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fiberglass bow rider power boat by Cobalt boats

Cobalt Boats have put their 210 bow rider on sale at the boat show. This is an opportunity to put your family in a luxurious, top quality Cobalt Boat at a terrific value. Now you can have all that makes for a top shelf family bow rider power boat on your waterways.

But it is the ride and handling that a Cobalt boat is known for. Buy a boat for its performance on the water. Get to know that legendary bow rider experience for yourself. It starts with a chop splitting sharp vee at the bow and continues into a hull bottom shape that gives a soft ride in a quick to plane performance boat. Yes, she is a performance boat, just try her out and you will experience performance on the water in a top-of-the-pile family boat.

This Cobalt bow rider power boat is 22’ 5” in length with its swim platform and has a trailer able maximum 8’ 6” beam. The boat and engine weight in at about 3,850 lbs. before you fill its generous 40 gal fuel tank and cockpit with up to 1,650 lbs. of family, friends, and gear. The Coast Guard rates that as a 12 person boat.

After the ride a Cobalt boat is all about fit, finish, and a healthy dose of hand craftsmanship from a dedicated group of middle of America folks that make outstanding power boats. Tour this boat builder’s plant and see happy, energetic people, as Seabuddy has.

The Cobalt 210 fiberglass bow rider power boat is something for you to see at the boat show.

cockpit and helm photo of Cobalt bow rider fiberglass power boat

Pricing sign photo of model 210 Cobalt boat bow rider power boat

getting ready to be the queen of the boat show

The oldest (since 1905) boat show has traditionally had a “Queen of the Boat Show” cabin cruiser power boat.  This year it’s the 54’ 9” Sea Ray Sundancer express cruiser.

Sundancer is a name that Sea Ray applies to their boat models that have an extra bed under the mid-section of an otherwise express style cabin cruiser. The first boat that came with the name “sundancer” was a 24’ 4” SRV 240 Sea Ray in 1975. That boat had a trailerable beam, not the 15’ 3” beam of this year’s Queen.

If they did not invent the mid-cabin boat design (some say that Skipjack boats is also in contention for that recognition), Sea Ray boats certainly has made it a runaway success story among boaters and also within the boating industry.

C. N. “Connie” Ray started building outboard powered 16’ runabouts in 1959 in Oxford, MI, which is north of Detroit. The 2012 queen of the boat show uses twin Mercury Marine Mercruiser Zeus drives.

Today’s boat has up to 1,430 Hp using diesel fuel, not the 25-35 Hp using gasoline as a fuel that the 1959 runabout was powered with. The Sea Ray Queen’s engines are made by Cummins.

The master stateroom is the one that is amidships and not at the bow. It has a TV as big as the main salon, not the smaller one that the forward bow stateroom has. Both staterooms have a “dry” head; that is a bathroom with a separate shower stall so that the entire bathroom does not get sprayed down when the shower is turned on.

By the way, the generous luxury space of the master bedroom can be ordered configured as two small staterooms so this cabin cruiser has three private staterooms if that is what your family needs. In that layout, the Master Stateroom would then be the forward bow stateroom by default.

Note my boat photo of the thru-bolted bollard style cleat that Sea Ray uses as standard equipment on this yacht. It is one of eight onboard, and they are very impressive!

bollard style cleat on Sea Ray boat show queen

Queen of the Boat Show underway

Chaparral 2012 H2O Sport Bow Rider Runabout

Look for the newest thinking in bow rider boats at your local 2012 boat show. A $21,885 price for a boat, motor, and trailer is a “barn burner” price coming from the one boat builder that has won 40 plus awards for boat product excellence, customer service index (CSI) awards for excellence in customer satisfaction for the last four years, all topped with an amazing 12 awards as simply the Boat of the Year of all boats tested by the boating magazines over the years. That boating trade industry recognition gives confidence to a boat buyer both in the company that makes a full range of bow rider, cuddy, sport, express, and cabin cruiser boats and in each of their individual boat models.

Are you new to boating or a lifelong boater? Inspect for yourself this sport series bow rider stern drive boat aimed at families that want to get on the water. You want for yourself the quality family building lifestyle experience that a trailer boat becomes as a fully fun adventure together for Mom, Dad, and the Kids. This runabout is big enough for all of the family AND two or three extra friends as well (an invite at your kid’s school for a weekend boat ride is valued as a very special treat in any home or community).

This is a big 18 foot PLUS boat with a wide, spacious cockpit, lots of storage areas, padded bow seating seat bases and seat backs, full, wrap around windshield, well placed grab handles, a cushioned sunning pad, built in swim platform, driver and co-captain bucket seats, and a walk through easy opening passage way to the bow.

Remember, the kids rule the boat by sitting up in the bow so Mom can keep an eye on them without having to turn around while Dad is in command at the helm. Only a generously deep, high sided, top quality bow rider boat suits this style of a day full of fun on the water.

