Power Cat Speed

[Dago Fast]

Anyone know what kind of speeds this 17 ft. 1959 Powercat with two
Mk 78's is capable of?

[Ron Hill]

My F-150 hits the rev limiter at 98...that is what that Power Cat will do on the back of my boat...

As your manager, I'm instructing you to deliver that boat to my shop asap....AND THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL!!!

[Dago Fast]

I found this in a barn on a farm in Lower Sacramento County.
It is actually in pretty good shape. It is just a little dusty from the barn.
Gelcoat still shines and bottom looks like it came from the factory.
According to the farmer, it was last used in 1997 and has been stored ever since.
Dago Fast

[Powercat]

Probably will run mid to high 40's if the motors are in good shape
Looks to be all original with the top added at some latter year....
You going to take ownership or is it for sale?? :D
Danny Leger

[capnzee]

I raced against a Powercat exactly like that in 1958/59. Same color, same engines. The boat was owned by a dealership out of Waterloo Iowa and the race was run in a small town in Guttenberg Iowa. The race was a "run what you brung type race". I still have the newspaper clippings with a pic of the cat running. I was driving a Mk 58 (white) with a "club" foot on a new Speedliner owned by a Doctor Zehr. He flipped the boat the week before and asked if I would like to drive it in the race. I did, and won the race. Powercat was second. We had 17 entries. As I recall, the Merc/Speedliner would run about 46/47 miles per hour and was considerably faster than the Powercat around the course. I owned a 15 foot Powercat with two Merc 50's on it and I would say it ran right around 50. After I "let it go" for 1500 dollars to an E-bay scam artist, I found out the real value of the boat. I was offered 6000 the next day after I sold the boat. Powercat has a HUGE following. Grab the boat, don't worry about the speed and enjoy some history! :) Rod Zapf

[Dago Fast]

Probably will run mid to high 40's if the motors are in good shape
Looks to be all original with the top added at some latter year....
You going to take ownership or is it for sale?? :D
Danny Leger


Any idea what it is worth? It is for sale.

Dago Fast

[Roy Hodges]

i notice it has WESTACH in it . they ( the Westachs ) used to be made here in Napa, ca . they might still be made over Sonoma way (about 12 miles away. )

[Roy Hodges]

Any of you pre historic guys like me remember the little 13 ft. (12'3") powercat that the Hendricks boys ( i think that was their name ) from fresno raced in late 50's Northern Calif-in C C R A ? in marathons ? ran two Mk58's W/quickies . fast - w/quincy stacks -i saw them run the Stockton to Colusa &back race , would average 70 mph . Supposely was timed once at 83 mph . It was fastest boat
in THOSE races , and what a sound, returning on the Sunday. i can still hear them from a couple miles away . Screaming like a PIPE organ "gone wild ". -

[Roy Hodges]

IT was magic. thinking about it brought tears to my eyes .
Just an old fool .

[Michael J Gwaltney]

Anyone know what kind of speeds this 17 ft. 1959 Powercat with two
Mk 78's is capable of?
Mercury sent a white Powercat 17' with twin Mark 78's ?? from Lake "X" to give rides at new dealer opening Boat Haven. I rode in the boat and it seemed very fast with no windshield or speedo. Driver said it would run near 50mph.
An employee of Naples Test Station was out with his family on the weekend in the "Bluey". Bluey was a 24' Cabin Cruiser powered by twin Evinrude 75's that ran 37mph.
In those days when boats met in the channel you would come off plane "wave" and acceleerate till you met the next boat.
The Mercury Powercat with passengers came upon "Bluey" and in a series of three "drag" races she ran away from the Powercat. Finally when they met another boat the Powercat stayed at full throttle and passed.
It didn't take long before Mercury published a "Boathouse Bulletin" warning that the "JohnRude" 75 wasn't like the "Fat-Fifty" and to make sure their boat was set up correctly before making comparisons.
Powercats are critical to tilt pin position. Power trim bracket's would be great. Enjoy!

[Roy Hodges]

i sure liked looking at those boats. Their was glen-l's , clark-craft , Bristols & a few more , made of wood . I'd still like a Glen-l 14 footer. Neat

[Sunburnt]

We are just about ready to start testing my 1960 PowerCat 15C with twin 1961 700's and SSM's. The 15 is allot smaller than the 17 but if she'll go 58 -63sh we'll be happy and call it done.

I would guess that the 17' could run mid 40's if everythings in decent shape. We have a member of our group running 45 on a 16' PC with freshly rebuilt Mk 78 powerheads. Those old DR lowers are not the most effecient design.

Dago on the value of your 17' find, I would suspect some where between 2,000.00 to 3,500.00 but you never know, there are some real Crazies out there that might pay allot more. When the right guy with a big wallet is looking for one, the sky is the limit, others stay for sale for a long long time. If you get her cleaned up and running that would add greatly to the value.

Jeff

[Dago Fast]

Beautiful restoration. The farmer paid $5,000. for it at the factory in Bellflower without a trailer. I stand corrected. It is a 16 footer. His friend bought a 15' wooden Powercat and it came apart after the first marathon and the factory gave him a new fiberglass boat as a replacement.

Dago Fast

[Powercat]

The one you have found is the model we call an 18c.. they should measure 16ft 3in to 16ft 5in
from the transom to the nose.. depending on who is doing the measuring.
They first came out in 1958 and remained in the line up through 1966.
They make for a good all around boat, and can handle some pretty rough
water easily for a boat under 20ft. One like this is considered the
"worlds fastest Power Cat" running 103 mph measured by GPS. The owner
had an older pair of 2.4 V6 merc Offshore Mercs on it. He has since sold
the motors and no longer runs the boat. There is a video available on the
website showing it.http://www.powercatboat.com/Group/BryanJordan/BryanJordan.html
Danny Leger

[swamprat69]

Any of you pre historic guys like me remember the little 13 ft. (12'3") powercat that the Hendricks boys ( i think that was their name ) from fresno raced in late 50's Northern Calif-in C C R A ? in marathons ? ran two Mk58's W/quickies . fast - w/quincy stacks -i saw them run the Stockton to Colusa &back race , would average 70 mph . Supposely was timed once at 83 mph . It was fastest boat
in THOSE races , and what a sound, returning on the Sunday. i can still hear them from a couple miles away . Screaming like a PIPE organ "gone wild ". -

There is a small 12 or 13 foot powercat like this in Il, around the St Louis area. A friend of mine had it and recently sold it. It was in perfect comdition. It look to have had twin mk55's on it, before he got it from the marks on the transom. That is a very rare powercat, I hope to see it in Quincy at the AOMCI meet there next september.

[PowerCatHydroJoe]

My dad Joe Stevens and Uncle Russ Tabor used to race that boat..type..in the 60's..in the Stockton area...it was a sweet boat...I still have my Powercat hydro from that time...Joe Stevens Jr.

[vishus]

DAGO,

check out this site.

http://retroboats.net/

some of the guys run those Powercats and can tell you a lot more (one of the guys is "Jeff" that posted above). I went out with them on 12/31/06 and they had some of their boats running fast!! Nice group of people and boats!


http://www.retroboats.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8

BUY IT, looks like a fun boat.

sid