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View Full Version : Rayson craft outboard by holman moody



Ken Parke
08-10-2005, 10:00 PM
i just bought a 16ft Rayson craft flatbottom that had a351W holman moody
when i got the boat the motor and seats were gone but i have all the
h/m parts,logs,timing cover.t-stat housing,water pump and motor mounts
h/m bellhousing.I called h/m and spoke to mr. holman and was told that in
1969 he had got 10 outboard hulls from rayson craft for motor's that rayson
craft had owed them for.The hulls were fitted with h/m 351w and a 270 volvo
penta outdrive and i think this is one of them Has anyone out there ever seen
or heard of on of these boats.I was told by mr. holman that the Donzi Registry
members know a lot about the h/m boats so i'm hoping that someone may know
some history on this. I was told this is a outboard hull and most of the info is about the v-drive boats that were built by rayson craft.


Thanks
Ken

Craig
08-11-2005, 11:21 AM
Rayson rings a bell for some reason.
Looks like the same gage cluster as many of the ole' Donzi's.
With the flat bottom, the 351, and the apparent size (looks smaller than a 16' Donzi -- like maybe only 15'??) it ought to be a handful!
Neat little boat!

DonziDave
08-12-2005, 08:50 PM
RaysonCraft boats are very well made due to their intended use....drag boats or SK circle racers. In the late '70's, I had an 18' flat bottom drag that had been built and set up by Jimmy Gaskins from Asheboro, NC. Jimmy was a champion drag boat racer at that time and I bought his retired record holder.
Boat had all the goodies...manual "T" bar cavitation plate, foot throttle, all mounts and hardware were either plate or billet anodized aluminum, braided aircraft hoses, Casale "V" drive, stainless 6 gal. drum type fuel tank mounted at the transom, etc, etc.
Motor was a 427 c.i. Holman Moody blueprinted race engine with dual 4bbl. Holley's on a high-rise manifold. Magneto ignition and tuned dry-stack headers over the transom.
Boat would do 135 mph. instantly.....!!!! You had to be careful when taking off from idle. It had so much torque that with too much throttle the boat would screw itself out of the water and cavitate the prop.
Ahh - the follies of youth....no lanyard, vest, or helment.
Very fast and very scary....!!!! But I never got outrun....!!!
Dave

P.S. Never saw one with an outdrive.

Ken Parke
08-12-2005, 10:10 PM
Well i was able to track the #'s on the hull at talked with the guy who owned the boat it looks like he was the last person to have it registerd no other # or lake stickers anywhere. Told me he sold the boat over 22 years ago(must have been sitting in someone's barn)and he owned the boat for over 10 years. He lives in the cleavand area and ran the boat on lake Erie.He took the H/M logs and add a stainless steel S pipe with supertrap baffles over the transom also added trim tabs from a 38 ft chriscraft and a 29p prop. He said it had black strip down the side between the white just under the waterline that was shaped like shark's teeth and the boat was know as jaws The boat spent most of it's life in cleavland ,Sandusky Oh. area in the 70's and 80's. Anyone ever seen it or know any history on it?? How much hp will the volvo outdrive take? He told me when he owned it had the H/M 351W with a 1050 holly and it would 80+mph. When i spoke to mr.Holman he said it was a stock 290HP 351W would guess that the bigger 1050 holly he was somewhere around 325hp.

Thanks
Ken

hemihydro
08-23-2005, 09:46 PM
I know a guy in Charlotte , NC that has one of these raysoncraft 16' boats that was originally fitted with a Berkeley Jet drive and a Holman Moody 302
He has the original sales ticket from Holman Moody .
Mike