by Ron Chaverin member of the Blue Ridge chapter She was named “Lady C” by my mother Lee Chaverin for her owners surname, Chris-Craft, and her home of 43 years, Lake Chautauqua, NY. The boat has had 5 owners in her 81 years, of which we know 4, the original being Mr. Anthony Pietrafesa, who…
Detailsby Timothy Straker member of the Water Wonderland chapter Growing up in the 70’s on Buckeye Lake in Central Ohio, I was always around classic boats. Sayre Bros Marina on Buckeye Lake was one of the oldest Chris-Craft dealers in the nation. Over the years, countless numbers of wooden boats were lifted over the seawall…
Detailsby Thomas Drozd member of Blackhawk chapter “Golden Gal” is owned by Tom Drozd and Georgia Raymond. She is a 1961, 23’ Chris Craft Sea Skiff Ranger bearing hull #SUD23-048. It turns out that Chris Craft produced 56 of this model in that particular year, so it is a fairly rare boat as far as…
Detailsby Judson Laws member of ACBS My life has revolved around all things vintage… boats & cars. My dad Jud Laws started our business in 1984 specializing in wooden boat restorations & maintenance along with modern ski boats. He worked at a local marina doing service work & wood boat restorations for about 7 years…
DetailsBack on December 8th, Wine Country Classic Boats held their Annual Board of Director’s Meeting/Christmas Party. At the conclusion of our meeting, I presented the President’s Award. This year I presented it Connie McNamara who is also a Director at Large for Wine Country. Each year at our boat show on Keuka Lake in Hammondsport,…
Detailsby Ken Slaght member of the Southern California chapter Hull # 48904 was delivered to Seattle Washington in September 1942 and remained in the Pacific Northwest until her current owners purchased her in September 2001. Not much is known about her before her full restoration in 1997-1998. She was restored in Kilwona, British Columbia by…
Detailsby Tom Dunn member of the Blue Ridge chapter The new fiberglass 1968 19′ Penn Yan was bought by my father after a barn burnt down along with our 1960 wooden Thompson. Penn Yan had only started making fiberglass boats a few years before that and they looked almost exactly like their wood boats. It…
DetailsOn August 10, 1920, the five speedboats convened in the Solent – a smooth stretch of water near the island – for the first “heat” (race). The Harmsworth Trophy racecourse was an elongated elliptical shape consisting of five laps. Each lap was about six miles – two extended straightaways anchored by a turn around a…
DetailsBy Dick Caradori member of ACBS July 5, 1958 it was a Saturday and my dad Leno (an industrial arts teacher) said he wanted to buy a boat and would I like to go along. Me being fourteen and the oldest of seven children, said of course and jumped at the chance to go on…
DetailsBy Kirsten N. Johnson When the calendar recently turned from 2019 to 2020, it marked the centurial of a truly epic year in speedboat racing history. One hundred years ago, 1920 was a time for speedboat glory in America, and for two American men in particular. Gar Wood and Chris Smith – working out of…
DetailsBy Jack Gifford, Finger Lakes Chapter One a sunny spring day in 2001 I decided to look at a large cruiser I had seen advertised in the paper. Since the inside dimensions were roughly the size of a small apartment, I felt that it would combine my love of boating with a summer place on…
Detailsby Michael Wetzel member of the Finger Lakes chapter In the summer of 2015 we finished our new boat house on Skaneateles Lake, complete with 2 boat bays; one the standard 10’ wide for modern boats and one 8’ wide for a wooden boat. The problem was we didn’t own a wooden boat. In fact,…
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