the one in the picture with my transom being flush with the sponsons and not inset.