The Restomod category is a fun new take on an old boat… and its whatever the boat owner wants it to be. Meet Dr. Bob and White Lightening, the 2024 ACBS International Show Restomod winners. Platinum Dr. Bob 1947 23-foot Higgins Sport Speedster 300 HP 8 Cylinder Mercruiser motor Jeff & Renee Davey,…
The ACBS International Boat Show is one of the premier shows in the country, bringing each year an unsurpassed level of quality and craftsmanship in restored and preserved boats. This year, with 85 boats judged against 150 lines of scoring criteria, ACBS was pleased to offer 41 platinum, 28 gold and 8 silver awards to…
The 2024 ACBS International Awards Banquet just concluded and we are excited to share this year’s winners: Best in Show Non-Wood: Goldy A 1975 16-foot Forrester 1600 Rebel with a 115 HP 6 Cylinder Mercury Motor owned by Matt Whitelock of Minneapolis, MN Best in Show Restored: Teaser A 1924 40-foot Henry B. Nevins Custom…
As the 2024 ACBS Vintage Boat Week enters its final day, it is only right to reflect on what a week its been. The boats, the folks, the rides, the smiles… The Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes Chapter has offered the best that Northern Minnesota and all of these beautiful waterways have to offer. Enjoy this sneak…
By Gregory Rice, Michigan Chapter For over thirty-five years, I have been scratch-building Radio Controlled boats. Since 2008, I have focused on the unique designs of John Hacker. When I was growing up in the 60s, like many boys at the time, one of my hobbies was model building. My work was nothing special, but…
By Andreas Jordahl Rhude (originally printed in the Glacier Lakes Chapter newsletter, At the Waterline) When most people conjure up an image of a wooden era Thompson boat, they picture a lapstrake hull with white painted sides and stained and varnished mahogany decks, transom, and interior trim. In a way, this is the quintessential “Thompson.”…
Gil Maringer, North Coast Ohio Chapter When the Antique and Classic Boat Society created a new “Resto-Mod” classification for boats that have been restored and modified with modern engines and equipment while preserving the classic boat style and historical significance, it almost seemed to be tailor-made for a certain Chris Craft Holiday on Portage Lakes.…
By Kevin Bamerick, ACBS Member and Regular ACBS Rudder Contributor E. Murray Lombard wrote entertaining epithets of boat names in the 1929 Motor Boating magazine. The “999 sounds fast,” he wrote, “999 was a super hydro.” The hydro-plane was owned by Edsel Bryant Ford of Detroit, Michigan. Resemblant to Horace Dodge’s Baby Delphine, John Hacker, in…
“Once you are on a tugboat, you fall in love.” – Paul Vassall, owner of the Jessie T. The mystique of a tug is like none other and though these working boats may seem an unlikely pleasure craft once retired, the tug community is passionate. ACBS has 6 member tugs, each as unique as its…
A People’s Choice Pink 1958 Century Roan In 2011, she saw it. A pink 1958 Century Roan. A boat fabricated in her favorite color. “I fell in love with it in about two seconds,” says Kateyln Marsden, member of the Finger Lakes Chapter, a third generation member, in fact. “My grandparents were founding members.” The…
By Graeme Hoatson Beattie, Manotick Chapter William L. Ralph was the adopted son of Michael Ralph. Little is known about Michael, yet he did have the financial means and wherewithal to acquire a 99-year lease from the Canadian Crown to establish Ralph Island in 1889. Ralph Island is a mile away from Portland near the…
By Rob Wilkinson, Pacific Northwest Chapter Photos by Colleen Chartier Several decades ago, while sitting on the banks of the Montlake Cut near the University of Washington where the Boys in the Boat practiced and raced in the 1930s, my friend Elizabeth and I spotted a beautiful mahogany speedboat cruising through the canal. We swooned.…