Coming off the success of last year’s ACBS March Madness bracket, where Epifanes was crowned your favorite varnish, we’re back for another round of fun. This year, we asked our community to nominate the “Most Iconic Vintage Boat of All Time.”
And wow… did you respond!
More than 1,100 submissions poured in from passionate boat lovers across the ACBS community and beyond, helping us seed this year’s Sweet 16–style bracket. The enthusiasm was incredible and a testament to how much these classic boats mean to the people who restore, preserve, and enjoy them.
As you might expect with social media, the nominations ran the full spectrum—from serious contenders to a few creative curveballs. We saw everything from Noah’s Ark to the SS Minnow to the RMS Titanic. While those certainly sparked some laughs, we ultimately narrowed the field to 16 iconic boat models that could realistically appear at an ACBS show—the contenders you see in this year’s bracket.
What the bracket doesn’t fully show is the incredible variety of boats our community submitted. There were countless mentions of rare models, one-off builds, and unusual classics that clearly hold special meaning for their owners. Scroll through the social media comments and you’ll see just how passionate people are about their favorites. Many of the nominations were tied to personal stories—boats people grew up with, learned to boat in, restored with family members, or have kept in their families for generations. Those connections are exactly what make the vintage boating community so special.
How the Voting Works
Over the next several weeks, we’ll post head-to-head matchups across our social channels on Instagram and Facebook. Each matchup will feature two legendary boats competing for your vote.
All you have to do is vote in the comments on the ACBS Facebook page or ACBS Instagram page for the boat you think deserves to advance. Every few days we’ll reveal the winner and move the bracket forward—until just one model earns the title of ACBS March Madness Champion: Most Iconic Vintage Boat of All Time.
The images featured in the matchups come from ACBS member boats and our archives, but we’re always looking for great photos. If you have an amazing image that perfectly represents one of the models in the bracket, feel free to send it to seth@acbs.org—we may feature it in an upcoming matchup.
Thank You
Most of all, thank you to everyone who submitted nominations and continues to support ACBS. Your enthusiasm, stories, and knowledge are what make this community so unique. We can argue back and forth about what makes the most iconic vintage boat but at the end of the day it’s this banter that makes us the organization that we are.
Now it’s time to make your voice heard.
Follow along, cast your votes in each matchup, and help decide once and for all:
Which vintage boat model deserves to be called the most iconic of all time?