Recently, a question was asked about the policy on recognizing the “home built” boats at a show. The answers here from Rick Terry, Judging Committee Chair, and John Howard, ACBS President, will be interesting to all boat show organizers.
Boat age Classifications and Judging Classes are listed on this website.
From Rick Terry:
Awards are firmly within the purview of the show sponsors (chapters). Any show I have been to includes one or more awards that reflect local circumstances and heritage. Examples include a best Stancraft award at Couer d’Alene, best Canadian Boat at the most recent AGM show in Gravenhurst. Clayton, of course, has the most awards – many in-memoriam.
So by all means, an award to celebrate amateur craftsmanship might be a great idea for some shows. ACBS HQ also offers a junior craftsmanship award for any chapter shows.
The ACBS judging committee would resist prescribing an award line-up for all shows because it just couldn’t get it right for every show.
From John Howard:
Our basic principle when judging boats is to judge the boat, not who built it. Home built boats are classed as contemporaries if recently built. If they are old enough, they can be classic, antique, etc. and compete with other boats of their age and type.Many shows also have another award for which these boats are eligible–the Craftsmanship award. This is usually given to an owner who is not a professional and did a majority of the work to restore or build a boat. To many, this is a very prestigious award.Also, remember, the judging committee does not define classes and awards. Show organizers and the public do that. Judges judge the boats and assign the awards defined by the show. If a show wants to have an award for home built boats, they are certainly able to do so. The judges only select the winner(s) of the award.