Vert cool boat.... 1967 Champ

[Scott Pearson]

http://nh.craigslist.org/boa/3988226714.html

[Greg Guimond]

That thing is cool. What is it? Looks to be about 15' long. Never heard of them.

[BUIZILLA]

they were 17ft

I knew where they were built in OpaLocka at that time and it wasn't the Cig factory whatsoever, it was a small warehouse

[bertsboat]

Built by Charlie Champ. Jim, Kirk Swing had a few of these. They were really cool looking and they ran good too.
Charlie was a race boat builder. Not many made and not many survived fro unknow reasons. This one is cool for the price. You can't build one for that figure.

[BUIZILLA]

Bert, Kirk's dad had a dark blue/white one with a 110 Volvo when we lived next door, slow as a slug, I never saw another one if they had more than one, but I think it was Ronny Beline (?) that had the red one with the small block Chebby....

[bertsboat]

Buz, These are Kirks own words (RIP)
"Bert, I saw the comment from Jim Haas .His memory is not so good. Our boat had a six 6yl Volvo and ran 52Mph in the old days. Not very fast for today but quite remarkable for back then with a Volvo drive without trim. In 1968 I took 3rd place in the Gold coast Marathon. Not to shabby for a Volvo. I know for a fact he did not own anything that could touch it .Teddy also raced one with a soaped up small block and a v-drive with open headers over the transom.. It was a 16' also It ran around 80-85Mph.That boat disintegrated during one of the gold coast marathons. I later owned a 17' one with a small block corvette motor .It was a 327 375hp with 202 fuelly heads .The boat ran about 60-65Mph .It would of run a lot faster if the motor mounts were better and it had a Mercruiser drive with trim and the option to run the new style propellers. They made 4 different boats back then that were all pretty cool .The champ , The formula, S-18 and the Baby Donzi. All four were real cool boats. I would not mind any one of them now. The S-18 and the Champ had a pad for the boats to sit / rum on and typically be a lot faster than the rest. Fun hearing about the old stuff. Feel free to pass my comments on if you like. If I could see a picture of the boat in question i am sure I could identify it. They were all unique in there own way. Have a great day. Kirk"

[Just Say N20]

[BUIZILLA]

Bert, it WAS absolutely a 4 cyl 110 with a non trim drive with 2 carbs, it never hit 42 mph WFO, period, it wouldn't even plane off in the upper hole unless I laid on the bow, and it still took about 150-200 yards even then, wouldn't hardly pull up a slalom skier in the middle hole either... they also never owned a 6 cyl Champ, nor did they ever make a 16..... at the OFF event 3 weeks before he passed away, you were there, Kirk even apologized to me, thinking back, that what he stated to you was wrong... once Teddy got the Missile it took the place of the Champ on the dock hoist as their dad never used the boat it was soooo slow, I was in that backyard, literally, every day for years, Teddy stood the Missile up one day over by Brueil's house, and tossed me out the back, but thats another story LOL

[bertsboat]

I didnt say it, Kirk did. Kirk was one to pump up the story after a few rum drinks. He's paying for his fun now. Way too young to stroke out. Was he even 50? I remember Kirk as forever young. Miss Teddy too.
I even think I went to the bow of that boat now that you brought it up. Cool looking none the less but a Donzi is better looking.

[rr1048]

I lived and boated in South Fla in the 70 -80's The Champ, S-18 and Donzi's were hot boats. I remember running on the intercostal and you could hear a champ coming from a long way off, because of the loud slapping from the boat pounding across the water. It was a shallow v and very wide. They were cool boats but did not ride very well. The North American S-18 also would pound your brains out. These boats took a beating in the rough water of the intercostal and ocean. You very seldom ever saw either of these boats in the ocean. The Donzi's and Formula's were serious offshore boats and some of the very best at the time.