Allow me to introduce the SK-51
"Just Another Carbon Copy"
It has been stated over and over that every Biesemeyer boat is just another copy of the one before it. And that may be the case. However, there are few that are quite as unique in so many ways as the SK-51. Wannabe Paul found the bare hull in the worst shape of any hull he has ever seen in the many years he has been researching boats. The deck was completely caved in, the stringers rotted and fallen out of the boat, the wood peeled up and destroyed.
The decision was made to bring the boat home and do a full restoration. Both Wannabe Paul and Wannabe Buzzz had been kicking around the idea of finding a ski-deck Biesemeyer to restore. The ski deck has a much wider driver compartment, a deeper cut out for fuel tanks, etc. Being that these meat heads are both 6'5" and far exceeding 200 pounds, they wished to have more room for their next toy. this one was more of a project than they had hoped, and is currently being documented in a "how to" web site on restoring an old boat. But leaving that for another time, we will continue. The ski deck was dismissed of the family of rats that had lived under the deck for decades, and the hull began a full restoration. In attempting to match the performance of "Silver" their previous small block boat, many of the characteristics of Silver would be run completely through this restoration.
Although the entire restoration would be in Boeing Aviation ballistic grade carbon-fiber, the Wannabe team installed a balsa floor over the top of the carbon for a classic boat look. Other changes were implemented while Paul was away, so he couldn't say no. A driver cutout was created and installed for even more driver area.
A mold was made, then a plug, adjusted the plug for another mold, then the part was created and installed in the broken deck. The deck was taken down, carboned back up and installed back on the hull for further assembly.
The small block was painstakingly built, assembled and dyno tested to a a fair bit shy of 500 horsepower out of the 350 with iron heads and plain pump gas.
For the sake of time, I will get right to the point, and leave the details for the total build page, but the SK-51 is no longer a memory of a boat that has not run since the 70's. It is alive and well today!
The boat made its' debut at Billy's Needles show in February of 2017.
This is just the start, and there will be so much more coming about the build of this boat. Please stay tuned, if you dare.
If you would like to e-mail Wannabe Buzzz, feel free to do so by clicking here.