Simply put, Chaparral makes another top shelf water ski boat for 2012 in its H2O Sport. Take a look, please, and tell them when you do that you read about it at www.seabuddyonboats.com.

Want some outstanding color photographs of these storied boats? Get a collector grade copy of the vinyl covered hardback book titled Classic Powercraft volume I. The book is full of color pictures of antique and classic boats taken at the highest quality level for wooden boat photography. It is sold out of print, so a used book or a copy from a personal collection is the way to go for this great book.

Streblow Custom Boats are mahogany wooden runabouts built since the early nineteen fifties that set a standard of quality of design and workmanship for wood boats. These are wood runabouts that are doubled planked on their bottoms and batten seamed planked mahogany hull sides. A special finish technique and secret rot resistant construction techniques make these floating art works different from a regular wood boat.

The boat builder is located in Walworth, WI, (262-728-6898) near the shoreline of Geneva Lake where they are a boat builder, restoration shop, and a marine boat dealer.

While they do several millions of dollars of business each year, expect to wait up to three years in good times for a new boat. They only build up to two boats  in any given year to keep the quality up. Heck, it has been said that just selecting the wood for a boat takes weeks of combing through the choices of planking on hand.

Back to the book, get one for the photography. It is just the best there is out there on wood boats. The cover is even a full color photograph of a Streblow set into a lovely vinyl cover or binding.

Cobalt Boats, a fiberglass power boat for 2012

The 105^th edition of the granddaddy of all united states boat shows runs Jan. 4 – Jan 8 at the Jacobs Javits Convention Center with the main show entrance at 11^th avenue and 34^th street in NY City. The driving directions address would best be expressed as 655 W. 34^th Street, NY, NY 10001. Parking is handy at down or around the block or take a taxi from the train station.

Cobalt boats, a favorite fiberglass power boat brand of mine, is offering one of their 2012 models at less than $40,000 as a show boat special. Another one of their boat show specials is a two foot larger model at a price that is way less than $50,000. Its closer to the mid-40s than a flat $50,000. Yes, the prices for their even larger power boat models go up even higher, but Boat Show Specials are displayed throughout their generously sized display booth. Look for the Cobalt Boats booth display over on the right side of the convention center and a little more than half way back from the front door.

Chaparral Boats is also featuring special boat show pricing on their bow riders, cuddies, and cabin cruisers.

Chris Craft, the famous boat builder that has a boat building history as old as pleasure boating is also at the show.

Grady White Boats has several new for 2012 model year center consoles, walk –  arounds, and fishing / family bow rider boats at the show.

Ski boat and wake boat noted boat builder, Correct Craft Boats, has a special price offering on two of their most popular models at the boat show, also.

Cobalt Boat 2012 fiberglass power boat

This one is a 1954 Chris craft. An ideal mahogany classic two cockpit runabout. With a big flathead Chris Craft she gives a great ride at normal antique and classic boat speeds and a real thrill when the throttle is opened up even more.

Specs on the boat is 18’ 11” in length and she has a beam of 6’ 1”. Her overall weight runs in the 2,100 to 2,400 lbs. area. Chris Craft built 503 of them in a production series from 1948 to 1954.

She is not a bow rider and one must change which cockpit to sit in at dockside, as this power boat is a true runabout and not a utility. She is almost all deck, engine room, two rows of seats and little, if any, walking around room in the cockpit areas.

I got a ride on a Pennsylvania Lake in a similar boat that belongs to a friend that was also lovingly restored and its ride and handling during that fresh water cruise was really a terrific experience. That one had an extremely special Chris Craft engine rebuild by an out of state noted engine builder of classic engines.

Chris Craft offered this wood power boat model in either a natural wood stained and highly varnished hull and deck or as a painted red and white finished powerboat. Most came with the seating areas finished in a Chinese red or red hue, but blue was a choice, as I understand it, but not in all of the model years the Racing Runabout was built post WWII.

The photos are from Moores Marine,  www.woodenboatrepair.com  that did this runabout’s restoration. Great workmanship and attention to detail is shown in the work coming from Moores you can see.

This one is a 1954 model Chris Craft

early on in the restoration work

Chris-Craft will introduce its newest member of its storied family of launch style power boats at the Miami International Boat Show, February 16-20, 2012.  The boat buying public will get its first detailed look at the boat show. Look for it, its a stunner!

The new power boat is 32 foot long and it is both a bow rider and a sleeper. The new boat is the largest boat model of its type in Chris Craft’s model line-up.

All the folks at Chris Craft including Chris Craft President, Steve Heese, welcome boat buyers to take a long look at their newest offering at their Miami Boat Show display along with their other show boats. Heese is quoted saying that “the Launch 32 is the logical next step for the active boater that still wants a bowrider but also wants the option to overnight at a moment’s notice.”

