This Lyman is often considered the top example of a wood classic open cruiser. At 26’ 2” with a 9’ 1’ beam and a deep cockpit she is a strong candidate for very large Bay or Great Lake boating. With two berths forward, a dinette, small galley, and big helm station a couple can go boat cruising for a week in fair “cruising” comfort while enjoying one of the finest riding experience ever achieved in a under 35 foot boat.

Her single 250 Hp Chevy based marine engine gives a low to mid 30 mph speed to beat out a storm or make Rockhall from Annapolis a short hop with the low fuel burn rate of a single engine.

The hull is an expansion (longer, wider, and higher) of the Lyman 25 model. She a lap strake style of boat construction or a “clinker built” boat. This one is a 1968 model, the second model year for this Lyman open cruiser.

Made during a year of new ownership and management for Lyman boats and just five years before Lyman ended building wood boats, she is a well restored example of what Lyman boats are all about.

Please note her matt-finished teak deck factory option, the inside cockpit siding treatment and the comfortable seating. She is a beauty.

Seabuddy highly recommends the hardback book that got me into Lyman boats; Lyman Boats; Legend  of the Lakes by Tom Koroknay ISBN 0-9749705-0-6.

His Resorter is powered with a gas Norberg engine. This is a rare combination, as the Cal Connell “Crusader” Cadillac 331 cu. in. engine was coming to market via Century Boats in both Coronado and Resorter Century Boat models and it was a lighter weight engine so it delivered speeds of 60 mph in a prototype Resorter (these Cal Connell modified  gas Cadillac engines powered similar cut- down family boat designs to over 67 mph in race conditions).

This Century Resorter 20’ is a 1953 model. One of 87 made that year by “The Thoroughbred Fleet” as Century boats were nicknamed from 1950 on. Peterbilt is a apt name for a classic wood boat Century Resorter  owned and restored by Peter.

Century Resorters were made in Manistee, MI in the 1950s. They were properly called utilities (walk-around the center engine box) rather than a runabout (fully decked over designs such except for the seating areas). These Resorters were all single planked  hull sides and bottoms backed up by a narrow batten behind the plank seams using mahogany wood in the boats that offered a little more speed and performance compared to its Chris Craft contemporaries. They came in 16’, 18’, 19’, and 20’ lengths over the years.

note: these photos and words from AOMCI and some photos are from D. Durpresne, M. Squier, and R. Eichrodt

This Connecticut based, Canadian built wood classic boat was the one that the Judges selected for their own CHOICE. The Judges Choice Award is a top honor at the Chesapeake Bay Chapter – ACBS 11 acres of classic Wood Boats and other festival events that was held over father’s day weekend in the 18 acres of grounds of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD.

Shepherd at classic boat show

Chris’ Shepherd, at 22’, is the larger and more luxurious of the two sizes that Shepherd offered in 1961, with a rear mounted Chrysler Hemi engine that is the top power using a v-drive to get the power reversed so the prop shaft can be under the boat. Smooth and fast, the boat is perfectly matched with the V-8 “Hemi” marine power.

Shepherd’s Boats, made their fine craft during the time she was hand crafted, in Canada, at Niagara-On-The-Lake in the province of Ontario. The 7’ 4”beam boat features all mahogany planking. Double (two layers) on the bottom, with one layer on the sides backed up with battens behind the plank seams. Look at the photos, she looks like she was carved, not assembled with screws and bolts.

1961 Shepherd V-drive

Shepherd’s Boats, made their fine craft during the time she was hand crafted, in Canada, at Niagara-On-The-Lake in the province of Ontario. The 7’ 4”beam boat features all mahogany planking. Double (two layers) on the bottom, with one layer on the sides backed up with battens behind the plank seams. Look at the photos, she looks like she was carved, not assembled with screws and bolts.

