AL TYLL SKIIER

Just found this site while surfing around. I am proud to say that I owned an Al Tyll Skiier which was originally owned and used by the one and only Al Tyll. I first tried out the boat on a visit to Al's home on Bantam Lake. I don't recall lot about it but the driver sat on the left side, the deck and hull were an awesome red color with a white water line stripe and it was powered by a Buick Revley engine with fresh water cooling.

It is said that the boat was designed by AL who was Men's Trick Champion at the time and had a tall wake which was perfect for tricking but had a wake like a brick wall for slalom and Al had added manually operated trim tabs which smoothed the wake out a bit for slalom. The tabs had to be carefully adjusted since they tended to emit large blobs of water which would smack you in the face at slalom speeds.

I was never much of a trick skier so slalom was my game. In fact, I was terrified of skiing backwards and Al's patient coaching broke my fright. I'll never forget his words, "Just get backwards and hang on!" I did and it worked!

The ATS was a great first inboard and had all the power one could ever hope for in that class boat and more. I graduated to the ATS from a Glasspar G-3 with a 90 Merc and went from the ATS to the first of many Nautiques...

The Meloons made a great boat and still do. I had many, many hours of good fun with the Correct Craft line and at 78, hope to get back into skiing in the next year or so, but it will be slow and easy. Banana George I am not!

Cool story. I wonder if that was the same boat that my family test drove in '67-68. Were you involved with the Bantam ski club?

Wow! Lived in nw ct al my life and never heard about Al Tyll having a home at bantam lake. Great story. Where is the boat now?

Thanks for your welcome Brainard.

I don't know if I will get back into boats again or not. I had a lot of fun in my water skiing days but getting too old for that nonsense now. Also, I can't believe what a new Nautique costs these days and that is the only way I would go. Not to mention the cost of fuel, which although very cheap now, is bound to rise again. We used to use about 12 gallons a day, 5 days a week skiing and that would break the budget these days. Dock fees, launching and storage fees have also risen and living on a fixed income doesn't quite hack it..

A friend has just restored his Mustang (I think it is) after some 25 years sitting in his garage. He had to do a lot of engine work, replaced the instruments, floor and fuel tank along with some other things. Several interesting things about this boat: It originally had a foot operated throttle which was replaced with a Teleflex early on, still has a dash mounted shifter and has a 6 cylinder Buick engine. The driver sits on the left side. He did a huge amount of work shining the hull and deck and it looks like a new boat. He gets a lot of interest and complements at the marina. Propped as it is, he gets a solid 40 flat out on the Air Guide tournament speedometer. It is almost enough to get me interested again.

Cheers,

Forgot to mention the boat. I recall I had a tough time selling it for whatever reason and wound up trading it to a dealer near Annapolis, MD for my first Nautique. I don't know what fate finally befell it and doubt after all this time, that I could ever find out. I do recall the dealer's name was Al Higgins but don't remember the name of the dealership.

I also forgot to mention that I don't know where Al came from. I do recall that he was a showman, but never let his fame go to his head. He was always very kind to me and as far as I know, everyone else he came in contact with

john22202 wrote: A friend has just restored his Mustang (I think it is) after some 25 years sitting in his garage. He had to do a lot of engine work, replaced the instruments, floor and fuel tank along with some other things. Several interesting things about this boat: It originally had a foot operated throttle which was replaced with a Teleflex early on, still has a dash mounted shifter and has a 6 cylinder Buick engine.

John,
Sounds like your friend has a Tahoe. Same hull as the Mustang and came with the Buick which only came in a LH rotation hence the port side helm. Make sure you tell him about us. We'd sure like him to join the group.   

John, welcome to the site and thank you for the terrific story about Al Tyll. I mentioned this in the other thread, all through the years we had a book by Al Tyll showing technique on all types of skiing and tricks, was interesting in the younger days and a chuckle looking through it over the years. I'll post some pictures from the book, should bring back some memories for you.

Chris Tyll was featured in the book, very attractive lady!

Welcome to the site. Great story. Do you have any old photos of the boat?

Finally got hold of my friend and his boat is a Skylark with a V-6 Buick engine. The engine color is brown if that means anything. Seems like Correct Craft named several smaller models after Buicks.

Great stuff.

Wakesurfing both sides same time

I was looking for my old boss Al Tyll In 1971,72,73 I lived on Deer Island Bantam Lake. I was in high school (Wamogo) . I had a lawn mowing business and I cut Al's lawn (for free) and he taught me how to ski. I would spot for him and his wife Chris many times and most of the time Chris would have to stop the boat because Al would have us laughing so hard with antics, she couldn't drive anymore. FUN TIMES!! I have taught many in the days since then. All my kids and many more. He taught me the right way to help people the right way to water ski. I know he was in Florida. Have him on my Facebook page but have not heard from him in a while