Sad old Levi

L

leviowner

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I have recently become the proud owner of an old motorboat for restoration. The boat appears to be a Levi design, with the classic deep vee hull. Its almost like a 'Triana 25'; same size hull shape etc., but it has a plywood hull and was fitted with twin V drives (engines long gone).

The boat has no identifing marks or name, having been stripped down for restoratrion some years ago. I suspect it may have been built as a work-boat rather than a pleasure craft, judging from the weight of the fittings and the lack of comforts in the cockpit and cabin.

Does anyone have any information about who was building plywood boats to Levi designs in the sixties, or who was using them?

Any clues gratefully followed up.

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I can't help much with the question, although I thought the commercial craft that Levi designed were mostly bigger.

I wonder if what you have is the hull of an old race boat? I think A'Speranziella and others were built of plywood (they were mostly one-offs or prototypes) and I also think that some of his race boats were fitted with V drives. It would also explain the beefed up fittings.

Just a thought.........

sper5.jpg


<hr width=100% size=1>Je suis Marxiste - tendance Groucho
 
Where did you buy it from, I think I remember one on the isle of man in a bit of a mess? did she race?

Talk to the motorboat museum at Basildon about old Levi designs, they have a couple of one off's in there.



<hr width=100% size=1>My house is for sale, 2 beds, Hamble.
 
It was in a Barn near Romsey when I bought it. The previous owner had had it for 2 or 3 years having acquired it (in the same sorry state) in a bankruptcy sale.

I shall certainly pay a visit to the museum in Basildon.

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Levi's book 'Dhows to Deltas' shows a patrol boat he designed ('Settimo Velo') which looks very similar, but again is powered by outdrives.

It would be nice to think it was an old racing boat, perhaps I could try and restore it to look like the Corsair in your picture, but it would be a couple of feet too short! (no-one would notice).

I assume the fact that it is ply with V-drives dates it to the early to mid-sixties, before GRP and outdrives became more common; but perhaps someone more knowledgeable than me could confirm or deny?

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I assume you've looked at the Levi website <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.leviboats.com/ing/home.htm>here</A>? It refers to the Settimo Velo and the Speranza, both developed from the original A'speranziella. If it's one of those, then you have something rather rare on your hands...........

Have you thought about approaching Sonny Levi himself, to ask him if he knows anything about the boat? He's retired now, but I think lives on the Isle of Wight, at least some of the time. P'raps worth a try.

<hr width=100% size=1>Je suis Marxiste - tendance Groucho
 
"Damn clever, wish I knew how you did that."

enter what is inside the quotes... "[image]insert the full filepath and filename in here, including the http://www part and file extension[/image]"

If you replace the word "Image" with "URL", and insert your homepage address, you will have a shortcut to your page

<hr width=100% size=1>Regards,

Alf
 
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://hometown.aol.co.uk/oldleviboat/boat.html>http://hometown.aol.co.uk/oldleviboat/boat.html</A>

cool.

I've learn't something today.



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Some old stuff....

Guess she could be related to the Corsair... designed by Renato Levi and built by Viking Marine in teh 60's.

Hull mould was later bought by Trident Marine who re-built the mould with an upper chine and re-designed the topsides... Named the boat Omega 828 in 1972...These were fitted with twin 180 Mermaids or Sabres, or twin 170 Volvo's on outdrives ... giving approx 30 and 34 knots respectively...

omega1.jpg


<hr width=100% size=1>Regards,

Alf<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by Divemaster1 on 13/10/2004 19:13 (server time).</FONT></P>
 
Congratulations on acquiring a classic Levi boat, I too have one - a 1969 Triana 25 which I am currently restoring, not quite in such a sad state though.

I assume you have 'Dhows to Deltas' by Sonny Levi you should try and search out his later book 'Milestones in my designs' it is a fabulous read with some superb illustrations and many more pictures. Judging from that and various other bits of research I have done on his early boats I would tend to concur with JHR that yours looks to be one of the 'Settimo Velo' type produced by Navaltecnica although the 'V' drives mark it out as being a little different, although it would appear that they were experimenting with engines and propulsion systems extensively at that time .

I don't think it is a either a prototype Triana 25 or Trident 23 but stand to be corrected.

Have e-mailed you some contact details in case you want to chat about Levi boats.

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Few more piccys, sorry about the quality and size but don't know how to enlarge them.



100__mick_Untiold_speedboat_set.jpg


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Well done leviowner, you've created one of the most interesting boaty threads on here for a while.

If I had not got a fairey boat I'd have bought a Levi.

<hr width=100% size=1>My house is for sale, 2 beds, Hamble.
 
It's gotta be a Settimo Velo, hasn't it?

settimo_velo_02_m.jpg


I don't think the v-drive set up changes that; presumably built for a client who wanted shafts and, as I say, I'm sure some of the Levi race boats had v-drives, so putting that set up into a commercial craft would have been no big deal, given previous experience.

<hr width=100% size=1>Je suis Marxiste - tendance Groucho
 
Yes, well done JHR, I knew I'd seen some other pictures somewhere. There are several here at [image]http://albaco.net/tornado/levy01.html[/image]



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