Live-ish Report From The 32nd Annual Wine Country Classic Boat Show, Hammondsport New York By Woodyboaters Matt “m-fine” Fine and Tobler “Chick Magnet”-fine.

m-fine’s sidekick and chick magnet Tobler-fine

This morning after Tobler’s first boat ride in the Penn Yan, we transitioned to land transportation and drove down to Hammondsport to check out the local ACBS Chapter’s 32nd (“que-ka”) Lake.

The official Poster

The show opened with a singing of the national anthem by a Hammondsport high school student, and even the free spirits who couldn’t be tied down to a dock took time to honor the flag and their freedom.

One of my first stops of the day was to visit Don Spring and the Garwood utility Focus. Don seemed super happy and excited to be at the show…and then I asked if he could help me put modern power into a couple of Shepherds. His mood saddened, his shoulders dropped and he started crying and mumbling bunch of four letter words, the only one fit to print being “Phil.”

Next up, I wanted to check out the pretty blondes and there were several worth a look. There were also some nice boats too.

Here is the Hagerty Youth Judging winner, a 1981 Glastron Carlson, “Shaken not Stirred” featuring a plastic fantastic…um…uh…this won the YOUTH judging?

We don’t have the cruiser collection that the PNW or ANE guys can boast, but we had a few make it to the show.

Here is another cruiser in the background with a local classic up front. Hammondsport is at the south end of the lake and was home to Glenn Curtis and the birth of naval aviation. Penn Yan at the north end was home to the Penn Yan boat company.

Penn Yan Boats produced all sorts of wooden and fiberglass boats including canoes, row boats, lapstrakes and perhaps what they are most famous for, the little outboard Swift of which there were several in attendance.

No report would be complete without a couple shots of Wood Vibrations, the reigning regatta champion in the vintage outboard category. Wood Vibrations is owned by famous WWII general Curtis “Bombs Away” LeMay. Well either that or fellow Woodyboater Bernie LeMay.

Bernie’s Lyman was beautiful inside and out, although its modern Honda power and fishing gear suggests she is no trailer queen.

There were no fake lily’s in the water at this show, but my favorite displays were side by side. A Chris Craft Holiday complete with period music and a fake dog, and a Century Resorter with wine and flora.

There was another Century named Sweet Pea, a pea green 1970 Century Cheetah that I unfortunately  failed to get a good picture of. Tobler was getting a bit tired after greeting every single show visitor, so we wrapped this up with a quick visit to the old and new. There were a pair of 1910 launches in the water. This looks like a great place to have a cocktail.

The newest boat at the show was a brand new Chris Craft Capri brought over by a marina on neighboring Canandaigua Lake.

For a new boat, it doesn’t get any nicer than this!

There was much more to see both on land and water, but my sidekick Tobler was worn out. After a snack and a drink from the lake he decided it was nap time and simply refused to go any further. Tomorrow morning is the 31st annual regatta and I will try to go by boat to capture shots of the boats on the water and in motion.

Thanks m-fine for a great report. We see that Tobler worked his ..her? Magic..