Help! I need to identify this boat mold

[T hess66]

I was directed to this forum from Scream and Fly. I was told there were lots of older boat racers on here that may be able to help me out. I have a mystery 15/16 ft tunnel hull boat mold that i bought out of Jacksonville last week from a man named Lonnie Gilmore. From what he was told, it was one of Danny Critchfield's, but at this point it is really a toss up. Here is the link to the thread on Scream and Fly, like i said I was told you guys really knew your stuff about older race boats and i really would like to find out the information on this hull. I will really appreciate any help or information, thanks.
http://www.screamandfly.com/showthread.php?252246-Critchfield-16ft-Tunnel-Hull-Mold

[MN1]

To me it looks very much like a updated design of the boats built by Allan Stinson.
Looks like the front air release openings have been enclosed. Which is what the drivers would do.
The Stinson was running very good in 1976 -1977 in the Sport J class but was no longer produced. Maybe Danny got the molds or made some from another boat and made changes.
Here are two photos I have. In the first one it's the first boat (blue & white).

Mark N
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm315/MN392/scan0001-4.jpg
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm315/MN392/BenRobertson.jpg

[MN1]

Another Stinson.
Mark N
http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm315/MN392/Stinson.jpg

[T hess66]

Correction, the boat is 17ft, not 16

[Ron Hill]

I never met Alan Stinson til the trophy presentation at the Parker 9, where he and the late Jerry Walin had won and Dewey Berghauer and I had finished second.

The next time I saaw Alan was at Galveston and he was driving an Allison, single engine, with a moveable wing, which I thought was quite cool.

My dad and I talked things over when we got home and decided Alan Stinson built Allison Boats...Al for Alan ansd Ison for Stinson...About ten years laer I found out my theory was wrong......

I'm pretty sure, MN1 is correct that this is a Stinson tunnel. Go to Facebook, and become a friend of Benny Robertson, and ask him. He'd know.

Doesn't boat number 8 say Alan Stinson Driver??? 201 is Benny in Bobby Thompson's SJ boat.

[T hess66]

I never met Alan Stinson til the trophy presentation at the Parker 9, where he and the late Jerry Walin had won and Dewey Berghauer and I had finished second.

The next time I saaw Alan was at Galveston and he was driving an Allison, single engine, with a moveable wing, which I thought was quite cool.

My dad and I talked things over when we got home and decided Alan Stinson built Allison Boats...Al for Alan ansd Ison for Stinson...About ten years laer I found out my theory was wrong......

I'm pretty sure, MN1 is correct that this is a Stinson tunnel. Go to Facebook, and become a friend of Benny Robertson, and ask him. He'd know.

Doesn't boat number 8 say Alan Stinson Driver??? 201 is Benny in Bobby Thompson's SJ boat.

What is Benny Robertson's location? Im trying to find him on facebook and it's proving to be difficult. I could use some help haha

[Ron Hill]

South Carolina....

Befriend me, Ron Hill, on Facebook, and I'll find Benny for you!

[MN1]

Benny lives in Jacksonboro, SC.
The last photo was taken in 1975 but I don't remember where. It does look like it says Allan Stinson but I wasn't sure. He's just going to darn fast to read it!

Also, Fineline boats comes to mind. They were built in FL. Maybe some of the older FL guys might recognize the name and the builder. I don't think I ever saw one but they advertised in the Propeller magazine.
Mark N

[T hess66]

Check this out, this was posted by Ron Titus, the son of Jeff Titus...

Talked to Jeff Titus about this....here's the whole story. The molds were made by Ray Parker in Ft Lauderdale around 1975 from a Stinson like the picture posted earlier. Ray made some small changes to it to make SJ hulls. The molds were very well made and are probably still pretty straight. He does not believe that Danny ever owned them. He never made a 17' tunnel. Jeff's SE pictured above had the cowling and cockpit made from these molds.
Jeff's SE was sold to Ion Bolton in 1977. Ion sold it to Danny in 1979 or 1980. They both blew it over. Danny's wreck damaged the hull. Rather than repairing it, he finished the SE hull he was building which is the red boat pictured above on the trailer. The deck and cowlings were made from Burgess molds. Danny sold Jeff's SE to someone in GA who made some changes to it to run SG.
The boat that Danny was killed in was his Mod VP design. It was a 20' Allison V-bottom to which he added sponsons. He had just rigged it for a customer to use as a drag boat and was sorting it out on Jullington Creek.

[T hess66]

Does anyone have any info about Ray Parker in Ft Lauderdale?

[Ron Hill]

Check this out, this was posted by Ron Titus, the son of Jeff Titus...

Talked to Jeff Titus about this....here's the whole story. The molds were made by Ray Parker in Ft Lauderdale around 1975 from a Stinson like the picture posted earlier. Ray made some small changes to it to make SJ hulls. The molds were very well made and are probably still pretty straight. He does not believe that Danny ever owned them. He never made a 17' tunnel. Jeff's SE pictured above had the cowling and cockpit made from these molds.
Jeff's SE was sold to Ion Bolton in 1977. Ion sold it to Danny in 1979 or 1980. They both blew it over. Danny's wreck damaged the hull. Rather than repairing it, he finished the SE hull he was building which is the red boat pictured above on the trailer. The deck and cowlings were made from Burgess molds. Danny sold Jeff's SE to someone in GA who made some changes to it to run SG.
The boat that Danny was killed in was his Mod VP design. It was a 20' Allison V-bottom to which he added sponsons. He had just rigged it for a customer to use as a drag boat and was sorting it out on Jullington Creek.

Interesting stuff. Dany Critchfield the designer of he Critchfield V-Bottoms was killed in an Allison modified to an MOD P bottom???

[boatmark59]

Does anyone have any info about Ray Parker in Ft Lauderdale?

I can fill in the story on Ray. I grew up a few houses away from the Titus's . . . thats how I ended up a boat racer. Ray is practially a family member in the Titus family.

I remember Ray running the SJ boats in the mid to late seventies. He owned a boat building company called Finish Line, building center consoles that I think (long time ago!) were based on the old 25' North American. This was when he first got out of high school. After going over a final time in the J boat, he had an EP Allison for a short while, played around with an Alky hydro, then hung it up for good.

He also got out of the boat business about that time (1980-ish?) and started a successful company building exclusive homes in some waterfront communities in SE Florida. He is still in Ft. Lauderdale.

I don't think Danny had those molds. Like Ron said, the boat that his dad dominated SE with for years had Stinson cowlings from Ray's molds, and had sort of a shorter Stinson look to it, but was a wood boat Jeff Titus built for himself. I think the fact that Danny owned that boat later is the source of that confusion.

** Trivia ** If you enjoy watching your TV, check out his link about Ray Parker's father.
http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/117.html

[boatmark59]

Interesting stuff.** Dany Critchfield the designer of he Critchfield V-Bottoms was killed in an Allison modified to an MOD P bottom???

Sort of . . . I believe the boat Danny was killed in was a Critchfield, but had started out as an Allison V-Bottom* Mod-VP boat he modified into a sort of unique sponson and pod bottom. He was shaking down a new boat, and I believe stuffed it hard. His widow later married Roark Summerford of STV.

[T hess66]

Awesome! yeah the story makes sense now, thanks for all the help you guys