Hull splashing happens all the time. My '75 19-6 aquasport was used as a plug here in Tampa. Hull, inner inner, deck cap, fuel hatch and deck hatch molds were all created. :silent:
I've talked to Will (the main guy at Aeon) back when he ran Bayside Marine Services (I dont know if it's still an active shop or not). Pretty nice guy. About 5 years ago he just finished making the mold for the AEON. I originally went there to talk to him about his live wells (similar concept as the Hammerhead livewells) and he started telling me about the mold: a friend of his is a nautical engineer, had a CAD system, they designed the hull together... (thats the cliff note version from what I can remember). Its a completely different boat though. It seems to me like a lot of the "florida bay/tower boats" got thier original ideas from the classic aquasports: Gause started rebuilding 22-2 and 196's before developing thier own molds as well as Dorado's 23 and the Shaffer 239 up here in Tampa. All really good versions of something we all love (and have minor obsessions with). You can even see some of the Aquasport lines in the Parker 23bay and the 22 ProLine Bay. As other posts have stated: copying or getting hull ideas is widespread in the boat industry. There's a post over on THT (i think or maybe classicmako) about the lawsuit between Pathfinder and Shearwater a few years ago. Really interesting read about how minor - Its always easier to copy something after someone has already done the hard part: being original.
Seabob, you could be correct- I read that post several months ago and might have my boats mixed up. Gran- Yes, the english will, haha. Thats funny about the "buying thier liner for our hulls. I talked to Will's wife about the exact same thing and she said the hulls were drastically different and thier's wouldnt "drop in" the original hulls. Sure would make things very easy if they did. Or at least getting a 1 piece cap with an anchor hatch. Might eliminate the stress cracks I've heard a few people having on the back transom cap area where they join the original cap. I say we start a Trust and buy the Aquasport name for future endevors.
Well back in 2001 the boat was marketed under the make "Bulldog 20". He made a few boats here in Tampa, right next to the high and dry you visited a few months back off of Tyson. He does great work. He now has a shop over in St. Pete and now has a 23.http://www.egmontboatworks.com/
hahaha if you spend 70 k on a 22-2, you need your head examined.
