Excalibur 26

[flyinmike]

I just bought an Excalibur 26 to restore then sail out of San Diego
Any other owners out there?
Anyone know of sources for orig plans, motor configurations, or other info..
The only sail plane info I've found is on Bacon Sails website
Any help or info appreciated
Mike

[poopdeckpappy]

I had for alittle over a year a 69 26' excaliber (sold it last year) , spent most of the time looking high and low for info on it but came up short.

I do know the design is one of Crelocks early works, it was/is a quick and fast little boat, as far as the motor config goes, it's a OB in a eng well, BUT, not all OB's will work, I was able to drop in a new 20" shafted 5hp merc 4 stroke and that was about perfect, however, make sure it exhausts threw the prop, mine did not and it was too loud IMO.

We kinda wish we had kept it, awsome little boat, classic lines and a total blast to sail; I had a buddy in Dana Point 5 slips up from me who had a 68 that he has been racing for years and does really well

Sorry,not much help, but you gotcha a very sweet boat

[tweitz]

I owned a 1967 Excalibur 26 for a number of years up to about 20 years ago. A couple of thoughts: I found that the outboard in a well arrangement was very convenient, but the engine would sometimes stall out. The reason was that the outboard exhaust would bubble up and the fumes would kill the engine. I solved this problem by running a tube from the exhaust down further in the water, so the exhaust would go into the water rather than the well. We also ran into some concern about the stability of the keel, at one point we found some motion in the keel and had to have it reinforced. Unfortunately i don't remember the details. Enjoy the boat.

[flyinmike]

Thanks for the replies
My boat didn't use an outboard in the motorwell
the previous owner had one mounted to the stern
I'm curious as to how the mount was attached in the well for the motor to clamp to.
Mine just has the open well with a cover for it.

Did the bracket lift the motor out of the water when under sail or in a slip?
Was the motor controlled by a remote or just the throttle on the motor's tiller?
Thanx for your help
Mike

[flyinmike]

[tweitz]

Seeing your pictures brings back old memories. The upside of the well was that the outboard was very conveniently at hand and, because it was closer to midships, it did not come out of the water in rough seas. The downside was that it was not able to be turned for maneuverability, it would sometimes crap out from the exhaust gases, and the propeller and well opening made for a very unsmooth water flow, especially under sail. Our boat had an insert whcih fit into the well and provided a very fair covering for the opeining of the well when the engine was removed. There was a small board on the forward side of the well to mount the outboard. We eventually put it on the transom as well, so that we could get the maneuverability and kick it up when under sail. We used a spring loaded bracket to lift the long shaft clear of the water. Like most boating decisions, this was a compromise -- the controls were very hard to reach when using the outboard, and I discovered that it often came out of the water in rough seas as the boat rocked fore and aft. I guess the two alternatives each had shortcomings, and I have since joined the diesel inboard fraternity.

[poopdeckpappy]

Wow,big time memories

Those two holes you see in the eng well sidewall is where one side of the motor support was threw bolted,should be two on the opposite side

When we first got ours it too had a transom mount but was a pita to operate, so I built a new motor mount inside the well and dropped in a new 5hp merc., leaving the motor in while under sail was a difference of 1 knot speed loss ( 7.3knots with motor in well was the best we ever did) and not a big deal for us.

The other thing I did was, I added a hatch on either side of the eng well, port side aft was access to the portable fuel tank that sat on a platform, right behind the hatch was a std. deck fuel fill, and this is where I would run the fuel line from the tank up threw the deck fill then to the motor, when not in use, it was easy to store the line and screw the cap on, the other side accessed a cooler,for them occasional dead air zones


Damn that was a cool boat

[vslslr]

Hello Flyinmike!
I just found your thread and wondered how your boat project was going. I own an Excalibur 26 also. We sailed it for three years and then I built a trailer for it and drug it home to restore. I have done some accomodation modifications to make it more user friendly for a family of four, and am still working on it.
As far as the motor well goes, when we first bought the boat it had and old long shaft 10 hp in there. When that died I installed an outboard mount like you have on the transom to use a short shaft merc I already owned. The transom mount is next to impossible to use because I had to crawl over the back of the cockpit and lean down to get the controls, and to raise/lower the thing. You can't reach the tiller and motor at the same time, and leaning over the transom is not a safe place to be when motoring out of a tight harbor in rolling swells. Also, the transom mounted engine will come out of the water one minute and be submerged the next as your boat pitches up and down.
I would suggest mounting the longest shaft engine you could buy in the motor well.
Marc