1953-1954 Rocket Milkshake
Kurts Grandparents Plaid Rocket
Today we are going to milk the Rocket story a bit more. Why? You have to ask? Anyway, we do have some more cool factoids of the Rockets of 1953-1954, an all time fave of Seth of Katzs Marina and of course Kurt Petry, who has a serious drive to find his family Rocket #0011. So here goes.
This is Number 004 The first 48 of the 120 ish made were green bilges, and plaid. After that they came with a white bilge and a more solid seat
#0033 Time capsule featured yesterday – The Green appears to be SPRAYED ON! More to come on that little detail
NO water lines on the first 48. And yes, YELLOW Bottoms – 0033 featured yesterday had one coat of varnish done years ago. The decal faded away from the original 3 coats and a newer decal was placed wrong and then varnished over. Katzs corrected that best could be done.
Back to 0011 Kurts family boat, you can get a hint of the interior
0011 for sure was a well loved part of the family
Ready to Rumble.
Some of Kurts family photos “OLD BOAT”
And one more time. I love me a vintage slide. The gloves were a way to hold the wheel. Mr Petry had authorities and this was the best solution to make sure the wheel stayed in his hands. The siren was an add on.
And here is some info from Katz’s Marina thats been put in a form to be able to get a quick reference of each rocket built from 1953-1954. Its cool to see all these and note how each boat was special. Including #0032 a special show boat with a Copper Bronze bottom.
001-0014 in red is Kurts family boat?
0015-0030
Time capsule Number 0033
Note 049 gets Red interior – And also a white bilge. The red and green would have been a color clash. This is just one year – 1953-1954
Hopefully this illustrates how fluid design changes were made even during one year or based on a dealers order. Not to mention what the dealer would have installed ether when they received it or per a customer. We all can agree that dealers made more profit from installed equipment. And from a Judging perspective. Should be considered and not a deduction. Possibly with some paper trail to acknowledge any additional dealer installed stuff.
Just catching up after a few days of cruising!
Nice Rockets!
Thanks Kurt for piping in and adding historic pictures!
Where in NY Troy? Are you coming up the canal?
I had to smile to see Mr Petry on his way up the dock to get his beer while Mrs Petry is grabbing the pipe and hoping she does not fall in. Mr Petry seems preoccupied.
As Dick Dow pointed out yesterday, its a little confusing. Chris Craft made a “Rocket” from ’46-’49 (also referred to as a Special Runabout) that was like a combination cockpit/utility. It had an open aft utility configuration but a cockpit forward seat with a bridge deck behind it like the 25′ Sportsman which the motor box slid up under. It was 16+ feet long as opposed to this “Rocket” above which is 17′ long and a double cockpit boat. Then in ’56-’59 the same hull was called a runabout, not “Rocket” and it sported a one piece plastic wrap around windshield instead of the glass 2 piece split windshield on the ’53-’55 model.
I restored hull 98 (Rocket Man) which I can promise you had an original white bilge, yellow bottom and no bootstripe.
Interesting that the brochure photo was also with a white bilge and red tolex interior which means it was either the demo boat colors or shot later into the build.
Also if you look at the decal in that brochure photo it says “Chris Craft Rocket”. I copied that as I liked it.
Great riding boats with what Seth says is a unique feature that I like at 6’1″ – ample legroom.
They also made the same hull as a utility. This is a 1953 owned by a friend of mine. Great riding boat. Was repowered in the 70s with a 327 and really flies.
Another great story! I love the old pictures of the Petrys in their Rocket. Looks like they enjoyed it a lot. The picture of Mr Petry wearing a tie in his boat. Definitely a different time.
🙏❤️