This is my first post and it's for you Southwind Tunnel fans. Been lurking around for awhile and thought I'd share some stuff.......
Found this in a box in my attic....an advertisement from Berkley Jets..
(Attachment Link)

Here is 1/2 of the backside of this poster....

(Attachment Link)

from the late 70's..

Well, no one has spoken up with what happened to the Southwind Tunnel when they went out of business...
The advertisement poster was a hint. The Place brothers bought the Hull mold, cut the jet extension off, re-did the deck, and the Placecraft was born. And according to my memory, went back out and took the world record again. Those guys loved that bottom and trusted it.
For JustSquirtin, (and anyone else) I'll copy that poster and send you one, it's something to hang in the garage. I got that poster when I bought mine and just put it in a box.
Also, for people that are looking to buy bare hulls, I sold mine in 2004 for $2800, turn key...........

There is one other thing about these boats that is unique, and anyone who has driven one knows about. I learned the hard way and in a state of panic. On all other jet boats, when you go to stop, you have to feather the throttle. This boat you don't. You can go full blast and turn off the key. It will stay steady, raise the front of the boat up, and then flatten out.......The cav plates, the bottom of the boat, and the top deck redirect the wake behind over the jet and off the side. Great design of the top deck.....



That "hump" on the back, right behind the splash shield...I found this out the second week I drove the boat. Full throttle and it died! All I could think was that I was in trouble. But what happened was what I said before. The water just hit the back and went off the boat. Not a drop inside. I sat there and said "that was cool."
One of the safest boats out there..........although I have sank it 4 times, and was thrown out of it @ 55mph once.
This is fun.......

ok I'll bite why you? and how do you come to know so much about the southwind brand?

If someone knows & has already posted it, I give the short version......
It seems from reading all the posts on here that most of you have just discovered these Tunnels. I gave a hint on my first posts about the Berkley Advertisement. It's the name of the driver of the World Record. It's the history of how they came to be sold and how they progressed till they kind of went away. Also why others copied that bottom. And also a little twist on the bottom that, I'm sure no one knows, and it has to do with one of the boats on that poster.....
This one..



I got to ride in this boat. Talk about an E ticket! It was a Tunnel, but it had modifications, the only one Southwind built! I was at Buena Vista one day and this boat pulled in. I was wiping down mine and he came over to me......we chatted for awhile and the rest is history...
I'll try to explaine the mods. The biggest one was the jet "placement".
When I walked up to it, the first thing I saw was that the jet extension had been cut off and the jet was flush with the back of the hull. When I asked about the change, he told me because the cav plates were fixed, they wanted to get the nose higher in the air in order to get more speed, less friction.  (sidebar...I have seen, & have a pic somewhere, of a Tunnel with footpetal, v-drive type ajustable cav plate)...The other mod was ?. I may have to draw this to explaine it. There is a tunnel on each side of the jet. On the outside & bottom edge of the tunnel, they had incorperated a 1" x 1" piece about 2' long, looked like a C, to help channel the water & keep the rear of the boat glued to the water. It worked, an E ticket ride...





 

OK,     but first, I have this advertising poster from 1977.....it may be the only one in existence and you may wonder why I have it. If some of you Southwind fans want one, I will have copies made and send them to you, no charge.



I had to scan it in sections cause it's 17 x 22......
As I said before, I know allot about these boats & what happened to them after they went out of business.
The original owner was a class act...

im up for a poster and the tunnel picture if you want to unload them and welcome to the mayhem

After reading on here, you have a Tunnel?

This is my first post and it's for you Southwind Tunnel fans. Been lurking around for awhile and thought I'd share some stuff.......
Found this in a box in my attic....an advertisement from Berkley Jets..


Here is 1/2 of the backside of this poster....



from the late 70's..