The Shepherds started their company in 1928. they moved the plant to be closer to the water in 1939. The family sold the business to a private individual in the late 1950s. He ran the company with the same attention to detail until 1966, when Trojan Boat Company, from the USA, bought Shepherd  to import the Sheherds to the US and build popular Trojan models in Canada. Trojan was into Cabin Cruisers more than runabouts and re-shaped Shepherd into that mold. Shepherd went on to built up to 54’ in length yachts using fiberglass hulls. By the late 1970s, things had changed for Canadian Boat Builders. These changes caused Shepherd Boats to close its doors in early 1978.

While the crew does much of the maintenance, Moore Marine out of Rivera Beach, FL.did some below deck accommodation changes a few years back to make her a better fit the yacht to her owners.

Owned by a practicing attorney and his wife in D C, who spent most of his youth growing up in Baltimore, she a user yacht that is also a yacht at home as the center piece of a classic boat show.

Similar sized perfect pieces of the history of Annapolis and boating charter out for $25,000 per week plus crew, meals, and food costs.

Note, inconsideration of the owners’ privacy, seabuddy choose to edit out the owners names and information when blogging about such a treasure.

Sorry for the photo quality, she passed my photo boat to port and seabuddy was forced to shoot into the sunset.

Think 1970s era Chevrolet Chevelle cars when the 307 V-8 comes to mind. 307s have small valves, tight heads, and lots of Hi-Po potential but still are not a 350 Chevy V-8.

seabuddy takes some of these important message points as true.

…This may be the most important message you will read before buying a new boat: Count on the strength and stamina of Chaparral Boats. In today’s fast changing economic times, the name on the hullside is as important as the boat itself. The fact is you’re not just buying a boat, you’re buying a company. There’s power in the name Chaparral. Long lasting power. Innovative power. Our story started 44 years ago. A trophy case full of awards for Product Excellence and a globe full of satisfied customers prove our worth. And we’re not going anywhere but fast forward with a passion that grows year after year. Respected the world over, the same core management team has steered the ship since day one. Like you, they are onboard because boating isn’t just a business, it’s a way of life. Our balance sheet is strong, our dedication to new product development unwaivering. You simply can’t buy more confidence in a boat company than Chaparral. Chaparral for 2010…Strength And Stamina Now and For the Future….

“Respected the world over, the same core management team has steered the ship since day one. Like you, they are onboard because boating isn’t just a business, it’s a way of life. Our balance sheet is strong, our dedication to new product development unwaivering”

True words. 

Ask if your boat builder can say these same words.

Award Winning Record setting Hydroplane

Lauderbach Custom Boats has built race boats in the mid-Atlantic region for many years. This is a National Champion, prop-riding, three point, 7 litre Class hydroplane that won the Award at the 23 rd Annual Antique and Classic Boat Festival over Father’s Day weekend in St. Michaels, MD.

John and Sandi (members of the Chesapeake Bay Chapter – ACBS) won the top Race Boat Award at the 11 acre  classic boat and other festival events of the classic boat festival that the club has given at no charge to the Mid – Atlantic region over Father’s Day Weekend in June, 2010.

She is shown on a tilting trailer that allows her 10’ beam to become a “no-permit required” trailer boat package. The 2,000 lb. boat with its 426 cu. In. Chrysler Hemi supercharged 1,200 Hp. engine is 22’ long.

Race boat driver, John, along with other drivers, have a wining racing record in this boat. This race boat was the High Point Champion in 1964, 1965, and 1965. She was also the National Champion in 1965 and 1966. She set a World Kilo Record of 151.403 mph as well as a around the 1 2/3 mile race course record of 93.072 mph. This boat is now retired from 7 litre Class racing.

Hgh Point Champion 1964, 1965, 1966

More on Lauterbach Custom Boats…The Lauterbach family began building hydroplanes in Henry Lauterbach’s first shop in Portsmouth, Virginia shop over 50 years ago. Through the years, there have been several Lauterbach shops but one thing has always remained the same: the demand for the highest quality in every aspect of hydroplane design and construction. Today, Lauterbach Custom Boats is located on Maryland’s beautiful Eastern Shore. In this state of the art facility, the same great Lauterbach designs are utilized for today’s new boats and restorations. The flawless attention to detail is visible in every boat that comes out of the Lauterbach shop. New hydroplanes are produced for use in active racing…From the Lauterbach Custom Boats website.

