Riva Aquarama wood boat photo

Simply put, the book to have about Riva boats. It was copyrighted / printed in Italy and is now out-of-print. You have to search www.Amazon.com for a used copy. My thought for you? Get one when it is listed for sale as they do not become available all the time.

Riva covers the wood boat era of Riva including the Aquarama, which is to be the featured marque at the Lake Tahoe Antique and Classic Boat Society show this year. That should add value to this book as that is a popular Classic Boat show. The book also covers the Ariston and Super Ariston and why they are different from each other. The book also covers the Florida, SuperFlorida, and Tritone boat models as well.

Some say that until Carlo Riva, a runabout was called a “Chris Craft” like when cellophane tape was called “Scotch Tape” by many. The Chris Craft brand was that strong post-World War II. His boats were the ones to successfully challenge “Chris Craft” as the boat to lust after when the most “carefree” era came forth to the world. He took his family’s boat yard and turned it into a legend after the war.

The boat, the ride, the service, the fellow boat owners all were perceived as the simply the best in the world. The history of Carlo and the Riva boat building yard is all covered in the book. It is one of the main sections within the structure of Roberto Franzoni’s book. While it has copy in English the text is international as other languages are also included. All the rare photos are captioned in three languages also.  Unique styling details are covered in equally rare drawings.

Movie stars were style leaders in the 1950s and they owned Rivas. Brigitte Bardot is shown behind the wheel of one of the several Riva runabouts that she owned. Peter Sellers is shown behind the helm of a Riva and Leslie Caron was photographed peaking out from inside a Riva bow cuddy cabin. Of course, Anita Ekberg was shown in a Riva runabout. That boat had a very special interior finish, by the way. Heads of State, royal families, Saudi Kings and others also are shown in their connection with Riva.

I could go on and on about this book, it is that special, but I will end now. Get one for yourself, if you find one.

Riva Aquarama wood boat photo of the cockpit interior

interior of a Riva wood boat photo

classic wood Riva boat photo

wood power boat 1959 Lyman 16.5 foot outboard model

This power boat is shown being restored in Maine. The photo is from Androscoggin Wooden Boat Works (207) 685-9805. It shows the nice work that they do, particularly on Lyman Boats. This classic outboard runabout is said to be a boat for sale and at a very attractive price. Give them a telephone call if this is something that you need for this upcoming summer boating adventure season.

This outboard Lyman boat seems to have been updated with a painted finish rather than a varnished, but not stained, boat hull interior. The seats, deck and other parts show, to me, the correct, as built, finishes. Lyman mahogany filler stain with varnish over that would be the proper choice. Lyman was also known for its use of ribbon striped (sometimes called tiger striped) mahogany veneered marine-grade plywood in its decks. Check for that feature on this boat. Most restorers use a different style of mahogany plywood if they replace the deck on a Lyman runabout.

The 16.5 foot boat was a popular boat model and it was in production from 1957-1960. In 1959 they made 366 of these. It is a 16’ 7” long runabout with a beam of 70”. It weighs 560 lbs. and could take up to a 60 Hp outboard. That is Hp that is rated at the power head, not rated at the prop shaft as outboards are rated today. Use an older motor or drop back to a maximum rating of about 54 Hp. She goes real well with a 35 Hp, by the way.

Lymans are clinker built or a lapstrake construction style of planking. Each plank edge overlaps the other and are clinched nailed to the ribs and screwed to the frames such that an edge is shown at each plank its full length along the hull side that helps soften the ride, and they are flexible boats that can twist over the waves somewhat to give a better ride than a classic boat person would expect. Ride a Lyman to experience this for yourself. I know of several prior owners of carvel, hard chine classic wood boats that marvel at the ride that they get in their Lyman compared to what they are used to.

By the way, get a Lyman model a little older than this model year and you will see a dimpled finish in the planking on the outside of the hull. Lyman used a duck billed clinch nail for better holding strength and sometime (in the mid-50s?) began to completely fair over both the screws and the duck billed nails for a smooth exterior finish.

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

AHacker Craft underway on the Lake

Hacker Craft makes wood boats even today in the USA. They continue to believe that a wood boat offers the best qualities of ride and performance for a recreational boater to enjoy our waterways. Wood is not the path to the lowest price for enjoyment on the water, but for a hobby, how far up in importance is price?

With Hacker Craft being located on Lake George in upstate New York, the highest achievement of boating fun is often tied up at a nearby dock at the signature lake. Feel the experience of a fine wood classic craft for yourself if you are in the market for a boat. I did and must say, I was impressed with the ride and handling of a Hacker Craft inboard.

She rides level, takes a good chop very well, and gives a solid bite on the water for all on board. This is a signature boat – an excellent example of what boating can be about.

