Southwind Tunnel Dragsters/Placecraft Tunnels..What are the differences???

[Tolly]

I have heard it said that Placecraft hulls were made by starting with the Southwind TD molds and making some modifications, is this true and if so what are the differences in the two hulls? Also, I have noticed that there seems to be two different versions of the 19ft Placecraft tunnels, one has a longer pump setback pod than the other, which one works better and why? I have always been told that Placecraft Tunnels require a lot of horsepower to make them work, is this also true for the original Southwind Tunnel Dragster? What are some of the pros and cons of each boat as lake or river hotrods? Sorry for all the questions, but I have always loved the looks of both boats, especially the Southwind TD and would like some history on them if anyone knows what the "real deal" is with these hulls. Thanks in advance.

[comin' unscrewed]

Great topic! If anyone has pics of the transom and bottom areas for comparison, please post 'em!

[bp]

Tolly:
I have heard it said that Placecraft hulls were made by starting with the Southwind TD molds and making some modifications, is this true and if so what are the differences in the two hulls? Also, I have noticed that there seems to be two different versions of the 19ft Placecraft tunnels, one has a longer pump setback pod than the other, which one works better and why? I have always been told that Placecraft Tunnels require a lot of horsepower to make them work, is this also true for the original Southwind Tunnel Dragster? What are some of the pros and cons of each boat as lake or river hotrods? Sorry for all the questions, but I have always loved the looks of both boats, especially the Southwind TD and would like some history on them if anyone knows what the "real deal" is with these hulls. Thanks in advance. bill place built and drove top fuel southwind jets to several championships through the mid 70s. it's quite possible he sorta splashed an sw when he designed and began building placecraft tunnels in '79.
the placecraft transom is higher than a sw, and the pod is not as long. the tunnels on the pc are deeper. most of the pc's i've seen (not all) have much different looking caps than the sw (many pc's have that ridge looking thing running down the middle of the deck).
with the pod being shorter, the pc is much easier to work on than the sw. sw owners must have patience of job to work around the pump area.
both boats handle high hp (top fuel type) much better than any other hull. with lake type engines, they require more hp to obtain an equivalent top speed of boats like pickle fork tunnels, cp tunnels, or gullwings because they don't pack as much air. they "may" be outquicked by a semi-v, but that's probably got as much to do with weight as anything else. with the deeper tunnels, the pc (set up dialed in) can probably obtain a top speed closer to the air packers.
my personal experience is with the sw, and it's great as a lake river hotrod. i've had two engines in mine - one with around 425hp, the other with over 800. the power woke the thing up and made it dance - just very quick, light on it's feet, rides really great and handles/turns great. with the old engine, i could hit 74-75 in good air. with the big engine, 106-107; 75 is just cruisin wink .

[Bense468]

good response BP, that pretty much sums it all up right there.

[Tolly]

Great response BP, thanks. Does anybody else have any more to add??

[MikeC]

I don't think bp mentioned this yet, but one of the other and maybe the biggest differance may be in the weight of the hulls. I spoke to Ron Hamilton a couple of months ago and he told me PC's ranged from 300ish to about 600ish lbs if I remember correctly. Compared to bp's 800lber, there light weights........
[ August 25, 2003, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: MikeC ]

[Jake W]

From what I have heard not all Southwind TD are heavy lay ups.
Jake :rolleyes:

[Bense468]

Both of you are correct. The average weight of a PC is about 450-500. That is where you will see most of them layed up at.

[littleC]

The Place Craft hulls look awesome. I have seen them with the transom step and without. I like them both.

[Bense468]

they call that the Pod transom.

[DUCKY]

I had a Placecraft with an outboard. It had the notched transom + plus 6" of setback. It didn't like the motor to be raised up real high. It ran best with the propshaft about 2" below the pad, which would be equivalent to a jet with a droop, vs. no droop. It needed the power and lots of prop lift to pop the tail. It was a lightweight, about 400 pounds. http://www.***boat.com/image_center/data/523/776Scott_driving_placecraft-med.jpg

[Cs19]

well thats a first for me, I have never seen a placecraft outboard.The guy who almost bought my boat before i got it was going to put an outboard on it. devil what a shame,luckily i snatched her up before he did.

[LakesOnly]

Jake W:
From what I have heard not all Southwind TD are heavy lay ups.
Jake :rolleyes: One of the cool things about Soutwhind is that anyone could walk into the factory and special order a light lay-up, where fewer glas layers are used and/or the excess resin is squeegeed off, etc.
LO
[ August 26, 2003, 08:44 PM: Message edited by: LakesOnly ]

[bp]

LakesOnly:
Jake W:
From what I have heard not all Southwind TD are heavy lay ups.
Jake :rolleyes: One of the cool things about Soutwhind is that anyone could walk into the factory and special order a light lay-up, where fewer glas layers are used and/or the excess resin is squeegeed off, etc.
LO a guy came up to me at redbluff this year, telling me about a 250lb bare hull sw he owned about 25 years ago, and how he ran blown fuel with it. he said the same thing, that they would lay up a light one if ya wanted it. mine wasn't one of those, but it don't weigh no 800 either; only 700 :p

[565edge]

A friend of mine has a southwind tunnel for sale here in santa maria,if interested let me know,he will sell complete or less motor,it does not have a shoe or ride plate but does have a berkely split bowl,droop and manual place diverter,it is all original gel coat and is very clean.