Best of Show - Race Boat classic Boat Show

She is a restored Raveau race boat with a Mercury outboard. Most remember Raveau boats as the ones that set the 50,000 mile endurance record with Mercury outboards on their transoms in the late 1050s. That record still stands, as far as I know.

Mercury outboards set up the sanctioned record run to associate the idea / prove that their outboards would last a long time.

Jesse’s boat won the Best in Show – Race Boat, a Raveau is a 1948, which was built in Long Island NY. The record setting 50,000 mile boats were built at a later date after when the boat builder had moved to Sarasota Fl.

The 50,000 mile Record Run was sanctioned by USAC, which sanctioned all of the Indianapolis 500 races at that time. Mercury outboards ran the boat (15’ and 16’ Raveau models depending on wind and chop on the lake at the time ) and Mercury outboard engine combos.

Marcel Raveau retired to France in 1963 and the boat company continued to make the boats until around 1965 with long-time employee, Walwork, at the helm of the company and in the boat shop.

Occasionally, a boat or two are still restored or made from new lumber, however, even today.

This one is a fully restored boat and has been in the Jesse’s family for years before he restored it and won the Best of Show – Race Boat Award in the Antique and classic Boat festival held in St. Michaels on June 20, 2010.

Look inside for signs of the anti-trip chines

note the extent of the restortation

It has the LOOK!

Family fun

riding bow high for the best control

Riva built this luxury runabout in Lake Como, Italy in wood and plywood from 1953 to 1968. The factory records indicate that 711 runabouts were made over this time frame.

A Super Florida Riva is a longer hull with 2” more beam than a Florida Riva model.  The hull was made bigger along with the new name to perform and ride better with a more powerful V-8 engine that became available as time progressed from the 1953 beginning of boat production.

These runabout boats all had a deeper forefoot than the typical Chris Craft of that time, while at the transom, the bottom was all but flat, as was the Chris Craft runabout.

This gives a better riding across the water experience at low speeds but these Riva need to get that sharp vee in the bow area out of the part of the hull that is in contact with the water as any speed increases. Why? What steers a boat should be the rudder. If a wave or wake at an angle catches the vee up front, that area can become a larger “rudder” than the boat’s metal rudder and the runabout will “bow steer” and the helmsman can not correct or over-come this redirection by the smaller area metal rudder that is attached to the steering wheel.

This vee forward is deeper than a Chris Craft

almost flat bottom at the stern

How to do prevent this action? Simple, balance and power the runabout such that the vee splits the waves and wakes at low speeds and weight balance, adjust the shaft down angle, and power to make the boat ride bow proud, or bow high, at speed. Without a power trim in a fixed shaft inboard, these three items are very important.

What happens as power causes the speed to go up? One must change one or all of these three design goals to work at the new, higher speed.

Over-power a straight shaft inboard and the flat transom stern area give more lift to the transom area of the runabout. Lift the transom and the bow gets pushed down at the same time. The lift of one pushes down the angle of the other.

The down angle of the inboard’s shaft also provides lift to the back of the boat. More lift from the almost flat bottom stern and down angle of the shaft causes the runabout bow to want to submarine and bow steer.

The fix?

1)      Change one or all of the three things to work together at the new speed to make for a safe riding / handling boat again.

2)      Have power trim on the drive to allow the helmsman to adjust amount of lift at the stern area of the boat. That is why I/Os (sterndrives) have power trim and that feature makes them more complicated.

What does this all mean? The runabout was set-up to perform well for an expected top speed: put in a souped up engine and that set-up will not perform well at the new top speed.

A good side view of how the vee goes to flat as the hull bottom moves aft