The Love of Classic Yachts (or knot)...

It all about love and passion Olderboater. I recently moved to fiberglass because I can no longer physically maintain the wooden yachts I love so much so I passed mine on to someone who could. Either it's in your heart or it isn't, there is no logic about it. These boats truly have a soul as far as I am concerned and that's why it hurts me so bad to see one come to this. Especially when it was 100% preventable.

Olderboat,

Why? It's a hard thing to explain. What drew you to your girlfriend, wife? Why do you love her? Hard to explain right? The physical is easy to point out. her hair, eyes, figure. But what about the person? What is it about the person that stirs something deep inside? It's kind of the same. These boats have a soul a personality that just doesn't exist in a plastic, steel or aluminum boat. It sounds cliché I know but they do live, they do breathe, they do have a personality. Not every old boat but some. I wouldn't go to this length for every old boat. I have a similar passion for some old cars and old buildings.

For profit? No. And not every old car that gets restored sells for more than the restoration. In fact most don't. But some are special and do. But there are some old boats that can be restored and sold for more. But that is not my incentive. My incentive is keeping something special alive. Yes for my enjoyment but I have found others enjoy and appreciate them as well. I have been in places with my boat Trumpy #358 that in the whole scheme of things isn't all that special or worth all that much. But, it's great to see what it does to people. I have been sandwiched between multimillion dollar mega yachts only to have people walk right past them to stop and take photos with my boat and talk with me for hours at a time.

Trumpy's are different than other boats. There was once a New York Times article calling Trumpy "the Rolls Royce of American yachts". Personally I don't think that was an accurate comparison. Certainly Rolls Royce is near the top but it wasn't the Best. The benchmark was Duesenberg. Hand crafted one at a time to an owners specifications. That's why when describing the best you say "it's a Duessy" and not "it's a Rollsey". That's why the Dupont's, Guggenheims, Dodge, Chrysler, Howard Hughes and Firestone and more commissioned Trumpy to build them yachts. They had the means to have any builder any where build them a boat. But they all wanted Trumpy's. Jock Whitney (Pratt and Whitney) didn't want to wait the two years it would take to get in line to have a Trumpy built so he went to Huckins and had them build a replica of a Trumpy complete with Trumpy Scrolls mounted upside down.

Tireless when built was even better than other Trumpy's. She was the best of the best. She was a thoroughbred in everyway. As an example, there are race horses, there are good races horses there are great race horses and then there is Secretariat.

I see you are in Fort Lauderdale. Perhaps you have heard of Rybovich? A different type of boat but in my opinion on par with Trumpy. Take a trip to Palm Beach. There are several Trumpy's on the east side of the Royal park Bridge in the winter months. Or take a trip to sailfish Marina in Palm Beach shores and take a look at some of the vintage Rybo's. See if you can get on board.

See if you get that feeling inside like when you first saw your girlfriend.

DRC

Let me also ad Oldboater, you are right, boats today are simply utilitarian. Cars today aren't any different. Even today's supercars aren't comparable to cars form the 50's, 60's, 70's. The new McClaren is already a collectors car but rest assured it will NEVER be in the same league as the 1962 Ferrari 250GTO or 1967 NART Spyder.

Wonderful to see passion still alive and well in yachting! Felt that way about our Broward, but simply reflecting on all the love we poured into that boat is exhausting. Recently got the tingly feeling aboard the Lyman-Morse built Insignia which I believe was build #3 of the Wombat, Magpie series. Tingly feeling subsided upon seeing price.

I am not saying any tangible item or commodity is on par with any human. But it is a similar feeling. Not unlike that of a pet. If my wife comes around a corner unexpectedly I get that WOW feeling. When I turn the dock and my boat comes out from behind the Pacemaker in front of it I can't help but say she sure is a pretty lady. That is not to say I have the exact same feeling for the boat as I do my wife.

I am of the same generation of the 62 Ferrari but with a few years less patina. I was fortunate to have been from a generation that did see those cars drive down the street. They were just used cars then. I am from a barrier island in New Jersey. During the summer months on any given weekend we would see two or three real Superbirds drive down the strip, Hemi Cudas, gt-350's and 500's and plethora of your every day muscle car.

Wood is far from an out dated method of boat construction. Some of the best sport fishing boats in the world are still built from wood. Rybovich, Mann, Scully, F&S, Shearline, Jarrett Bay and more. Vicem yachts builds cold molded yachts to 80 feet. And of course many hydroplanes are still built of wood.

olderboater,

I am not sure about others reading these posts but you are loosing me on what it is your are looking to get out of this thread and your posts. Your first post was asking me "Why?'

Your follow up responses don't seem to be trying to understand the why as much as trying to draw parallels to criticize the why in spite of your statement to the contrary.

You drew a parallel between a boat and a woman some how trying to state that I made them equal. Then stating how they are not. Then you stated wood as being an outdated material. When I showed you it is clearly not you switched to the building technique. Of course one only need to look at Van Dam boats of Boyne City, MI to see more or less traditional boat building technics. Granted they use modern fastening techniques including epoxy. Now you are defending the present against the past.

So I have two questions for you,

1. What is it you are getting at, what is it you are looking to get out of this?
2. How did you derive your screen name? It appears in conflict to what you believe?

Summed up in post 9. Thankfully some people understand the Trumpys are classy enough to pass on to the next generation. Personally I think most new yachts are hideous looking.

No one was comparing the two methods of construction. Having owned boats built of both fiberglass and wood, new and old I can tell you that they require similar amounts of money in regard to maintenance. To use your phrase. "They are 2 totally different animals and incredibly different in regards to maintenance."

I also have to ask, do you think that v6 mustang will be held in the same regard as the GTO fifty years from now? Will people be talking about it? Will anybody care? How about that boat you're talking abut, will it be around 50 years from now?

I grew up on a 1974 Hatteras 55 yacht-fish. Loved it. That is a note worthy fiberglass boat people restore and covet, as well as the 36 and 42 of the 80's. The Bertram 31, How about a potter hull SeaCraft, Mako 25 inboard? All great Boats.

Oldboater- I get the feeling you are a go fast boat guy? I like plenty of Don Arronows creations. The Original Cigarrette, Donzi 16 classic, Formula 28. How about Dick Bertrams original Moppie that won the Nassau-Bahama race that started the deep V craze and spawned the Bertram 31. Cigarette hull #1 was at the Palm Beach classic regatta last year. Very cool.

Can't say I know the Stinger but loved the checkmate, Glastron GT-150, SeaCraft Corvette. In high school A buddy of mine had a Hydrostream with a shaved pad and a foot throttle. Had a Merc tower of power mounted on a jack plate. We did a speed run down the canal. I was laying on my back taking a photo of the speedometer. blew through a train bridge at 93MPH. That thing was scary when she started to chine walk.