Sunning space, an open cockpit, a sleep-in cabin, and a on-board head  as well as all the creature comforts that a first class boating experience demands awaits your family and friends aboard the new 32’ Chris Craft Launch.

Chris Craft boats are driven by active boaters. These boaters value high style, sleek-like proportions and a very practical configuration for their boating adventures. Thinking of long excursions or champagne cruises? Take a long look at a Chris Craft made boat. They very well may have the right boat for you for 2012. I have been on their boats and studied their operations inside the Chris Craft boat building plant in Florida. The value of a Chris Craft is well deserved in this writer’s opinion. The story of Chris Craft may be the story of pleasure boating, and both are a glorious one.

Let me tell you a story about: John Hacker, the noted race boat and runabout  boat designer; Ernest Wilson, Harold Wilson, and Harold’s finance and later, wife, Lorna, a famous boat racing family; the Gold Cup races and its boat class; Greavette Boats of Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada; and Harry Miller of the famous Miller car racing engines fame. They were all involved in a Gold Cupper named Miss Canada II a racing boat.

Miss Canada II, the Gold Cup class race boat, was designed by Hacker for the Wilsons, at their request. They also engaged Miller to design and build a 1,000 Hp. engine  that met the rules of the racing class. The boat was built by Greavette and the Miller engine was shipped there for installation. The engine never did run at Greavette and it and the race boat were shipped off to Lake George, NY, which was the race site. On race day, the engine broke before the race started. Thus the boat and the famous Wilsons did not get to race. After repairs, the engine did work for three laps at a later in the season race, before it broke again. Thus, that year’s racing season went  past without Miss Canada II ever finishing any race, let alone winning a race.

The following racing season, the Greavette boat, Miller engine, and the racing Wilsons did get some competition laps in, but did not win a race as pieces of the boat interior broke up, and the boat, while fast, was found to be too lightly built to stay together long enough finish a race. Thus ended the second season of boat racing for Miss Canada II.

After more work over the following winter on both the engine and boat, she started her 3^rd racing season. The next summer, it was found out that the boat strengthening work done by the boat builder had changed the handling balance of Miss Canada II and she was deemed too hard to handle to win races and allow her driver and mechanic to stay alive while doing so.

The Wilsons ordered a new race boat from a different boat designer, for the next year. Miss Canada III, as the new boat was named, was a race winner.

Michael Aronow wrote this book about his Dad, Don Aronow, and Don’s involvement in boating. Don was a boat racer, a boat building businessman, a world champion, a founding leader of deep vee boat building and offshore racing. He started and owned Donzi Marine, Formula, Magnum Marine, Cigarette Racing Team, Squadron XII, and USA Racing Team and almost all of 188^th Street.

This is the book for a Christmas present to a boater.

John Crouse, Dick Genth, Yachting magazine, Jim Wynne, Mike Gordon, the Beatles, Chubby Brown, Walt Walters, the Donzi sweet 16, Bobby Moore, Knocky House, the models, some of the tricks, the Wyn-Mill II, the Banana  boat, outboards, inboards, I/O, Mercury Marine, Magnum Missile, Molinari, Carl Kiekhaefer, Aeromarine, Roger Penske, Betty Cook, and Mark Donohue are all in the book.

It is a who’s who of power boating and power boat racing offshore. A real history of the racing scene.

Don Aronow made the offshore power boat racing scene very early on and made it into the force it is today. He left New Jersey for south Florida while still a young man and built an empire of race wins, trophies, championships, boat building companies, showmanship, and hard work.

It is only really available on the collector book market. The ISBN number is 0945903227.

Get a nice one and have a good look all at the photos and a good read from the material that Michael shares about a rare man in the boating business in this boating book.

Edsel Ford needed a boat, and not just any boat, to use for commuting to and from his MI home and his huge Rouge River Ford automotive plant located on the Detroit River. He decided on a wood power boat for his needs, a custom 40’ triple cockpit mahogany runabout. One with a powerful engine.

The new wood runabout was named after her engine, Typhoon. A Wright Typhoon dirigible engine made 600 Hp. from her 12 cylinder, 2000 cu. inch gas engine. and that made the boat something that Ford’s doctors fear for his health. On their advice he put Typhoon up for sale, just four years after she first went into the water in 1930. Howard Hughes was one of her next owners.

Typhoon, now destroyed in a boat yard fire several years ago, was a monster. Designed by George W. Crouch and built in the Henry B. Nevins Shipyard in City Island, NY, she was forty feet of double planked highly varnished mahogany that reeked of speed on the water.

She was always a fast runabout.  She was repowered several times to go faster. The original Typhoon was replaced with an Allison aircraft engine and  then a 650 Hp V-12 Hall Scott was installed. Another replacement engine was a 1,500 Hp Packard.  As a side note to the replacement engine story line, the 1,500 Hp engine weighted less than the 650 Hp one. She also underwent several restorations before she burned and there were several periods of time in her life span were she just sat around. She was a monster on the water!