Lake Tahoe Concours – A Remarkable Marque Class For 2015 & 2016

THE SUMMER ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC BOAT SHOW SEASON IS WELL UNDER WAY around the country, a time of year we always look forward to here at Woody Boater. With the big South Tahoe Wooden Boat Classic last weekend (presented by the Northern California / Lake Tahoe Chapter ACBS) and the upcoming Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance in less than two weeks, Lake Tahoe is the place to be to witness some of the finest antique & classic boats in the nation.

When the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation announced that the 2015 Marque Class was Vintage V-12 Engines (certainly a new and innovative Marque Class) our immediate thought was this could attract some different and unusual vintage boats to the annual 43rd Annual Concours – and as you will see in today’s story, it worked out perfectly.

Now that the registrations are closed and the programs are being printed, we thought it would be fun to share some photos to preview the 18 Marque Class boats which will be on hand this year at Obexer’s Boat Company in Homewood, California. Of course the 18 Marque Class boats are part of the more than 65 premium show boats registered for this years event.

We also have some exciting news about the Marque Class for the 2016 Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance from our friend Brian Robinson, Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation Concours d’Elegance Committee. – Texx

“Evangeline” – 1924 33’ Hackercraft Custom Runabout 450-hp., 12-cyl. Capitol Ford Liberty engine – Brian & Tim Robinson, Dave & Karl Elles, John Dullam & Linda Wright. Fallbrook, Calif.

“Liberty” – 1932 28’ Gar Wood 28-55 Runabout 425-hp., 12-cyl. Gar Wood Liberty engine – Richard & Lana Vento, Incline Village, Nev.

“Mountain Lyon” – 1932 28’ Sea Lyon Runabout 325-hp., 12-cyl. Lycoming UF engine – Lee & Sandy Chase, Los Gatos, Calif.

“My Sweetie John Francis” – 1954 33’ Staudacher Hacker Step Hydroplane 1500-hp., 12 cyl. Allison engine – Kenneth Muscatel, Seattle, WA

“Athena” – 1933 28’ Gar Wood Custom Runabout 350-hp., 12-cyl. Scripps 302 – Richmond Family, San Jose, Calif.

“Big Boy” – 1937 28’ Gar Wood 746 Custom Runabout 316-hp., 12-cyl. Scripps 302 engine – Steve & Janice Hamill, Alamo, Calif.

“Billie Bea II” – 1936 23’ Earl Barnes Runabout 135-hp., 12-cyl. Kermath Sea Zephyr engine – David & Deborah Clark, San Diego, Calif. (Photo courtesy Steve Natale – South Tahoe Wooden Boat Classic 2015)

“Challenger” – 1926 33’ Gar Wood Baby Gar, Gar Wood Liberty 500-hp., 12-cyl. engine – Devon & Daniel Morehead San Francisco, Calif. (Photo courtesy Steve Lapkin h2omark.com)

“Hae Dae III” – 1941 25’6” Gar Wood Custom Runabout 316-hp., 12-cyl. Scripps 302 engine – Bill & Olga Keever, Yountville, Calif.

“Hornet II” – 1930 29’6” Gar Wood Custom Stepped Hydroplane 650-hp., 12-cyl. Rolls-Royce Meteor engine – Ned Spieker, Menlo Park, Calif.

“Miss Catalina 5” – 1938 29’ 11” Bombard 4 Cockpit Runabout 400-hp., 12-cyl. Capitol Liberty engine – James Koch, Chicago Park, Calif. (Roy Dryer photo)

“Nine Lives” – 2003 23’ Golden Era Classics Gentlemans Racer (vintage) 600-hp., 12-cyl. Jaguar engine – Wes & Janet Selvidge, Buttonwillow, Calif.

“Split Second” – 2013 34’ Homewood Boatworks Race Boat 700-hp., 12-cyl. Rolls-Royce Meteor engine – Bill & Mary Jo Hutchens, Granite Bay, Calif.

