The Bay State Woodies Chapter of the ACBS hosted several great events this year that brought out some of the best antique and classic boats in the Northeast. In March the BSW members put on a beautiful display of antique and classic boats at the Power Boat Show at the “Big E”, otherwise known as the New England Fair Grounds in West Springfield, Mass. Spring came early with warm weather giving us an excellent turnout of boats at Congamond Lake for our Spring Get-Together and barbecue. This is a non-judged event where we use our own boats, drive other members’ boats and get a chance to ride in all of them. Any income and donations from this event go the Shriners Hospital for Children. August brought us to our 25th Annual Antique and Classic Show at the Oxbow Marina on the Connecticut River, a well attended event with boats from all over New England and New York. Judging was completed by mid-afternoon and a tour of the Connecticut River followed, with the awards banquet at the show site.
 

The Blackhawk Chapter Lake Geneva Wisconsin Boat Show held at The Abbey Resort on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, September 27-29, was the most exciting and best attended in recent years according to Boat Show Chairpersons, Gary and Pat Braker. There were 73 boats registered for the weekend event.
 

“A number of events made this year’s show very special” said Pat Braker. First, author Larry Larkin, of Lake Geneva arranged a tour of estates, boathouses, and boats on Lake Geneva Friday morning. Sixteen boats with fifty people signed up to do the pre-boat show tour. There were four stops with a fifth stop at Gage Marine for lunch. Larry provided scripts, a departure and arrival times for each stop. With limited boat docking at each estate, the tour had to be well planned and easy to execute. A detailed map was included with the packets.
 

Friday night, Larry and Sue Larkin hosted a dinner reception for, in his own words, “100 of my closest (ACBS) friends” at their lakeside home. It was an occasion beyond everyone’s expectations. After dinner, Larry showed slides and talked about his just released full color book, Grand and Glorious, Classic Boats of Lake Geneva. It was a memorable Friday to launch a great Boat Show weekend.
Andreas Rhude, BSLOL Chapter, won The ACBS Best Preserved Award for his 1955 Thompson Thomboy THOMMY. Larry Larkin was presented The ACBS 2002 President’s Cup, from Blackhawk president, Pete Brainard at the Saturday evening banquet. The award was for his personal commitment, effort and contribution to the success of the 2002 Lake Geneva Boat Show, above and beyond what anybody could have imagined. The Larkin’s contributed all the profits from the sale of his book, Grand & Glorious to the Blackhawk Chapter during the Lake Geneva Boat Show. It is estimated that 125 books were sold. Larry spent a good part of Saturday and Sunday autographing books. He also donated a 1955 Correct Craft with a Corvette V8 engine for a raffle. Blackhawk is very appreciative of Larry and Sue’s efforts.
 

On Saturday, October 5th, the first New England Antique Boat Swap Meet was held at the Bethlehem, CT. It all started about a year ago when Paul Riesbeck and Charlie Hand had an idea to host a swap meet for antique boat enthusiasts. They felt that those who collect, restore and enjoy antique boats should have a day where they can look through old boat parts to find what they need, talk to boat reproduction manufacturers, insurance companies, paint and wood suppliers, and of course have an opportunity to become a member of the ACBS, Southern New England Chapter. They envisioned a boat corral that would offer anything from fully restored boats to project boats for sale or trade.
 

The day of the event was getting closer and the weather forecast sounded awful. Cancellations were coming in and things were looking bleak. The fairgrounds were perfect for this type of event, but since some things were planned for outside, the weather would play a large role in the success. Saturday morning the rain surely was coming down. Signs were posted along the route for directions and the gates to the field were opened. The tent and registration area was set up and more vendors ventured in including boats for the boat corral. The sky began to clear and soon the sun came out and the day became beautiful.
 

The Swap Meet was a success for the first year and hopefully will grow in the upcoming years. One outside vendor sold out of all his parts by early afternoon. He sure had a smile on his face. A few of the boats for sale had some interested parties and the owners left with names of potential buyers. All in all, we believe everyone enjoyed themselves talking about antique boats and looking for those special parts. Those vendors who handed in their evaluation forms all said they would return next year. Our club seemed happy signing up five new members as a result of having a booth at the Meet. We look forward to next year and hope you can join us then.

Rudder would like to congratulate Brian Gagnon and the Philadelphia Chapter for launching their newsletter, The Nautical Mile. We wish them well and hope they all can be as attractive and informative as those we’ve seen. Welcome aboard!