This message with pictures came to the ACBS website from somewhere in Alberta.  What can you identify about this boat?

Les Squires says, “I located a barn find boat from 1959, old guy that has it says he bought from an estate years ago. He can’t find a make of boat but it is 17 feet long and has been stored inside for the last 20 years. He says it is factory built. Not sure about the fins though they look added on. Does anyone have a clue who made this boat. I have not seen the boat in person, he is just sending me email photos. The engine is shot, 1960 Evinrude I think it was.
Any help would be appreciated.
Les”

You may put your ideas about this unknown boat in the comment section below.



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10 Comments

  1. Appears to be a yellow jacket,similar hull construction, fins similar but some are curved, some stepped, and stern corners usually curve down under them. Step thru,
    chines,stern lights appear same, windshield shape same,brackets supposed to be aluminum(like ones on Globe-Mastercraft). 17’ers exceedingly rare, never seen one in person.Have seen catalog photos. Found pic of YJ with Crosley inboard on pinterest. windshield on that one too tall.YJ,s won offshore & marathon races in the 50’s and many similar designs were built as a result. Roy Rogers owned them. Go to Marty’s Yellow Jacket website for more info.

  2. Looks similar to my 59 pacific surfrider. Built in Salem or. Send me an dano@trale.com or on Facebook Look up Daniel. O’Flaherty and you’ll see those fins on my profile page and tons of pix , but those do look like they later put those fins on , but who knows… DanO

  3. Those Finns are factory, not an add on. I’ve seen one of these before, but trying to recall the details.
    Dave B.

  4. Perhaps just adding to the uncertainty. The hull is obviously of molded plywood. The Goshen Churn and Ladder Company, of Goshen, Indiana produced a line of bare hulls of molded plywood at least through 1957. All had a similar design. They could be had with a ready made transom, and the hull extended beyond the transom at the stern. It was up to the builder to finish the boat, and, in particular, to cut off the extra plywood beyond the aft edge of the transom. This boat looks like the builder left quite a bit of the hull to extend beyond the transom, perhaps to improve planing. A friend and I each bought one of these hulls in spring 1957, to finish ourselves, though not the same model. We bought the 10′ class B outboard runabout, and this boat looks to be longer. Our boats are long gone. Could this be one of these prefab molded hulls?

  5. This could be a molded plywood hull made by Goshen Churn and Ladder in Goshen, Indiana. They supplied these hulls to anyone who would order one. It was up to the buyer to finish the boat. They came with a built-in transom, with some hull extending aft of the transom. The finisher could shape the aft end of the hull to his own design.
    A friend and I each bought such a hull in spring 1957(but we bought 10′ outboard utilities to build class B outboard racers). We each finished ours to race as class B utilities, powered by Mercury KG-7 Quicksilver engines. They were nice looking and went well, but our boats are now both long gone.

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