14ft sidewinder

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Does anyone out there have any information about Sidewinder boats made in Palo Alto California. I own a 14 foot super sidewinder from I bellieve the late 60's - early 70's. I've been wondering what is the best setup for a boat like this? And what kind off speed I can expect to achieve? The boat is in like new condition and I would greatly appreiciate any leads on this company, or if anyone out there has a boat like this?

[delawarerick]

I have a 73 16 foot sidewinder. Mine is called a rally sport. These boats are being made in Fl under the name rallysport. I have a built v-4 omc and have seen 68 mph but it was very unstable chime walked and scary to say the least. There was also an 18 foot model. Alot of these were jetboats of the 70s. they are fun but no race winner.

Somebody in my neighborhood has one of the 18-footers sitting out by the road. It's a wreck! It is faded and beat to hell, with a merc inline-six. There is a rusty diamond-plate reinforcement bent over the transom. The interior looks shot. There's no FOR SALE sign on it or anything, maybe the owner hopes someone will steal it. Nice to hear that somebody has one and took care of it!

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delawarerick, the 14ft that I own has a 90hp omc v4 and I haven't seen speeds as high as your's. When you say built, what has been done to your v4, and how is it setup on the boat. I'm just looking for a fast weekend boat, not a racer.

[Raceman]

The first high performance boat I ever owned (or at least I thought at the time it was high performance) was an 18' Super Sidewinder which I bought new in 1974 and put a used 1150, converted to a 1350 on. (My understanding at the time was that the "super" designation described the 18' boat as it was basically a stretched 16. It subsequently had probably a dozen engines on it while I owned it, including a 1500XS (too short), and numerous V6's. The day I picked my boat up, another guy was picking up a 16 with a new 1500. It was one of the worst handling boats I ever rode in with the speeds it was capable of. Even the dealer, who had considerable race boat experience, claiming he could drive anything, couldn't master it. I later traded a 16 in on a Vector I was selling and put a used 1750 on it. It was scary above 65. My 18'er would run close to 70 with an old 225 before it misbehaved, but then would get completely out of whack. I don't think you can make one handle at speed without putting a pad on it to fix the terrible design of the rounded bottom. They're great riding boats at the speeds they're designed, but exceed that and they're unforgiving. Use a blade with a lot of bow lift. I never improved on a chopper on that boat.

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Raceman,
The 14ft super sidewinder that I have HAS a pad that at the transom is 8-10 inches wide. I've been told that a pad like this would make the boat behave better at higher speeds. I've never seen a boat anything like this, I've seen a couple like your old boat and have heard of the jet drive models, but, it sound like I'll just have to try a few different things. Like a jack plate, for starters, unless anyone out there knows why this would be a bad move?

[Raceman]

Since the Sidewinders don't have a notch in the bottom, I'd think the setback would be a good thing. The pad's exactly what they needed to behave. It's curious that they'd put one on a small boat and not on the larger ones.

The guy in my neighborhood has a FOR SALE $2500 sign on his sidewinder. The I6 is a 150hp. Ya think he'll ever sell it?

[delawarerick]

Im sorry I did not respond to your question about the engine mods. Basically Its bored 30 over carbon reeds had port work done electric fuel pumps and 24 raker. Carbs are from omc racing got from country dealer who used to race.Your probably saying why would he do that to a crossflow v-4 I too ask my self that! Had bad overheat problem solved today and ran 6800 rpms and shook ten years from my life, but its fun. Good luck show-off these boats are fun. Rick

[David]

A place in Ontario Canada built 16 & 18 foot sidewinders for a long time.

A couple of years before they stopped building these, another place started building the 14 footer. It sure looked like a Sidewinder, but it as never marketed in Ontario as a Sidewinder. Like the one that started this chain, it had a pad. Maybe the 14 never did come from the original Sidewinder people and that's why it had a pad andt the bigger boats didn't.

I wanted a 14 for a long time. The hot ticket was the 3 cyl 90 HP Merc.

The 14 footer was called the Capricorn for a while, I think it later was called a Fiberton or something like that.

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David the boat I have has trim pieces with "Sidewinder Palo Alto California" on it. Inside on the USCG tag it says 14 super. I believe we are talking of the same boat it's very low, no windshield, no lights, or cleats at all. I don't know the exact year, but when did they start using the USCG tags? Thanks for the merc tip, i'm sure it would be the way to go.

[delawarerick]

Sho-off the 3 cylinder OMC called a stinger is another light and very powerful engine. They were made in the mid 70s and were a looper with very mild mods they turn 105 hp. They were notorious for blowing away the four cylinder merc 85s. If you can, post a picture of your boat. Delawarerick

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Delawarerick, as soon as I can get a camera and figure this whole thing out I will have pictures of the sidewinder for you all to see. It's in excellent condition, however, it is brown metal flake with a gold stripe around the gunale, typical 60-70's color theme. Anyhow, the older stinger motor you mentioned, how are they any different from the normal three cyl. say triumphs, or hustlers? What mods would it take to get these horsepower figures? I've been a omc guy for a while and I've never heard of anything other than v4 mods. Also, is there anyway for trim/tilt. I've got an older 115 hp no tilt, SUCKS!!!