#Wood runabout boat outboard full

If you owned a Hacker, Gar Wood, Sea Lyon, Chris Craft, Dee Wite or any other inboard speedboat you were considered to be the cats pajamas! The speedboat phenomenon, as it soon became commonly known, swept the nation like wildfire. Those Americans who were wealthy enough, even though in the throes of our nations worst depression, still were making money and wanted all the luxuries money could buy. By 1930 inboard runabouts were the rage, and builders knocked themselves out trying to outdo each other in length, style and horsepower. Now it had become a sleek, mahogany work of art, covered with chromium hardware, coats and coats of shiny spar varnish, and genuine leather upholstery. The inboard powerboat had grown beyond being a rich mans toy – something you putt-putt around the lake on a hot summer evening.

#Wood runabout boat outboard full

The late 1920s and early 30s were a wild and woolly period, full of fads, big cars and fast living. Why were they so popular once, yet today almost non-existent? Well, lets take a look. Humble beginnings, reached a peak along the way and in most cases finally disappeared altogether. One could go on and on covering histories of famous boat builders, but it was usually the same: most had

survived until about 1953, though John himself spent his remaining years as a superb marine designer and had no personal connection with the boat building firm that still bore his name. John Hacker did not survive the Depression, as the market for sleek, 45 double-ended speedboats with huge V-12 engines simply disappeared. some old boat collectors prefer the Hacker because of the quality workmanship and materials that went into each model. Some of this nations finest, most stylish speedboats came from Johns factory. Hacker had a similar beginning, opening his own boat building plant. These techniques were helpful in making pleasure boating a sport in which thousands could take part. By 1930 he and his four brothers operated five huge plants using techniques adapted from Henry Fords revolutionary assembly line process. Christopher Columbus Smith, for example, was building small wooden duck boats on the shore of his beloved St. The famous builders – Chris Craft, Dee Wite, Hacker Craft, Sea Lyon, Ramely, Gar Wood, Belle Isle Bear Cat – all started their businesses during this period. The hulls of the real runabouts were the semi-vee planing type. Prior to 1924, most so-called runabouts were really only glorified launches, being displacement or at least semi-displacement hulls. Current authorities on the subject seem to disagree on when the first true speedboat appeared, and my own observations have led me to conclude that the era was ushered in around 1924, and that its peak was reached around 1951 or 1952. The origins of the true runabout are somewhat clouded and vague. The International Mari-time Dictionary defines runabout as ∺ small open or decked motor boat with a length ranging usually from 16 to 30 designed particularly for fast day runs of not more than a few hours in sheltered waters, but the sight of a 30 runabout today is a rare one indeed, when most of us think of the runabout as the small out-board speedboat. I regret having missed the Golden Age of luxurious speedboats, and Ive often wished that I’d been born in the 20’s or 30’s, when I could have really enjoyed the thousands of flashy, high-powered inboards that roared across the nations waterways. Like so many others in my generation, I was awestruck by the sight and sound of a sleek and shiny Gar Wood, Hacker, Dee Wite, or Chris Craft.

Growing up in the early 1950s, I always seemed to be interested in just one type of pleasure craft, the inboard speedboat.