24' Cougar

[fobes]

Anyone have any info about this boat? Was sold on ebay a couple of years ago. I believe that it may have been "Smilin' Jacks" at one time. Pics?
Thanks: Matt

[FastDonzi]

Yep, That was Smilin Jacks, Also Scarlet O'haras. Very cool Cat. You going to buy it?

[fobes]

FastDonzi: I wasn't aware that it was for sale again. Not in the market right now anyway, just always liked that boat. Do you know any details about the boat, is it wood? I was surfing over on BoatMad and there seem to be a lot of smaller Cougars like this one and some even smaller (single engine) that have raced.

[FastDonzi]

Yes that boat is Wood, It held the S Class kilo record for a while. Once when they where setting a Kilo record the throttle man was looking down at the Tachs and kept giving Tap-Tap-Tap on the trim button and it kept going faster, when he finally looked up the boat was pointed 45* up into the air and resulted in a blowover. There is a bunch of similar 24's like it in europe that run single and dual motors.

[fobes]

FastDonzi: I think I remember seeing a sequence of pics showing that accident. Do you know where this boat is now? Some of the boats racing in Europe seem to be smaller, they look to be about 19'-21' or so. Did Cougar make any of these size boats in glass? Here's two pics.

[FastDonzi]

I remember that sequence of pics now that you mention it. I don't think they made any of that style cat from glass. With wood they could make changes to every boat, and the wood boats are stiffer than the glass boats. the closest you could get to a cat like that from glass is a 24 skater. or a 21 Skater which is my favorite.

Also, I don't know where it is now, I'd love to though.....

[fobes]

The more I think about it, the name of the boat in the sequence that I saw in I believe Motor Boating and Sailing was "Paradox". I think you are right about wood being a good medium for changes to hulls, none of them seem to look exactly alike, subtle changes. Some of the wood boats appear to have a finish on the bottom of the sponsons that rivals fine furniture. This 24' sold for short money if I remember right. I too like the 21 and 24 Skaters, they seem to set the standard in their size ranges. There is something about these Cougars though. Finding one for a 2nd boat/ toy would be cool.

[2scoops]

A friend of mine was gonna buy it when it showed up on ebay last year. It is located about 45 minutes away in Shelton Wa. It has been parked in that barn for awhile. He compression checked it and i think it was dead on a hole. I remember the guy selling it being stuck on 12K or something. He said he would watch it burn for anything less!

[fobes]

2scoops: do you happen to have any more pics? Did you ever see the boat in person?
Thanks: Matt

[kiwiracer]

Hi

The 21 Cougar No188 was my old boat, in fact that pic is me driving in an offshore race here in NZ. Boat was built here in NZ in 1977 and had it's last race in 2008, has now been retired, had a multitude of engines i ran a 2.5efi 260 and also a v8. Was a great little boat and we moved on to a 6litre after.

Perry

[h2oMag]

Here is a shot of Smilin Jacks from back in the day.

[fobes]

Kiwiracer: do you have any more pics that you could post, cool boat. Is it wood? How are they in the rough?
h2oMag: nice pics, that boat should be restored to that color scheme. Any more pics?
Thanks:
Matt

[kiwiracer]

i'll have a hunt around, go to www.nzoffshore.co.nz and look in the picture gallery, yep, it was a ply boat, had plenty of repairs over the years, handled like all short single engined cats in the rough, big gonads needed

[fobes]

Kiwiracer: thanks. I checked out the website, some cool boats on there, couldn't find yours however.

[Ratickle]

Hi

The 21 Cougar No188 was my old boat, in fact that pic is me driving in an offshore race here in NZ. Boat was built here in NZ in 1977 and had it's last race in 2008, has now been retired, had a multitude of engines i ran a 2.5efi 260 and also a v8. Was a great little boat and we moved on to a 6litre after.

Perry

Welcome Perry, looking forward to stories about NZ racing.