1968 Barracuda

This boat has been in my family since 1989. I picked the boat up from my great uncle in April of 2017. This was our primary ski boat so we added the platform in the early 1990s. Unfortunately, there was no backing installed for the platform brackets so after 10 plus years, we started to see stress cracks. The rear of the boat had new gel put on to match the deck as the shop that did it said they would not be able to match the Autumn Green. The engine was replaced with a 1977 Chrysler 318 in the late 1990s. This boat was a workhorse and provided many summers of fun on the water.

The boat will need new stringers and my goal is to try and put it back to as close to original as I can. I plan on using it for the summer of 2018 and then if everything works out, I will start in on the stringers in the fall of 2018.

The boat was completed on December 14th 1967 and Correct Craft confirmed it would have been sold as a 1968 model year. I have quite a few of the original documents that came with the boat as well. I am also really excited to have the original pennant bow light post. I have the original pennant and ensign that came with the boat but they are very worn and fragile. I picked up some replacements so I can keep the originals from getting any worse.

Looking forward to spending time fixing up the boat I learned to ski behind. I know everyone likes pictures!

Here are some interior pics!







Here are some pics of the accessories and the documentation.

63 Skier wrote: Wow Andrew, that's a gorgeous boat! Very cool that you've been able to keep it in the family and now have it for your own use. Curious is you'll decide to keep the platform on it, I guess it depends on whether it will continue to see ski use or be more of a lake cruiser once restored. I take it you are certain the stringers are gone?

Thanks David! I am not 100% sure the stringers are gone but the boat had a lot of family members using it and a lot of people bringing water into the boat when they would get in and out. I have a hunch that the stringers probably need replacing. I will try and do some investigating but I am pretty certain I have a stringer job ahead of me. If I do, I will consider it a right of passage!

I am not sure if I will be able to make it to Green Lake or not. I did see forum post on the 2018 reunion. I would imagine the in person knowledge would be outstanding and very beneficial.

FamilyManCCF wrote: The engine was replaced with a 1977 Chrysler 318 in the late 1990s. getting any worse.

Do you happen to know what rotation the replacement engine is?

EDIT: Going back to your picture looking at the aft, it does look like you have a RH prop which would indicate a RR engine.

Nice looking boat and what a great story.

fanofccfan wrote: Nice looking boat and what a great story.

Thanks Bill!

Quinner must not be as young and spry as he used to be... while I certainly can’t argue a platform’s functionality, I love my platform-less vintage boats and would never add one to a model that didn’t offer them (some late 70’s models offered them optionally). The 60’s and early 70’s boats look so much cleaner without them.

Good call on the new gel match, that will be a nice visual improvement too.

HW is going to be asking to copy that guide pole configuration, watch out.

One set of guide posts (rear) would have been optional from the factory, and they would have been bolted on. Clearly someone has mucked with that Trailer a bit. Guide posts from that era were commonly covered in black rubber hose. Some folks have replaced with black flex pvc.

The whole boxed section between the 2 sets of guides was added also... and the bow stop raised up.

KENO wrote: If you're concerned about trailer originality, you should probably start worrying about the winch setup and the tool box too

I'd only worry if it was a Quinners Tool Box . That definitely was not original nor authorized.......

KENO wrote: If you're concerned about trailer originality, you should probably start worrying about the winch setup and the tool box too

Haha! Yeah the original winch broke and my uncle replaced it with the current set up. He also added the tool box. I will be removing the tool box.