Mike, I used to know everything there was to know about Aqua Craft but age has taken its toll. Skip Volk was a young ski racer in the early sixties and he became an accomplished boat bulider and endurance boat racer. He, along with legendary boat builder, Fred Wickens built some of the best circle and enduro boats of the 60's and early 70's. Unfortunatly Skip also found he enjoyed aerobatic stunt flying. He tutored under Art Scholl, who was arguably the best stunt pilot around. They were doing a show together on May 10, 1972 and Skip lost his life in a plane crash. To this day the Chipmunk he was flying that day is the most requested stunt plane model made. I must tell you that I don't think that your boat is a 1978. I don't think many werre built after Skip was killed. He didnt have any kids to take over and he was only 42 when he was killed. Fred Wickens was a wood boat builder that started in the late 40's and built boats up to the 80's. He passed away in Washington in about 1996 and was about 92 years old? He built a plug for a circle boat in about 1965 and called it the Wickens Whirlwind. The mold was a collaboration with Skip and they produced the boat in the Aqua Craft plant in West Covina, CA. This is the boat that Charity Case has with the longdeck version on it. The boat in my avator is a 1966 Wickens with a walnut deck by Harlin Orrin. I will post a pic of my Dad's 1968 18' Aqua Craft. This is the same hull as your boat. They also made a 17' Aqua Craft that was one of the first SS boats. It was a pleasure to watch that boat pivot on single pin turn. I can remember that like it was yesterday. These hulls were not drag boats. Skip and Fred were into circle racing, but mainly the enduro races where they ran these things for 9 hours. I think that is why everybody is telling you to be careful with it, Your boat has a ton of HP for what the hull is. Unfortunately when Skip died so did a lot of the legacy of his boats. If you google Skip Volk there are some cool articles about him and his flying days.If you have any other questions regarding the boats please ask.
This is my Dad's boat,
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...g?t=1169851074