Browse news articles, stories and media for the the Antique & Classic Boat Society; including photographs and stories related to ACBS International and it’s chapters.
by Al Tosi member of the Blue Ridge chapter Since growing up off the shores of the Great South Bay of Long Island, New York, I have had the love of boating on the Bay. For those not aware, the Great South Bay is a pristine body of water surrounded by Marsh Land with many…
by Rob Hennessy member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe chpater I grew up on Long Island, New York and enjoyed many days on the Great South Bay and summers at the family lakefront cottage in the Adirondacks. It was during this time that I developed an appreciation for wood speedboats like Chris-Craft and Century to…
by Frank Mizer member of Mid-Atlantic Chapter The hydro known as Beep was built by the Fred Jacoby Boat Works in North Bergen New Jersey. The firm had been building life boats for the government but Fred’s son “Fred Jr” started racing small outboard powered boats, and that is where this story starts. Fred Jr…
by Jeff Peterson member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe and Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes chpaters Riva Aquarama Hull #313 was originally delivered in 1969 to Colin Will in the city of Lausanne Switzerland on Lake Geneva and was given the name Erue. In early 1969, Riva was transitioning the Aquarama model from a Series II to…
By Toni & Ruth Randi members of ACBS My father could never keep his hands in his pockets at auctions. In 2008 he saw 2 boats for sale at an auction in Potsdam NY. He went over to inspect them and found a 1956 Chris Craft 17′ Sportsman and a 1930 Dodge Sweet 16 in…
By Paul Cunha member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe chapters It all started the summer of 1996 in a conversation with Bill Shephard at the Tahoe Yacht Club Concours D Elegance. I was telling him that my 1956 Tollycraft was too small for the Lake, especially when the afternoon wind comes up and with two…
By Gil Maringer member of the North Coast Ohio and Chautauqua Lake Twin Tier chapters When Chris-Craft was completing their WWII contracts and the war was winding down, the company looked forward to national prosperity and the resurgence of demand for pleasure boats. To capture the enthusiasm and optimism for the future they designed a…
By John Young member of the Water Wonderland chapter As far back as I can remember I have known the 1958 Lyman I own. Our neighbor on Douglas Lake, Michigan, who originally owned the boat, would use it as the committee boat for our local sailboat fleet races. Sometimes Mom and I would go along…
By Don Veihmeyer member of the Northern California/Lake Tahoe chapter This Racing Runabout was the first boat of the model built after WWII. The factory originally installed a Hercules model KB engine for power, with a 3 downdraft carburetor model which required a metal deck cowling on the engine hatch cover. The Lake Tahoe Boat…
By Jane Larson, Glacier Lakes Chapter & friend of Geraldine The 2019/2020 winter was not kind to all parts of the United States. Heavy snows followed by rain followed by more snow and wind hit upstate New York in particular. And it hit an extra hard blow to Joe Sabo when the roof of a…
by Tom Thayer member of the Blackhawk chapter One day, in the spring of 1999, my wife was looking at the local Shopper Stopper paper and casually mentioned that there was an Amphicar for sale at an upcoming farm auction a little South of Evansville, WI, which is only about 20 miles from where we…
by Richard Lowery member of the Chesapeake Bay chapter Like me, most ACBS members in the country suffer from the addiction of loving old boats. My addiction started years ago when my father used a 17′ wood catboat, without its mast and rigging, as a power boat to fish for pickerel on Lake Erie.The cat…