boat types

The Prototype runabout

The Prototype

Length 12.8 Feet

Weight 500 lbs

Ford 10Hp

Max speed 30.5 mph

Year 1951

Power 6v

Numbers 1

Price £ 375.00

The windscreen is higher than normal and has cast brackets instead of fabricted ones found on later boats. The boat has an exhaust that comes out of the transom and a side opening bonnet with only one air scoop. There is a fabricated header tank in front of the engine and the fuel tank is filed by opening the bonnet. There is a cast front and rear central cleat and the sump is a modified automotive one.

The MK 1 was the start of a proper production boat that would see parts carried through to all the models. While the hull was the same as the proto, the boat got a rear hinged bonnet with built in tool box and two air scoops, not the cast ones seen on later boats, but the same one seen on the proto. The windscreen brackets are now fabricated and the glass is lower. There are now two fabricated alloy cleats in the rear side decks. The exhaust now exits out of one of the two rear transom vents and there is also a rear flag pole holder. In the cockpit there is a shelf under the dash, the steering wheel has changed to a three spoke and the dash has a choice of a few gauges as well as a glove box. Under the bonnet there is now a cast header tank on top of the engine as well as a new exhaust manifold in cast alloy. You had a single SU. There is also the all new cast sump with oil cooler, the fuel tank has changed shape and now has a deck filler. There is a spare prop and holder behind the passenger in the engine bay. The rudder changed shape to have the cut out in the bottom front to allow the prop and shaft to be removed as one unit. You can see that the hand throttle is from a lawn mower or similar, and not the one seen on all the other Albatross boats. The seats are much simpler than seen on later boats, and there is no steering center badge or side ones.

Mk 1 engine bay

The big change in the Mk2 was the introduction of the new head and carbs on the engine. That gave 11 HP more, as well as raising the top speed by 2 Mph which may not sound much, but the boat now had a lot more power to pull a skier out of the water. The other changes were air scoops changed to cast ones. The steering wheel gained the Albatross badge in the center and the rear sides now had the side sticker Albatross badges. While the Mk2 was sold as the super sport, the Mk 1 continued to be sold as the standard sport, but apart from the subtle changes the only diffrence was the engine.

Mk2 line drawing

The racing version

For those who required a bit more power there was a new racing version of the Albatross MK2 introduced in1955, which was fitted with a Coventry – Climax 1097cc FWA engine. This engine is also used in some sports racing cars, such as Cooper-Climax and Lotus Climax. It is a high performance over head cam shaft unit and was capable of delivering some 72 Bhp at 6200rpm. With this engine fitted it was found that a speed of 40 MPH was achieved at 5800 RPM. I know from the Climax factory records that there were 15 FWA climax engines sold to Albatross marine though 1955 and 56 and they were priced at £850 pounds. I have never heard or seen one of these 15 boats. Do you own one ?

Climax FWA power

The mk3 saw the introduction of the 100e engine and this meant that some changes were needed in the engine bay to accommodate it. There were new engine mounts that were thicker than seen in the Mk 1 and 2 and were effectively two parts. The front being a wedge shape. The water tanks on the floor changed shape from square looking ends to round ends, and also the battery tray changed from an across the boat one to a length ways version. The starter motor was now a pull bendix instead of a push one as seen on the Ford 10, and this meant the new one passed through the bulkhead being longer. There was also now an oil filter. The sump oil cooler had changed to enter and exit at the front of the sump instead of the top of the sides. The inlet and exhaust manifold castings changed again slightly and now there was only the choice of a single carb. The whole prop shaft assembly was different from the Mk 2. The shaft winds into the engine with a left hand large bronze nut and the prop was held on the shaft buy a nuled split collar and a top hat left handed nut. Gone was the tool box under the bonnet in its place a folded box on the driver’s side in the engine bay as was the spare prop holder in the engine bay and the shelf under the dash was gone also. The alloy on the bottom of the boat got a little thicker and as a result the boat got a bit heaver. The side badges were now pressed alloy and in later boats the rear air vents became pressed instead of flat. Gone was the cast front cleat and in its place was a flat fabricated cleat passing through the deck. There was now a navigation light on the foredeck as well.