By the way, Neiman Marcus will have a Hacker Craft in its upcoming Christmas catalog this year.

a new Hacker Craft at the dock

Chris Craft Runabout

 This a Chris Craft runabout under rstoration at a company that does quality classic boat work, Wooden Boat Restoration LLC. I also have seen the boat all but finished except for final “punch List” work. She is a great sight to see. She is 15  1/2 feet in lenght and powered as a speed boat should.

Sly Fox is a classic wood runabout, with two cockpits and two rows of seating aboard with good room for all.

She uses a utility style layout for ease of acess between the two cockpits. An engine box keeps the mechanicals out of the seating areas.

Its a joy to explore the lakes and bays of america’s waterways in such an antique and classic boat. Its a different feeling than one gets in a new boat. People that share the water with you give you a smile and a wave as they like seeing you and the boat in use.

Show Hours

Thursday, January 27, 2011
      11am–9pm 

Friday, January 28, 2011 
      11am–9pm 

Saturday, January 29, 2011 
      10am–9pm

Sunday, January 30, 2011 
      10am–5pm

It became a fulltime boat building operation owned and run by Christopher Columbus Smith and his brother Henry later. The boats were a part of a mix of carving duck decoys and selling their “catch” at times.

1910 saw a two style boat builder, either boat runabouts or boat  race boats.

Now, in 1925, is the first use of the name “Chriscraft”, as a single word, run together. Boat sales were 111 units in 1925 including Chris Craft race boats.

In 1927 Chris Craft Boats first started building boats year around and 447 boats were made in runabouts, racing boats, commuters, and cabin boats called sedans..

Post WWII, Chris Craft used more and more styles of boats including cabin cruisers and cedar wood  joined various types of wood called mahogany. These pieces were made into planks and large panels, both in plywood sheets and also cut into planks arranged as both smooth-sided and clinker-built planked hulls.

In the fifties, by also expanding to other boat building material choices, Chris Craft reached higher sales levels. Steel, Aluminum, and Fiberglass added more choices and unit sales went over 8,000 units. Fiberglass cabin tops and other parts preceded  fiberglass hulls. Chris Craft boats, cruisers, and yachts built a good provn hull and they did not want to lose that in their transition to an all fiberglass boat.

Chris Craft had 10 open, two closed plants and an administration building in their business by 1965.

By the way, the latest good read on Chris Chris, the building of Chris Craft, and inside the factories is The new book by Tony Mollica and Chris Smith, ISBN 978-0-7603-3592-5.

Seabuddy recommends it as a great gift item to any boater.

DESCRIPTION

Courtesy of Fred Farley:

Lester (“Les”) Staudacher designed and built some of the sport’s most successful Unlimited hydroplanes. Boats of his design won 51 races between 1953 and 1971. In 1956, Staudacher began construction on a conventional three-point hydroplane for Paul Sawyer that wasn’t put in the water for eighteen years. Tentatively titled ALTER EGO, the project was abandoned when Sawyer retired from racing. The unfinished craft was placed in storage. But Les and his helpers would occasionally “tinker” with it over the next decade when time permitted. The boat without a name was finally rescued from obscurity by Bob Schroeder.

I first read about ALTER EGO in 1956. It was mentioned in the Seafair Program as being in preparation (by designer/builder Les Staudacher). In 1959, it was reported being close to completion. Around this time, Paul’s wife became ill. He retired from racing and never realized his Unlimited Class ambition. The boat was placed in storage where it remained for many years.

Staudacher’s workers, throughout the 1960s, would occasionally “tinker” with ALTER EGO when they were between projects. Sawyer rejected all offers to buy ALTER EGO. He finally gave it to Bob Schroeder because Bob was “like family.” (Paul was in fact Bob Schroeder, Jr.’s Godfather.)

Schroeder finally put the boat in the water in 1974 and ran it in a few races as the unnamed CU-22, powered by an Allison. It finished 8th at both Detroit, Michigan, and Dayton, Ohio.

In 1983, Schroeder loaned ALTER EGO to Jim Sedam who ran it as MISS TOSTI ASTI. This was the first Unlimited to be driven by Todd Yarling. Todd’s best finish was a third in the Missouri Governor’s Cup at Lake-of-the-Ozarks.

Over the last two decades, Schroeder has entered ALTER EGO in quite a few Antique Boat Shows and taken many people for rides in it prior to selling the boat to the Warner Collection.

What happened at this Mecum.com Auction? Some skids of antique boat parts went cheap.  A few boats went for what one would expect in this economy. A few boats may/may not have been a steal.

Without knowing condition; is the 1959  Century Coronado with a hardtop OK going for its $39,000 as a fair deal today? Another one, same year, same model, went for $6,000. Same Auction. Same crowd of bidders.