Shadow Bass Boat...what is it...where did it come from?

[Ranger375]

I read some discussion on this yesterday...and then I saw one (Shadow Bass Boat) this morning...who made this boat....when...and what was the quality?  The one I saw this morning when down at the lake...VERY early....was really moving...looked like it has a 225 on it...and I can tell you...I would have had NO chance to catch that thing.  It would have been like the Roadrunner cartoon when the Coyote catches up to the Roadrunner and then the Roadrunner kicks in the speed and all you see is smoke!    

[Ranger375]

Okay...so at least 10 people don't know anything about this boat...I am starting to not feel as bad not knowing myself...you know I should have just run him down and asked him...but...I would probably still be chasing him. 

[Rattle]

Never heard of it but I'll do some research.

[Rattle]

Ok, I have yet to see one but I found an owner page and one thing is for sure, they flat out get it. Most of the owners are posting speeds in the mid 80s and I seen one that said 108 mph radar. That is awesome, of course I don't think I would want to be in that boat when it was hitting that speed. It also appears that they are no longer manufactured, probably too many lawsuites  from people having their eyes sucked out of their sockets at those speeds.

[Ranger375]

My conservative guess is he was doing...90 - 95 MPH...I was not WOT but I was at 60 MPH GPS...he was just....well...Gone!  I agree with hitting those speeds...imagine a chine walk at that speed...time to pick your spot where you are gonna hit the water.

Amen on the lawsuits...

[Ranger375]

They are no longer made...but that is all I could find out.

[Ranger375]

Got some more info..persistence pays off I guess...seems they are indeed out of business...they were believed to have been manufactured in Corbin, Ky...they are very light...try 900# hull weight without engine...that is about half my Ranger...seems they don't do well on rough water...the company went out of business...the molds were sold and another group of people tried to make a go of it but didn't take off.  There are some with a tunnel hull design...and some with traditional deep V...I have talked to a few guys and they all said that they were rated for big engines due to good transom design and their light weight gave them the speed.  All this info is by memory of others and I don't know how accurate it is...I can tell you this though...if you see one on the lake...and they want to race...and there is money involved...well....might want to swallow your pride and just say "no thanks - I really need to save my gas."   

[Mike]

Yeah Gas thats the issue

I have only seen one of they, well mostly the back of it!! Fast wouldn't be the work, rocketing would be more like it.

Thanks for the research guys, not that I would ever buy one but it is cool to know the specifics. I personally hope that Cobra makes it this time and doesn't go out of business agian. I would like to upgrade mine one day. Of course if I ever win the lottery (maybe I should play once in a while) I would have to buy a gambler.

[Rattle]

A gambler man. Mike that is one fine boat of course like you said you would have to win the lottery to buy one. They are proud of them babies.

[Mike Noble]

Apparently, only the "shadow" knows.  That sounds too fast.  I bet the boat row markers on Caddo would be going by QUICKLY.

[MotherNature]

I bet the boat row markers on Caddo would be going by QUICKLY.

Quickly is absolutly too fast for Cork  , we all know he hates those things, shoot everytime we get on that lake it seems to cost us... I would love to get him that Gambler but he better hope that he gets stationed in a location that has deep water like we had in California or he will have to wait on that one. I am not sure how he would fair if he took out another boat row marker 

Laurie

[Mike Noble]

I hope the boat comes with seat belts and air bags.

[225HO]

Sorry this is so late, but just joining you guys and thought I'd throw some more info into this.

Shadow Boat's were made in Corbin Ky, from the 80's to early 90's.  These were very light layup boats that really stretched the limits with big block motors of the day......(235 Johnson/Evinrudes)  These were very fast boats for the time and were produced in what could be conciderd "limited" production. 

    The main problem of these were the transoms with the light layup.  If you see one today with the Shadow name on it, I'd bet the farm that the transom has been rebuilt.  To some loyal owners this was not a problem as they sacraficed the cost of a transom rebuild to maintain the speed and keep the unique Shadow name under there belt.

    There were also some problems of delamination of some of the hulls.  This probably was also due to the light layup and high speeds these boats were achieving.  There were regular V bottom boats and Tunnel Bass versions.  The tunnel was the fastest when unloaded and was fairly easy to drive due to being a tunnel by design.  What hurt the tunnel was the ability to carry heavy loads and rough water ride suffered somewhat too.

The plant did shut down as stated earlier and the molds were also sold to another group of folks that tried there hand at boat building.  These boats were the same basic boat except they were layed up much heavier all over and brought in the heavier chopper gun process to lay up the hull and decks.  These boats went by the name of Glassport and were sold throughout the South East.  They just didn't get the support from dealers or customers as they didn't perform as the Shadow did.  They quit production in 97 if I'm not mistaken. 

Some info and pretty good pics on a 20 foot VT 200 (tunnel boat) can be found at

 http://members.aol.com/atcskeet/

Skeet replaced the transom on this Shadow early in the game and it has been fine since.  He's also responsible for the powerhead work on my nasty HO too.....

Now,,,,,,On the flip side of all this.  There is a new boat out in the past couple of years that looks very similar to the Shadow/Glassport with updated graphics.  I could be way wrong on this, but check out a Nu-Legend boat and compare some pics and deminsion specs.  Would not be surprised if this is not a copy (or is from the same mold) as the ariginal Shadow.  All the way down to the front of the cockpit in front of the windsheild.  Again, that is just my observasion....have no proof what-so-ever. 

Brandon

[Mike]

Thank You for updating us on this, lots of great info 

Dawg one of our members fron Ky just aquired a Nu Legend I think there are pics floating around somewhere.

[MotherNature]

The photos are in the gallery, I think under Rigs

Gallery

[DAWG]

Just went and looked at this boat on that site. It is so close to my NU- LEGEND it is scary.Everything looks the same all the way down to the windshield shape and design. The console has some changes in the guages.My boat was made in the Corbin area in a town called Lily, which is real close to Corbin. I talked to Hustler trailers just the other dayto find out a little about the company. They told me the company had gotten a little trouble but rumor was they were coming back.
  I still cant get over how close these two boats are. print a pic of both of them and put them side by side and other than the paint , they are the same. The NU-LEGEND boats were made by the Legend Yaught company according to Hustler Trailers. Makes me feel better about owning the NU-LEGEND!

[Mike]

Well I guess there is definately something to the merge or mold issue. Coming from a Nu Legend owner. Dawg, Do you still love that boat? That is what is really important.

[DAWG]

 :)Yes Mike i do very much. Just wish i could be out on it today! Got up this morning to snow flurries and 39 degree temp. I am hoping to be able to go for one last trip on Sat. my b-day before putting her away for the winter.Did you print pics of the two boats to see the simalaritys between the two?

[Mike]

They are almost identical as far as I can tell, it is almost like they are from the same molds. I wonder if the molds were purchased and sold a couple times over and ended with your company?

[DAWG]

It really looks that way. I have seen some Shadow boats before, not too many though, but i will look closer now for them. I used to work for Sea Ray boats in Fl. in the mold maintainance dept.Thoughts have crossed my mind to check into buying the molds and start making them againmyself.