Anyone know this boat?

Built as "Eye Ball" now "Silent Wings" and sitting on the hard @ American Custom Yachts in Stuart , FL. This vessel has been maintained machinery wise up until 6 months ago when it was moved from its berth on the middle river in Ft. Laud. The Black water system is in need of some repair as the aluminum piping is furred and the welds have been compromised on some flanges and the Black water tank is currently removed. Vessel needs a complete paint job and the Ka Me Wa's sent out and rebuilt.
I feel this vessel is the one of the best deals out there around $500.000. Send a PM if you require more info. I have no skin in the game as far as the sale of this vessel but know it well and directly know the people who have maintained it the last five years.

Didn't someone just do that?

A live aboard for a six month stretch? What would you do with the boat the other six months? This is not the type of vessel that does well sedentary due to biological growth in the jet tunnels and of course the 16v 396 TB-92 MTU's don't like to sit (nor should any other diesel engine) The person who purchases "Silent Wings" will put one million dollars into her at a minimum to bring her back to yacht standards. Removal and shipping the Ka Me Wa's back to Rolls Royce in the U.K. for rebuilding and reinstalling. $500.000 (excludes hydraulic power packs) Paint job on a budget would be a scratch down , grind out any blisters, roll and tip the superstructure and spray the hull $400.000. Misc.. plumbing for systems that have deteriorated and furred piping, $75,000. The sad thing is this vessel has a beautiful American Walnut interior that the Wood workers up in Mamaroneck N.Y. / Derecktors were famous for producing and now its sitting through a brutal south Florida summer on the hard without air conditioning keeping the humidity down and keeping the interior soft goods and joinery cool and fresh.

So $1.5M and you have a beautiful boat, but what is that bit about ten-knot cruise speed?

Not sure what they mean by "As the build continued additional heavy weight equipment and oversized construction was added the high speeds were not attained" as the vessel appears to sit fairly normal in relationship to the chine submersion at the transom. I mean, how much higher was she designed to float at?

10 knot water jet cruise, hmmm, there is a bigger story behind that than weight gain?

Derecktor didn't have the vessel on a diet when constructing it by having a scale next to the boarding platform to weigh every piece of equipment and the fittings, furniture, soft goods like carpets etc coming aboard to be installed. They didn't use NidaCore panels for bulkheads and soles nor did they use granite veneers in lieu of 5mm solid stone etc. Could very well have been a slew of change orders coming from the owner and the interior decorator also. In a high speed application every spool of cable, insulation, pipe work etc is weighed and calculated for the overall HP vs weight effect on speed. This vessels most efficient fuel burn and economical cruising speed is listed as ten knots but the boat will do 17 knots with the MTU fuel pump indicators at 95 % and drain your pocket book of fuel money. She sits on her lines due to a buoyancy tank welded in between her jet outlets on the transom. Derecktor got this corrected on their next MTU / Ka Me Wa build "Lady Frances" @ 105ft .she topped out at 38 knots and had a light weight interior by Puleo.

Construction weight gain I understand, it just does not seem to measure up to the bottom paint/waterline as seen in the picture. Heavier than designed, sure, but overweight to the point of 13 knots max? Not so sure, though I understand now they have installed stabilizers and such that scrub speed. I personally would be inclined to drop the waterjets, cut in tunnels and install a typical shaft/propeller system. Would require a redo on the controls as well, but does not seem too far out of the realm.

I rode on Lady Frances at the Singer Island event at the Miami Boat Show, had a conversation on the aft deck underway with the late Tom Fexas, and we were both surprised that there was a 10 - 15ft wall of water following the vessel just aft of the transom at speed, seemed like a major waterjet design flaw again on the Derecktor side, not sure if they ever rectified that issue, and Lady Frances did not seem to fair well over the years as originally designed.

Lady Frances now El Jeffe has been a very successful charter yacht out of SMX for many years. It's had its normal amount of refits like any other 27 yr. old yacht would with interior and cosmetic upgrades but it runs every week with its original machinery with guests aboard and looks great. I believe El Jeffe is for sale at this time and can be found on line for viewing.

Good to hear Lady Frances is alive and doing well all these years.

Did they every tame that 'waterfall' issue? More from my curiosity as I observed that phenomenon first hand. I had heard they may have put a large transom plate/fixed tab at one point?

Just noticed they lengthened it from the original 105' to 115', that may have resolved the waterfall issue on the original S&S design.

Adding ten feet certainly seems preferable to adding an underwater buoyancy tank.

I meant the El Jefe, ex Lady Frances, sorry for the confusion.

No confusion, I don't think. I meant they apparently fixed the problem on the second hull by moving the transom back ten feet. That would add a lot of buoyancy without adding much weight, unless they moved a lot of machinery into that new space. And it would add useable space for the new owners. I grew up around a lot of boat and yacht builders, heard and still hear plenty of stories of new designs needing modifications like that.

As far as the waterline looking correct on the first hull, there are plenty of stories of new designs being launched, equipment being moved around, then the waterline getting painted on. It is not an exact science.

As far as the ten-foot wall of water, that is a lot of energy not being used to propel the boat! I'm not a big fan of jet drives, great in some applications, but sometimes tough to put all that power into propulsion. It is tough to make it efficient.