The Spirit Of Bob Speltz Is Alive & Well At Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota
Maynards Restaurant in Excelsior, MN is a perfect venue for a classic boat show. – Dane Anderson photo.
Today we have two great reports from the 39th Annual Lake Minnetonka Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous, which was held last weekend in Minnesota. The reports came in a few days ago from Ian Sandercock and Dane Anderson, but as you know Matt and his team were busy reporting from the 2014 ACBS International in New York, and they were on a roll (literally). Things have now calmed down, and we have time to catch up on some other news.
This year’s event at Lake Minnetonka, which is presented by the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes ACBS Chapter, was extra special as they welcomed Mary Keating, Bob Speltz’s sister, who visited with the participants and helped with the award presentations. Volume IV of Bob Speltz “The Real Runabouts” series is dedicated to Mary and her family. Mary was a big part of Bob’s life.
No question, the spirit of Bob Speltz is alive and well not only in Minnesota, but throughout the entire antique & classic boating hobby. – Texx
_________________________
2014 Lake Minnetonka Rendezvous – by Ian Sandercock
Given that our trusty local chapter (BSLOL) President Steve Shoop was at the ACBS International Show in Skaneateles, NY this past weekend, I’ll provide a few pictures and comments from our 39th Annual Lake Minnetonka Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous held at Maynard’s docks on Lake Minnetonka, MN on Saturday, Sept 20th.
The annual event is presented by the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes Chapter ACBS and our dedicated BSLOL members once again proudly displayed a wide spectrum of antique and classic boats – Ian Sandercock.
A 36’ 1930 Blanchard raised deck yacht named “Mer-Na” – Denny Newell was a run-away winner of the People’s Choice award as evidenced by the constant line of visitors at his boat that were provided tours on the boat and explanations literally all day long. Nice job Denny! – Ian Sandercock photo.
A nice 14’ 1956 Falls Flyer owned by Al Lindquist, with two young boys peering at the rear cockpit steering wheel. – Ian Sandercock photo.
Two spectacular sedans – former ACBS President Dick Werner’s 1940 20′ Century and from Saskatchewan Canada, Carroll Pelletier showing his 1948 Chris-Craft 25′ Sportsman. – Ian Sandercock photo.
“Posh” – The renowned 1937 52’ Commuter Yacht, designed by John Hacker and built by Huskins. – Ian Sandercock photo.
John & Karen Freed’s very nice 1949 17′ Chris-Craft Deluxe Runabout during a “fly-by” on Lake Minnetonka. – Ian Sandercock photo.
A Local boat restorer (Scott Hawkinson) 1951 Century 20′ Resorter named “Oh Buoy”. The boat was shown by his family after Scott died this past summer after a long and courageous battle with cancer. – Ian Sandercock photo.
And a very nice 1966 14′ Crestliner Mustang presented by Brad Mlynar. – Ian Sandercock photo.
Ian Sandercock
_________________________
2014 Lake Minnetonka Rendezvous – by Dane Anderson
The weather in Excelsior, Minnesota was absolutely beautiful on Saturday for the Lake Minnetonka event, sunny with temperatures in the high 70’s. Approximately 50 boats were in attendance and the docks at Maynards Restaurant were very busy with spectators all day.
The late Scott Hawkinson’s beautiful 1951 Century Resorter “Oh Buoy” arrives at the show.
Joel & Michelle Lemanski presented their rare 1959 Chris-Craft 21′ Continental powered by a 283 V-8.
Another shot of the 1959 Continental with the recognizable star on it’s nose and period fins.
And in contrast, this wild looking finned 14′ Cadillac Sealark presented by Steve Schussler & Sunhi Ryan. The reaction from the spectators was perfect.
Chris O’Conner relaxing in “Nice ‘Eh” his stylish Canadian built 1956 Shepherd 18’ Runabout.
When is the last time you remember seeing a 1957 Trojan 17′ Ski Bee? This one is in mint condition and represents the early years of V-8 powered competition ski boats, which is powered by a 170 HP Ford Interceptor – owned by Bill Nolen.
The Trojan Ski Bee even has it’s iconic bow light.
Mitch LaPointe brought his elegant 1937 Chris-Craft 25′ Triple Cockpit Runabout “Precious” to this year’s big show.
Local marine historian & Thompson boat enthusiast Andreas Jordahl Rhude was on hand with his all original 1955 Thompson Thomboy.
