Revolutionary Boat Design: Having a Lark in the Fifties

by Lee Wangstad, BSLOL Chapter It wasn’t just the 50s cultural revolution in America that brought style into the American consciousness. Towards the end of the second Industrial Revolution as the last gasps of the 19th century tapered to a halt, the early stages of the 20th century brought a new renaissance in just how…

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An Update on the EV Conversion, Little Debbie: 
Plans for 2026

By James Black, Chesapeake Bay Chapter After ten years of dedication to restoration, we consider Little Debbie herself to be a finished project. As is, she meets or exceeds all expectations for family fun in and around our lakefront community. However, as a test and evaluation platform for anything old to EV-Conversion, alternative internal systems…

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A 1951 Ventnor Becomes New Restoration Project for Inland Empire Chapter

Exciting news! After Inland Empire Chapter’s Alan Wardsworth rescued a 1951 Ventnor runabout from a barn where it had sat since 1985, Paul Rodkey agreed to take on this hand-on learning opportunity as the official Inland Empire Chapter project boat. Inland Empire members and students from the local Central Valley High School are gaining experience…

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Member Profile: Alan and Judy Hills, NCC&P Chapter

Every once in a while, the stars align for an ACBS Chapter where dynamic leadership and enthusiastic participation take things from ho-hum to WOW! Judy and Alan Hills, at the helm of the North Carolina Coastal & Piedmont Chapter, are working hard to create engaging opportunities for classic boating enthusiasts.  Judy, a Florida native, has…

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The First of the Last Chris-Craft 19-Foot Racing Runabouts

By Rob and Maggi Cassell, SoCal Chapter Quite a number of years ago at an ACBS show, we overheard restorers comparing projects in their shops. These can be passionate conversations, and the description of one of the last Chris-Craft 19’ racing runabouts having the deck cut out so she could be turned into a utility/ski…

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Alphabet Soup: Demystifying the Chris-Craft Engine, part 1

By Lew Dobbins, Northern California/Lake Tahoe Chapter Most of our club members are familiar with Chris-Craft, Century, Hacker Craft and GarWood boats, being the most common in our boating world. And a few are familiar with some of their engines. But even as common as these engines are, the varied model names, numbers and letters…

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