“Teaser” – 1924 39’11” Henry B. Nevins, Inc Sweepstakes Runabout 600-hp., 12-cyl. Wright Typhoon T12 engine – Tahoe Maritime Museum (Photo courtesy Tahoe Maritime Museum / Classic Boating magazine)

“Truant II” – 1939 28’ Gar Wood Custom Runabout 316-hp., 12-cyl. Scripps 302 – Devon & Daniel Morehead, San Francisco, Calif. (Photo courtesy Steve Lapkin h2omark.com)

“West Winds” – 1948 25’ Chris-Craft Sportsman 316-hp., 12-cyl. Scripps 302 engine – David & Nancy West, Frederick, MD

“T-44 / Wild Horses” – 1997 33’ Brown & Basset Gentlemen’s Racer 650-hp., 12-cyl. Rolls-Royce Meteor engine – Dave Olson, Oakland, Calif.

“Wildcat” – 1931 28’ Gar Wood Triple Cockpit 350-hp., 12-cyl. Scripps 302 engine – Rick Sr. Niello, Sacramento, Calif. (Don Ayers photo)

Here at Woody Boater we are excited to break the news from the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation that the featured Marque for 2016 will be the legendary Chris-Craft Racing Runabouts. Here’s the official announcement from Brian Robinson, Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation Concours d’Elegance Committee.

2016 Lake Tahoe Concours Marque Class
CHRIS-CRAFT RACING RUNABOUTS 1936-1954

The legendary 1948 Chris-Craft 19′ Racing Runabout – A post-war chick magnet! – (C.H. Brown Co. Jacksonville, Florida)

Calling all Racing Runabout Owners!!!

Next summer, a Lake Tahoe boating icon is celebrated with the featured Marque of Chris-Craft Racing Runabouts on their 80th anniversary.

What started as a low production, specially built follow-on to the short-lived 18-foot MYCCA series boats for a European racing class; in 1936 Chris-Craft offered for sale a stunning low-profile, lightweight 19-foot craft, painted blue and white – a combination that really caught the boating world’s eye. Only fifty were made in the initial production from 1936-1938, in every conceivable color combination and six different six-cylinder racing engines, mostly the high power-to-weight Lycomings.

It is only because of the prewar 19-foot Racer’s incredible rarity, so few are ever seen today.

It wasn’t until late in 1947 Chris-Craft production that the 19-foot Racer was reintroduced, sharing much of its design with its predecessor. It was with this postwar version that its popularity and today’s cult following of the model was fully realized. The initial run of the postwar examples was painted boats, known as Red and Whites. The Red and Whites had painted canvas-covered plywood decks with cedar planked sides and bottoms over fir frames. The only varnished mahogany on them was the transom and flagpoles.

Opinions differ whether this was to make them extra lightweight, or that the quality wood shortage after WWII forced them to be built this way – it was probably a little of both. Only 11 Racers can claim to actually be 1947 models (R-19-001 through R-19-011), as 1948 was the first full production year, with 176 examples built that model year.

The all-varnished mahogany version of the postwar Racing Runabout was born in mid-1949. A factory photo of a 1950 Chris-Craft 19′ Racing Runabout.

The Red and White Racing Runabout continued through the first quarter of 1949 production, until Chris-Craft’s supply of Philippine mahogany returned. With hull number R-19-206 of mid-1949, the all-varnished mahogany version of the postwar Racing Runabout was born – this being the version most of us are familiar with, as it remained little changed through the end of 1954 production before being replaced by the famous Chris-Craft Cobra. In all, 297 varnished postwar Racers were produced, 503 including the Red and Whites.

Most of the postwar Racers were sold to the western US, particularly California. Around 100 of the existing examples call California home. Lake Tahoe has always had quite a fleet of racers, they are one of the best 19-foot boats to have when the lake gets rough, perfect balance of engine placement allows them to get the bow high at low speed to tackle big water. They are also fast, of course, as all but a few came originally with 145hp MB or 158hp MBL power, making an honest 40mph boat, even at Tahoe’s elevation.

Rare, fast, great looking, and surprisingly practical… what more could you
want?

Brian Robinson
Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance

The legendary 1936 Chris-Craft 19′ Racing Runabout.

Woody Boater will have live reports from the 2015 Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance starting on Friday August 7th, and throughout the weekend – so stay tuned.

Texx
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