A Wild looking 1974 27′ Magnum Sport powered by twin 350 Chevrolet V-8’s, owned by Aaron Hatz.
Our friend and fellow Woody Boater Dick Werner (from Oregon) stopped in to Lake Minnetonka for the show, with his rare 1940 Century 20′ Sedan “Jazzy Lady”. This award winning boat turn heads where ever it goes and has a remarkable history.
Dick Werner is a long time ACBS supporter and always willing to share his vast knowledge of the hobby with other boaters and spectators. He’s a first class guy, always with a kind word.
The Minnesota events always produce some great looking Chris-Craft Sportsmans, here are a few nice examples.
The Pelletier family brought their very nice 1948 Chris-Craft 25′ Sportsman Sedan all the way from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (a 1,500 mile round trip).
The Pelletier’s enjoyed the Minnetonka event and are hoping to make it back to Minnesota next year for the 2015 ACBS International at Gull Lake.
The Bob Speltz Award is presented annually during the Lake Minnetonka show by the BSLOL Chapter for the Best Owner Restored Boat / Amateur Restoration. Bob Speltz always admired people who did much of their own work.
Brad Ernst and his wife Chris brought their 1952 Chris-Craft 22′ Sportsman “Sweetness Too” to the show this year. A beautiful boat, weekly user, and Brad does all the work himself. Here is a shot of Brad conversing with a spectator.
They won the Bob Speltz award for Best Owner Restored Boat. Bob Speltz used to give out this award personally, now Terry Young makes the selection. Bob started the award many years ago, and when he was unable to attend the annual Rendezvous, he asked long time Chapter member Terry Young to take over the duties for him (around the late 1980’s) and Terry has done it ever since. Bob & Terry were very close friends.
The special part about this years award was that Bob Speltz’s sister, Mary Keating was on hand to help with the award presentation.
From left to right – Brad Ernst, Mary Keating, Chris Ernst & Ian Sandercock.
Special thanks to both Ian Sandercock and Dane Anderson for sharing these reports from Lake Minnetonka with us today, nice work guys! Also thanks go out to the nice folks from the Bob Speltz Land-O-Lakes Chapter for their hard work and ongoing dedication to the hobby.
Congratulations to Brad & Chris Ernst for winning the prestigious Bob Speltz Award this year, that’s quite an achievement.
FYI – Next year, the 40th Annual Lake Minnetonka Antique and Classic Boat Rendezvous will fall on the weekend before the big ACBS International event at Bar Harbor on Gull Lake, MN. So if you are planning to be in the Minnesota area for the International pre-events which probably start on Sunday, before heading up to Maddens Resort you may want to consider stopping by the Lake Minnetonka show on Saturday, to take in some of the sights and rich boating history of the area. – Texx
Just before we leave you today, we thought it would be fun to share a few shots that Dane snapped of a magnificent 33′ Aquariva Super, as it arrived at the show docks last Saturday to check out the boat show and enjoy lunch at Maynards Restaurant.
Texx
_______________
WOW!
I don’t even know where to begin! Posh is AMAZING, I love the ’57-’59 continentals and they are showing up everywhere now, the Magnum Marine is STELLER, Santa Lena is “To Die For” and that isn’t even saying anything about all the fabulous boats in between.
Thanks Texx
PS: LOVE the +/- 1 math questions
Where’s the buttah?
Thanks Texx great report!
Beautiful line-up. Going a little off subject here: Did no one report from the Smith Mountain Lake show? Or did I somehow miss it here on WoodyBoater? CQ
When did Werner get out of the institution? I thought he was committed for a number of seasons? That superiva is oh so sexy , don’t let dick and Louise on board together! They will make another century…
Amazing! and a great report, thanks.
Bob Speltz was quite an interesting guy. I recall the first time we met back in ’85, we were both invited to be “Honorary” Judges at Lake Tahoe… They knew better than to let me be a real judge….and then later at an ACBS Annual meeting at St. Louis. Dan Rothwell, then Editor of the Rusty Rudder and I took Dan’s boat down river to meet Bob and his mother who had flown in for the meeting. After Bob died I had a client meeting in Minneapolis and we took time to drive over to Albert Lea to pay respect to his mother…She insisted on taking us to dinner…To the airport resaturant, as I recall. She was then well into her 80’s and we must have visited until 1 AM at which point we thought it time to take her home…but no…She had to go by the Holiday Inn to see “Her Boys” who were that weekend, using the motel pool for their annual toy boat show which Bob started some years before. but rather than going on, I’d invite others to share.