There was an addition for the first time of a rubber insert rub rail on boats with numbers higher than 430.

Bullfrog Nav light

There were a number of different dash layouts on the Mk3. The majority had glove boxes but some of the later boats I have seen are without them. The early models seem to have the instruments placed straight in the dash. Whereas the middle number boats had a melamine panel with all the guages clustered around the steering wheel like you would find on the Mk 1 Continental.

You were also able to order your boat with the new oil operated albatross gear box

Working Drawing of Albatross Gearbox

Albatross first made the new Continental model in 1957. It came with the 100e engine and was being used in the Mk3 at the time. At 15 feet and 3 inches it was 3 feet bigger than the Mk3, and offered a somewhat compact rear seating area. In addition you were able to order the boat with a Coventry climax FWE 1220 engine in what we now know as stage one spec. i.e. a single 1.1/2 inch SU h4 carbarettor on a custom Albatross Marine inlet manifold and a cast box exhaust.

Note single carbarettor and box exhaust and Ford 10 header

tank from a MK2 runabout

The Mk1.2

The Mk1.2 Continental

Length 15.3 Feet

Weight 784 lbs 100e 734 lbs Climax

Ford 122e Max speed 37 Mph 62 BHP

Climax fwe Max speed 43 Mph 82 Bhp stage two

Year 1961 – 1963

Power 12v

Numbers 1200 - 1244

Price £ 1000.00 Ford 1500 Gt

Price £ 1150.00 Coventry Climax

Sometime later on there is what I shall call the Mk1.2 Continental. The boat now comes with the fifty pence dash board like the A series that was launched in 1960 - so the glove box has gone.They also chose to widen the distance between the engine bearers and drop the 100e in favour of the ford 1500 pre crossflow. Also the Climax came with the stage two as standard. I.e. twin Su h4 1.5 carburettors and Albatross's own four branch exhaust manifold.

Ford 1500 pre crossflow with gearbox

Albatross now took the Mk1.2 and changed the back giving a more pleasing to the eye tumble hull transom. Some boats had two transom vents like on the Mk3 runabout but some did not. Also they added spray rails. They kept the rest of the hull the same. On deck the boats gained external bonnet hinges and some had only one central cleat while others had the more traditional two. Inside the cockpit the front seat now folded back to create a big sun lounger. The power still came from a choice of the ford 1500 pre crossflow or the stage 2 Climax FWE .

Albatross A series

The A series

Length 13.1 Feet

Weight 720 lbs 122e 670 lbs Climax

Ford 122e Max speed 39 Mph 62 BHP

Climax Fwe Max speed 45 Mph 82 Bhp

Year 1960 – 1965

Power 12v

Numbers A1 - A105

Price £ Ford 1500 Gt

Price £ Coventry Climax

In 1960 Albatross replaced the Mk3 with the new A series model. The boat was some four inches bigger and for the first time the lines of the boat were very different from the Mk1-2 and three. This is the boat that is being called the baby Riva because of its beautiful lines. Also instead of being primarily designed around the E93A/100E the boat was designed primarily to be powered by the FWE Coventry climax, the king of albatross power plants.

There was also an option to have a Ford 122e powered boat instead. This was a cheaper option and came with a three blade prop instead of a two blade that would be found on the climax boats. The other differences were that the ford was making 62 BHP while the Climax was making 82 BHP. The other area that these two engines differed in was their weight. The climax being all alloy comes in at about 100 kg, while the ford was cast iron and a bit of a porker at about 130kg.

Ford 105 pre crossflow

The slipper stern

and

Corsaire

The Slipper Stern

Length slipper 17.6 Feet Length Corsaire 15.6 Feet

Weight 850 lbs

Sunbeam 1500 85 BHP

Year 1961 – 1965

Power 12v

Numbers 2000 - 2027 Corsair numbers 2012 - 2017

Thought to have been first launched in 1961, the slipper started life as a continental that was cut about from behind the rear seat bulkhead and had the back extended to make the boat longer (17 Feet). The boat forward off the rear seat is the same as the continental. Numbers for Slippers start at 2000 and the highest number seen so far seen is 2027

Slipper 2000