Veröffentlicht am 29.10.2013
The Speed Liner Caravel, hull number 713-193, was shipped from the General Marine Company in St. Joseph, MO, arriving at Ferrisburgh Marine in Vermont on June 5, 1957, from whom the Morse family of New Haven, VT purchased the boat for their then 13-year-old son, Dan. We acquired the boat from Dan, and extricated it from his hay loft in 2011. The registration tag told us that it was last in the water in 1984.

Save for the OEM stainless-core steering lines and NOS "Speed Liner" decals, the boat, Quicksilver steering wheel, hardware, gauges and suicide throttle are 100% original.

No expense was spared during our comprehensive, two-year cosmetic and mechanical restoration of the boat.

The molded mahogany plywood hull was stripped and varnished inside and out. Five coats of Rochelle Red Interlux Perfection Two-Part Polyurethane were applied below the waterline.

Her topsides, transom and decks received ten coats of Interlux Perfection Plus Two-Part Varnish.

The hardware was restored by the renowned Mickey Dupuis, D&S Custom Plating in Holyoke, MA.

The 1958 Mercury 55H Thunderbolt Four 1:1 race engine was acquired from David Van Weele's (Aeroliner Race Boats, Port Orange, FL) private collection.
David had entrusted the engine's restoration to Doug Kay, Roseville, MI, because, "If one is truly dedicated to the hobby of boat racing and engine restoration, there is no better person in the country than Doug Kay. He is a master machinist and can prepare any level of engine modification required for your needs. We have several engines Doug has done and they are all outstanding. His mechanical work and finishing is really something to behold."

Hallo Gerhard,

geiles Boot, aber leider wirst Du dafür keine Pläne auftreiben (können). Ich habe letzes Jahr diverse Energie investiert, um an Pläne zu kommen. Über David van Weel habe ich die Kontakte zum Restaurator des Bootes ( in dem Video) erhalten und der wiederum hat mich an den Sohn des Designers von Genaral Marine empfohlen - Steve Schaumburger. Aber mehr als eine Kopie des original Katalogblattes habe ich nicht bekommen. David van Weel hat den Motor restauriert und geliefert.

David van Weel hatte von dem Boot eine halb kompostierte Marathon-Version (ein Fuß länger als die Caravel) Aber leider hat er das Boot nie ordentlich aufgemessen. Und so habe ich nun nur einen ca. Entwurf des Bootes auf meinem Rechner. Reicht aber nicht für einen qualifizierten Nachbau.

Viele Grüße, Kay

The Speedliner Caravel is not a DU boat. It is a CU boat built for the Mark 30H Mercury engine. The DU was Model M-213 Zephyr. The Zephyr was 13 feet measured along the Gunwale, has a beam of 49.25 inches, depth mid ship of 18 inches, transom width of 50 inches, transom depth of 17 inches, fore deck length of 64.5 inches, mid deck 4 inches and a weight of 200 pounds.

The CU Carvel had a Gunwale length of 13 feet, beam of 52 inches, mid depth of 19 inches, transom width of 50 inches, fore deck length of 52 inches, transom depth of 17 inches, center deck of 16 inches and weight of 1870 pounds.

On our web site Aeroliner-Boats.com in the history section is a copy of the 1953 specification sheet for all of the Speedliner boats. I have the dimensions for a Zephyr taken from a boat we owned at one time.

David

The weight is 187 pounds, some times I wonder about translations. The Caravel was Model M713. General Marine made other DU boats as well. The M 814 Marathon Special was built for rough water and long distance races. I ran my KG4H on a Bath Tub Sid Craft in AU class in marathon races that were from 75 to 100 miles in length. My knees were raw when the skin was worn away for kneeling for up to 5 hours. The 1000 Island race on the St Lawrence River was brutal when you jumped five foot high waves that you did not see coming from the bow of large ocean going ships.

187 pounds = 85 Kg

thank you for your information