December 29, 2001, just before our New Year’s cruise. I was driving home from a small town north of here with a little, white boat following obediently behind. I had just cashed my end-of-the-year bonus and, well, you know what that means – another boat. Jim Morrison and The Doors were playing through the speakers, and Morrison’s haunting words questioning passage into the afterlife came on:

Break on through (to the other side)
Break on through
Break on through to the other side

I know, I know – acquiring a “classic” glass runabout hardly ranks up there with one’s passage into death, but I couldn’t help but smile, Bobbing belong behind on its little eight-inch wheels was a Glaspar G-3, Circa 1959. Not quite ready-to-run, but complete with windshield, hardware, seats, all controls, and a Merc 650. My excuse? A boat for the shallow rivers and sloughs, and something Shanon and the kids can use without concerns about scratches and dings.

The G-3 turned out to be everything we hoped for – hull number 9 from the first year of production, and a solid 37-mile-per-hour speedster with a “Racing Runabout” type feel with its front bench seat and center deck. Nearly forty years ago, I envied those with G-3’s after being most impressed by my older sister’s friend Tom Siegel’s G-3 with a “Fat Fifty”. It’s been a long wait, but I am not disappointed.

Donzi Sweet Sixteen’s. Larson Thunderhawks. Glaspar G-3’s. Classic glass can no longer be ignored. The glass boats of the 50’s and early 60’s are as much my heritage as the Chris Craft triples and early utilities which formed the childhood memories of the Founders of this great organization.

The ACBS boat classification defines a Classic as follows: A boat built between 1943 and 1968 inclusive. A “Production” contemporary is a production wooden built from 1969 to present, and a “Custom” contemporary is a modified or one-of-a-kind wooden boat built from 1969 to present. 1968, of course, was chosen as the cutoff date for classics because it corresponds with the last wooden Chris-Craft sport boats produced.

15 years ago, the bluebloods at Pebble Beach would have been appalled at the idea of displaying traditional American hot rods. How times have changed. Entry into Pebble Beach’s current hot rod class is by invitation only, and true heritage must be established, but the class is now judged and one of the most popular with spectators. It’s easy to understand why – the roadsters and chopped coupes are icons – memories from our youth and reminders of the “good old days”.

Classic glass has not been welcomed at most of our shows. I think it’s time for that to change – but not without planning. I suggest a class within a class, and a limited number of slips grouped together. Say, a half dozen “by invitation only”, but then let’s work hard to fill the slips with interesting and well-presented or restored examples. Fins, colors, hardtops, tail lights, sponsons, strange outboards, even headlights – the public will love it. We will need, of course, a whole new set of judging criteria if we choose to award a “Best Classic Glass” trophy, but I can assure you our little G-3 has more heritage than an “all new wood, hardware, upholstery and modern power” restoration.

Speaking of heritage we’ve received some very thoughtful feedback to our first Gauge. Special thanks to those who took the time to write and to respond. The comparison of “scratch-built” hulls to piece-by-piece reconstruction is always interesting. I offer the following quote:
“I’ve been offered hull numbers by people who claim to have obtained them from the last known owners. This seems to be a dishonest practice to me. Loss of boats is a legitimate part of history. I remember the children’s book Gone is Gone – the idea of not replacing something that’s lost is central, I think, to the matter of pasting the hull number from a lost boat onto a new one.”

Makes sense to me. What we’re saying is that it’s less a matter of how much of the remaining material actually originated from the time of production, and more a matter of how the vessel evolved over time. But once it’s gone, it’s gone. It’s not only okay, but commendable to restore a boat by replacing every piece, piece by piece, but when you’re done and you’ve transferred the serial number don’t save the copied and replaced framing for reassembly as an “original” boat.

I like that – gone is gone.

The protection of one’s original hull design has always been difficult, but Federal legislation now allows an original designer to register hull designs with the U.S. Copyright Office and protect the design for ten years. Unlike a patent, which is more difficult to receive insofar as it requires a unique design or performance characteristic, design registration prevents infringers from making exact copies of the protected hull. All Hinckley needs to do is to pay the mere $75 application fee, and register its unique design. Anyone who “splashes” the hull, even if modified slightly, is subject to civil penalties, a court order preventing further violations, and damages. The procedure is simple, and allows those of you with original ideas to protect your design for ten years.

The inverse, of course, is that you are free to copy with precision any designs more than ten years old. The Chris-Craft, HackerCraft and GarWood names may be owned, but the designs are in the public domain. Just don’t stamp in an original serial number.

Let’s hear your thoughts on Classic Glass.