1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

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tyler_bee

Seaman Apprentice
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Hello All,
Just thought I would post a bit of information about this boat I bought. Searching online for "Link Leisure" yields no information. Just trying to help the next guy out.

This boat, along with 5 others, were on a car lot in Utah. I stopped by and loved the looks of this one. They were asking $500.00 but I offered them $300.00 and got it.

It did not come with the outboard, thats just one I had. Other then the motor, it came with everything else, controls etc..

What I gather is that these were originally made by a company named "Al Marine" Some information from the following site: http://almarinemeteor.blogspot.com/

"As far as I know the company made 4 different boats. The smallest was a 9ft speedboat with an outboard engine and was called the Spitfire, the next was the Seafire which was essentially the same as the Spitfire but with a longer hull (about 10.5ft). My boat is called the Meteor, and has the same hull as the Seafire but has waterjet propulsion and an inboard engine. Almarine also made a twin waterjet boat of substantial size (about 16ft) called the Javelin. There are quite a few Seafires and Spitfires in existence, many of which are in Holland, but the Meteor is a very rare boat indeed. I think the mouldings were licenced to some other boat manufacturers as there are some Meteors out there with some subtle differences such as different jet units. Almarine produced two versions of the Meteor, one with a single stage jet unit, and another with a twin stage jet unit. The twin stage unit fitted to my boat can handle more power (up to approx 75hp). "

I suspect the "Link Leisure" company on the branded plate on the dash of my boat was a fly-by-night company that bought a bunch of these and resold them.

Here is a 1977 Popular Mechanics clip in which "Link Leisure" boats were mentioned;
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ce...k leisure seafire&pg=PA84#v=onepage&q&f=false



The most interesting part of my find is that they boat seemed to be in oddly good condition. No rust, or corrosion that I could see. When I went to get the title for this boat, they provided me with an original 1977 certificate of origin from the manufacturer. The boat has never been in water and has sat in a warehouse with the others for the last 33 years. :) I was the 1st person that the certificate of origin was signed over to, after the dealership.

They have one of the "Meteors" with a ~90% complete motor in it. For some reason, someone took the exhaust manifold and part of the bing 54 carb.

The other 4 outboard styles like mine have busted windshields. Probably from them stacking these on top of each other in the warehouse. The deciding factor on picking the one I did was the fact that it had a complete windshield.

Anyways, Here are some pics.
 

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pist'n broke

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Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

Hi, nice boat. Be great to see it in the water.

I'm the guy with the yellow meteor! http://almarinemeteor.blogspot.com/
I came across this thread when i was looking up my blog on google.

Is the meteor you found still for sale? Shouldn't be too hard to get it going by the sounds of it. They are rare boats so would be good to see it go to a good home.

I'm in the process of fixing the jet unit on mine because it was very out of shape. Now has new shaft, tighter clearances etc. Should be much faster now :) Also fitting a new stainless steel exhaust, and she's having a respray at some point. I just need to shrink myself to fit the boat now :rolleyes: i'm 6'2" but still fit.... just

Enjoy your lil' boat :D
 

tyler_bee

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Jul 12, 2010
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Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

Hey Man,
Yeah, your blog was kind of an inspiration for me to post this bit and carry on the legacy some. :)

I doubt they are still available but they might be, I REALLY considered getting one of the meteors but honestly, after looking at all the work you did, I was a bit overwhelmed at the thought of how much money I would end up 'sinking' in this. :)

I Used to have a suzuki 6 that I tried to take this out in and I was completely depressed. I traded it in towards the 2003 Merc 25hp you see in the picture. Cost me $800.00 (us) when all was said and done.

AN ABSOLUTION RIOT! :) I could tell throttling up after pushing off at the launch that I was in for a treat.

This thing goes scary fast in high seas. Way too much fun. This motor is a 2stroke so the power-to-weight ratio gives it very nice torque through the entire range.

The GPS speed in MPH on my phone said 47mph at close to wide open throttle. She'll prolly level at at close to 60 I imagine.

I've attached a few more pics, Sadly I had a weird kind of bump in the cockpit where I needed to mount the controls so I ended up having to cut it out.

I used many small stainless screws to screw a 10in by 10in cedar board to the side of the cockpit and mounted my controls on it.

Chat soon!
 

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ezmobee

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Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

Cool boat! Looks like a blast. Love the awesome "driveway boating" pic above :D
 

tyler_bee

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Jul 12, 2010
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Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

Cool boat! Looks like a blast. Love the awesome "driveway boating" pic above :D

Thanks, That is my buddy taking it out. I'm trying to get together some high-speed pass photos but damn those no-wake bouys. :)

Taken at Mission Bay - San Diego

The lake photos are at Lake Elsinore, CA. (Not a fun place, $25 launch and too many drunk boaters going to0 fast for the lake size and conditions imo.) It's my test grounds as it's close to my shop.
 

pist'n broke

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Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

Hey Man,
Yeah, your blog was kind of an inspiration for me to post this bit and carry on the legacy some. :)

Seriously man, hearing you say that makes it all worth it :) I've drawn so much inspiration from other peoples projects so wanted to add my bit.

I've thrown a fair bit of coin at the little boat, probably could have done it for a lot less (first real project and made a load of mistakes along the way). But its turned into a bit of a labour of love, and I enjoy fixing it up bit by bit. I think its a boat i'd like to keep and give to my future son one day so he can learn about boats and engines. Its certainly simple stuff.

I really like the windshield on yours with the upturned lip at the top. Mine has a big crack in it and needs replacing so might copy that if i get a new one made up ;)

I've seen quite a few seafires, but yours is by far the best. Loving the red stripes and white hull. Keep it clean man, these rare boats need preserving. The mercury motor looks awesome, must be great having a modern 2 stroke on there. I've seen a 40hp on a seafire. Silly fast :D Hull hardly touched the water :D:D
 

Alwardscustoms

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Dec 8, 2010
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Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

Hey guys new here but looking for more info and pics on the meteor with outdrive. I recently picked up a meteor with a jet setup but looking to reglass it for an outboard due to no engine...... I have the ua pump set up any info would be great thx
 

dockwrecker

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Mar 10, 2006
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1,392
Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

Where in Utah?? I'm in SLC and I'd like to have a look at them if they're still avalible. PM me. I'm just suicidal enough (financially and mentally) to want something like that! :D
 

2mate

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 12, 2007
Messages
219
Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

Hi guys ive got the same boat as you! Just need a bit of advice on how you got a line from the tank to engine. All i have is a threaded hole in the bottom of the tank?
Any ideas?
Cheers
 

m walker

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Apr 11, 2011
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Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

hi to almarine owners from all the info on this site i appear to have got myself a meteor with a well made transom conversion for an outboard, the engine compartment which has a full fitted hood still has the engine mount plates in the hull ,it has got a broken screen but one half is complete and i have made two halves out of polycarbonate sheet and fabricated a centre pillar the bending looks like it will be fun, the hull is in very good used condition but wil be repainted, i have just got hold of a 1978 evinrude 25hp two stroke which looked in good condition which i gave a good check over etc and replaced pump impeller fired up a treat in tank more later /uk
 

adingalingaling

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Nov 15, 2011
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Re: 1977 Seafire - Link Leisure - AlMarine UK

EDIT: Please read our posting guidelines as you've broken a number of rules in this post. -ezmobee
 
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