Well,
While I was too young to know all the details, here's what I think I know about this.
My uncle, Jack VanEk who lived in Redding until sometime in the early eighties built boats for a guy named Jim Lloyd. In '70 or '71 (I was about 6), Jim gave my uncle a motor and pump to build into his own boat.
Jack has a large family (6 kids) and none of the Tahiti style boats they were building at the time were big enough. So, he took that 16' Tahiti mold, splashed it, lengthened it, widened it and updated the deck and knocked out the first sidewinder. That first boat had no windshield like the later ones did.
I'm going to ask my dad to scout around through his pictures to see if he has any pictures of this boat. I vaguely remember it as a 2 tone orange affair with a Ford 390 motor. I'll find out about those details as well.
What happened with the name and molds is unknown to me. I will have to ask Jack next time I see him, as I am now curious as to the facts as to how this all came about. I'll also ask him the name of Jim Lloyd's company. I know Jack, and his son John later worked for Marlin, which is why they moved on up to Oregon.
Anyway. Probably not as many answers as you would like, but a bit of heresay history can be interesting.
Jim.
[ July 03, 2003, 10:14 AM: Message edited by: BiggusJimbus ]