Finished removing the the rotten structural members and floor... Still need to remove the cockpit side walls to get to any foreign objects that may still be back there! We've noticed some PVC pipes behind the side walls that we may keep for wire ducting later on!!!
Thanks for the links, one made me feel reassured and the other reminded me of the LONG road ahead!!!
I'm in a bit of a debate with my father as to weather we should go the I/O route or stick to the Outboard setup...
surely these boats were originally designed for an I/O configuration, but I'm not convinced of their reliability...
On top of that the lagoons here in Mauritius are riddled with shallow waters that are in turn riddled with submerged volcanic rock!!!
And outside the reef we have to deal with the rough chop of the Indian Ocean...
I'm inclined to go for an Outboard to keep the boat light (less Draft) and easier to handle in rough seas (not to mention much less maintenance)
According to my "old man" the Avenger would be MUCH smoother with the I/O...
Its a tough call!!!
anyone have an idea of how different the ride would be with either configuration?
Personally I'd go with the I/O as the boat would have been designed for that weight distribution. I know Indian Ocean seas around the east coast of africa, and can imagine that it's likely to be bigger further east; I think you'll find the Avenger very cabable indeed and it might be more fun on those waters than the Donzi 22, if engined right.
Hi, during my time at Fairey Marine at Hamble, from 1969 to 1975, Avenger was very much part of the racing scene. The Avenger Boat Company was owned by Pascoe Watson, a very wealthy young man whose family money I believe came from Sellotape. Leading powerboat people such as Don Shead, who designed all of his boats, and Tommy Sopwith, all patronised his boats. The tender to Sopwith's motor yacht Philante V was an Avenger 21, which is now owned by CMBA member Emrhys Barrel. Pascoe won the 1969 round Britain race in Avenger Too, which was the forerunner of the Avenger breed and Avengers were the boat to have in the early seventies, the 16ft and 21ft being very succesful in class 3 offshore racing. Avenger built a class 1 offshore racer named Avenger 007, with twin turbocharged daytona Scarab V8 engines. She was taken to America and driven by Tommy Sopwith, blew the doors of the yanks in the Miami-Nassau race, so the Americans changed the rules and banned the boat because the exhaust pipes exited above the transom!
Two boat I remeber at Hamble were Scavenger, a 21 with twin 1250 Mercs I think, and probably the most 'winninest' 21 to coin an american phrase was Easy Rider, with a tuned 6 cyl Volvo Penta sterndrive.
I hope the photos attached ok, good luck with the project!
puddleduck wrote:Oh, just for the record, the old Avenger factory is about 5km from my house!
Chris - it sounds like you and I used to live down the road from each other....I was in Otterbourne for a while when I was in England in 2002.
I managaed to get my Avenger 16 to Avenger Close in Chandlers Ford for a photo by the road sign just before the 2009 Cardiff rally. (The things we do for boats! )