It’s Two, Two Reports From Ohio In One Story. Double the Pleasure, Double The Fun! 48 Photos! Yikes!
Well, it happened, we got two great reports in from the Mid America Boat Show! So what to do? Well, Certs did it, so can we. It might get a tad confusing. One is from The Lyman Boat owners Gang and the other from the YNOT gang. So, lets see how we might pull this off. OK, the first report is from the YNOT guys told through beautiful photos. Then we will do the LBOA report which covers well, what you are seeing. Maybe open the stories up on two side by side computers and do a stereo thing? Take it away YNOT and Ryan!
And some more from the show from YNOT
AND NOW THE SAME EVENT THROUGH THE EYES OF THE LBOA!
2017 Mid America Boat Show Woody’s
Ryan Nagel, LBOA Commodore
The Mid America Boat Show is always a highlight of winter in Northern Ohio. It is one of the largest indoor boat shows in the country held at the International Exposition Center (IX Center) in Cleveland, OH. This year the Antique Classic Boat Society North Coast Ohio Chapter (ACBS NCO), Lyman Boat Owners Association (LBOA), Sandusky Maritime Museum and Antique Outboard Motor Club Lake Erie Chapter (AOMCI) partnered together to create the largest showing of classic boats and motors the show has ever seen.
With 22 boats, the showing was so large that it had to be split into two large display areas. Boats ranged in size from a 12’ 1951 Switzer Craft to a 28’ Lyman Sportsman. Each organization signed up several new members, sold merchandise and swapped stories and information with visitors. Show goers from all over the Midwest come in for the weekend just to check out these classics. The display is always a huge hit and it seems that everyone who stops by has some kind of family connection to the boats, especially the Lymans which were built in nearby in Sandusky, OH.
The collection on display always features a diverse rotating collection of boats from ACBS and LBOA Members. This year some of the highlights and oddities included a 1967 Donzi 19 Hornet, a 1955 15’ Lyman runabout “boat in a box” still in its original factory shipping crate, a stunning 1966/2010 28’ Lyman Open Sportsman and an all-original, dusty/stinky 1962 24’ Lyman barn find.
Another highlight of the weekend is the LBOA Commodore’s Winter Party, held each year during the boat show at the Copper Cup; a Lyman-themed bar owned by LBOA member Rodney Johnson.
Dozens of members from all over the Midwest come in for the weekend to attend the boat show and party. This year’s party was the best attended in recent memory with over 75 members and guests making the trip. A lot of old friends and new members mingled to the early morning hours.
During the evening the LBOA also presents its most notorious award, The Golden Hose Clamp Award. This award was created in 2010 and is typically given to the member who has the most public breakdown or mechanical issue during the year but manages to fix it and save the day. The 2016 Golden Hose Clamp Award Winner was John Leitner who experienced distributor cap issues while entering the Huron River for the 17th Annual All Classics Festival in Huron, OH. Keep in mind that John and a group of Lyman owners had just completed a 1,000 mile trip on their boats around the Great Lakes only to experience mechanical issues during his short trip from Sandusky to Huron. John was on the hook in the Huron River dead in the water and was towed into the show by Ray Lamarca’s 25’ where he was able to fix the issue and enjoy the rest of the weekend.
If you missed this year’s show, the same collection will reconvene for the Summit Racing IX Piston Power Auto-Rama, March 17th-19th, 2017 at the IX Center in Cleveland. This show features almost 2.5 million square feet of cars, motorcycles, planes, military vehicles and boats. If a piston makes it go, it’s in the show!
Big thanks to all the ACBS, LBOA, AOMCI, and Sandusky Maritime Museum volunteers for all their time and hard work organizing and working the show.
OK, Phew! Three organizations working together and two stories all jammed packed into one day. Hope you got a large mug of Joe this morning. But what is cool, is you definitely get the vibe of the show and how cool it was to be there! Thanks to all that made this happen.
It’s too much! I can’t handle this much classic goodness in the morning…brain going into overload.
What a great cross section of boats! It was fun to see it through two different sets of photos.
The Piston Power Auto-Rama sounds like a wonderful event.
Congrats to all involved for what looks like a great display of boats at the Cleveland show. It’s not surprising that you signed up a slew of new members.
For anyone that will be in the mitten state next month, our Michigan chapter will have a display at the annual Detroit Boat Show in Cobo Hall from Feb 11 – 19th. The theme is “Boating Across the Ages”. We are presenting a boat from each decade 1920 – 1970. The MBIA will augment the display with additional boating memorabilia from each decade.
We will also have a Michigan chapter display at the Cottage and Lakefront Living Show in Novi on Feb. 23 – 26.
Great coverage ! Having grown up in and around Lymans, They have a special place in my heart. It was great to see so many different sizes of boats, and in stages of restoration. It was also good to see so many young people at the LBOA Commodores party. It shows that the hobby (or at least the partying) will continue on.
Great story, Matt. I had no idea the Mid America Boat Show had such a large presence of classic wood/glass boats. Thinking I definitely “missed the boat” by not attending this show. Time to get out of hibernation for Hagerty!!
Now that is some serious Lyman Love. That Lyman Ideal is so beautiful you can see those swept lines go up through the Leader into those two 18 footers, my favorites with an outboard. Would love to have an Ideal to row on The River. Thanks for a great show with lots of Lapstrake.
Favorite boat! Larrys Sportsman. That’s a hot set up with the little galley and all. Great Show!
Best part, it was a team effort!.. We got more boats and motors than if any of the four groups involved had done it on their own.
Great fun!
Beautiful photos. But, the format (on our computer anyway) gives us tiny pictures with lots of wasted space on each side.
Is there any way to make the photos larger? Thanks.
Thanks, the site is a responsive site and has to work on a computer, tablet and phone. It gets wonky! Ugh. If you are on an apple, Hit COMMAND + and it will blow up the screen to fit and COMMAND – to reduce. Sorry, lots of stuff on the page. One thing you can do is click on the photo or side click to see View Photo and they blow up!
Get glasses Bill. That will make them bigger…
I attended the show in Cleveland and the classic boat displays were far and away the highlight, not surprisingly. They were oases of vintage beauty and class in a sea of indistinguishable plastic boats. As a wooden boat enthusiast, Lyman owner and member of the Lyman Boat Owners Association, I am especially encouraged by the youthfulness of our leadership and membership. I’m not sure if Ryan, our commodore, is even 30 yet. If the LBOA is any indication, we needn’t worry about this hobby dying out.