There are many Bob Speltz stories
Great story and great comments by Wilson, as always.
Side story:
Seeing the action pic from these shows has provided me with some needed info and reassurance in recent days.
I ran the Argentine runabout a week ago and being mostly a Whirlwind guy I was curious about performance and stance on the water with a heavy boat. She only has two speeds evidently, idle cruise and WOT, burned 1 mile per gal with the rebuilt flathead at WOT. But mainly TRIM and PROFILE in/on the water had me curious.
Seeing the pic today of the CC runabout cruising by the camera I am reassured that these heavy and short boats ride IN the water not ON the water(like whirlwinds) and visible hull at WOT appears about exactly the same as for the Argentine 16 footer with the weight of gas, passenger, and flathead.
thanks,
John in Va.
John, that is generally the nature of traditional inboards. The forward weight of the engine plus the shaft/thrust angle tends to keep the nose down and more hull in the water. This is why skiers love them and why outboards and IO’s tend to be able to get much higher speeds with the same power.
Your runabout should have another speed in the sweet spot. After you run full power to get on plane, back off the throttle and you should be able to stay on plane while burning far less fuel. Most inboards of that size will happily run between 20 and 30 mph on moderate power. Getting to and crossing 40 takes a lot of gas and hitting 50 requires big power these boats usually did not have. What was your max speed? I would expect mid to upper thirties unless you were hauling a lot of weight.
On the slow side you can get 5-7 mph before the bow wave drag starts to kill your efficiency. Between there and the upper teens you can expect a drag peak so that is a speed zone you want to pass through quickly.
Love that Shepherd…OK, pretty much any Shepherd…so stylish and unique!
I’d love to name a Shepherd…people get really clever! That name ‘Nice, Eh?’ made me laugh out loud!
What would YOU name your classic Shepherd?
i am looking forward to next sept. Steve Shoop and the BS+ LOL chapter put on a great presentation at the AGM in NY promoting preevents of the 2015 AGM. aswell he has encourage everyone to come even earlier as this show starts the Saturday before the sunday of the beginning of the prevents. they have put some great effort into the whole week. To top it off they want the priority to be on lets go boating!
Surprised to see Mer-Na in MN!!!! She was on the same dock at a covered marina here in Seattle as my parents boat for many years in the late ’50’s and early ’60’s.
Skipping around the country is probably normal for trailable boats, but not so for moderate size cruisers.
matt b. if you cut the side off a land o lakes box then, cut out the butter box shes holding in a sqared off u shape leaving the top edge uncut then cut out her knees from another part of the box. then tape that piece of her knees to the back of the u shaped cut faceing you when you lift the flap it looks like her exposed chest. :- )
Man, I love this show. Been there a bunch of times, just haven’t had time in the past few years. Home of Todd Warner, Mitch LaPointe, Dave Bortner, Andreas Rhude…. all legends!
Perchance, did anyone see ITCHIN’ my old 35′ Commander there?
The century sedan brought back many memories from Michigan. My Dad bought one in 1953 on Higgins Lake when the Speedboat Outlaw was a wee punkin. Not a wee anything anymore but some great memories were just ignited.
Nice article! Thanks for the write up! Wood boats are not only beautiful to look at in shows, but can be used just as much as the new boats can be! We need to send the message to the next generation to continue the tradition to keep these working pieces of history going and that it can be interesting and fun!
Thanks Brad & Chris – We agree!
Posh is indeed very posh , she also reminds me of Vamoose built in 1947 by the Gibbs Shipyard in Florida (Photo Courtesy of Florida State Archives)
CK,
Bob Speltz described the Huskins as “Posh, 1936 Huskins 52′ Commuter designed by John Hacker” in volume 2 of the Real Runabouts. Todd Warner renamed her in honor of Bob’s description.
Here she is in 1937
Looks like she moved right along.
Nice magnum 1977….Michigan…Lake St. clair
Wish I had seen Mary Keating at the show. Sorry I missed her.
By the way, I have Bob Spletz’s “The Real Runabouts” wind breaker. Mary gave it to me at one of my visits to her home a number of years ago. The jacket is safely tucked away. It’s very fun to know that I have a jacket that Bob Speltz wore!
Andreas