Web Edition
Volume 7, Number 3; Winter 1998
Table of Contents
(Underlined articles from the printed issue of
ACBS Rudder are online.)
President's Message:
News from the regional chapters
Calendar of Events
Open Exhaust
Sportlight on a Chapter
Museum Watch
Evolution of the Runabout
Sheer Agony
A Boatload of Tunes
Trading Dock-Classified ads.
Contact Information
for ACBS Rudder
and
Subscription and and Submission Information
President's Message:
Dear Members,
Happy New Year! Here's to a GREAT '98!
Another winter season is upon us. Boats all tucked away waiting for another spring to get us back together with the promise of sun and spray in our faces.
I wish to thank the Chesapeake Bay Chapter for this year's outstanding Annual Meeting. A special "Thank You" to Linda and Chuck Wagner and Nancy and Tab Miller for making our stay so memorable. Baltimore, with its newly renovated waterfront and wonderful museums provided lasting memories for all who attended.
In the year to come, we plan to continue making the ACBS Rudder better than ever. We have plans to feature different museums throughout Canada and the United States giving history, details on upcoming events, new arrivals and displays. We also have a goal to have the'98 Directory in our hands by April 15th. With your cooperation in sending in your renewals promptly, this is becoming a reality.
The Raceboat Regatta'98 will be held in Clayton, New York at The Antique Boat Museum August 13th through 16th. There is nothing like hearing an old Hiss or Liberty engine coming to life. This is a great event and place to see old friends and meet new ones.
My wife, Mary, and I were talking about how much ACBS has changed our lives. We have seen many interesting parts of this country and Canada and have met many great people who have become close friends. So, if you can attend any of the many events such as meetings, boat shows, the many "river trips" and chapter events, I guarantee it will become addictive!
Our first board meeting in 1998 will be on Useppa Island, Florida on February l4th. I hope to see many Chapter Presidents or their delegates in attendance.
If there is anything you think "national" could or should be doing "for the good of the organization," or just want to get in touch, please give me a call or drop a line by mail or e-mail.
winters: 1300 Lake Dora Drive,
Tavares, FL 32778; phone:352-343-8179; fax:352-343-1140
summers: RR #1, Box 220A, Cedarville, MI 49719;phone: 906-484-3852
fax: 906-484-6001; e-mail: mmflood@juno.com
Best wishes for '98!
Tom Flood
EVOLUTION OF THE RUNABOUT
By John G. Robinson
Reprinted from Motor Boating magazine,
January 1940; (in two parts)
When Evolution of the Runabout was originally published in Motor Boating magazine 58 years ago, the author, John G. Robinson had no way of knowing that what we now consider the “Golden Age” of wooden runabout manufacture was drawing to a close or that fiberglass would begin to replace wood in boat construction just 20 years hence. Today, we can look back at this period from a different perspective and with the conclusion of the evolution of the runabout behind us, make some further observations.
Many of the names of the pioneers of modern power hull design are well known to us as wooden boat hobbyists and enthusiasts but others are less recognizable. Mr. Robinson points out that even at the turn of the century, V-bottom boats were being built, but their application in power hull design was just beginning to be employed. He writes of early experiments in planing hull design that were being made by John L. Hacker, George F. Crouch, Adolph Apel, and a man who is not as well remembered but credited by Mr. Robinson as being the first builder of V-bottom runabouts, William H. Hand, Jr.
Mr. Robinson might be quite surprised to know now that he had chronicled the most important period in the evolution of the wooden runabout and that the influence of the technologies and economic influences resulting from the second World War would lead to the demise of wooden boat manufacture and the “Golden Age” of power boating.
This article will appear in the ACBS Rudder in two parts, the first of which ends with the conclusion of the first World War.
Philip Ballantyne
Looking
over the highly perfected runabouts of today with their trim lines, beautiful
finish and flashing speed one cannot but think of the years which separate the
product of the present with the humble launch of yesterday. Such thoughts, of
course, lead naturally to future developments. Will these lovely boats be back
numbers in ten or fifteen years from now, their places taken by new and
advanced types? If so, will these new developments be dictated by improvements
in engines or will some new hull form be evolved? We are inclined to think
that the power plant will be the dominant factor, just as it has been in the
past.
The runabout, as we know it today, did not spring into existence in a year or so, but was a gradual evolution brought about through the development of lighter and more powerful marine engines. As these engines became too powerful for existing hulls it was found necessary to design and build new types which would show high efficiency with the new engines.
While a great many designers and
builders contributed to this development work, the writer is of the opinion
that the most important parts, in the early stages, were pl
ayed
by three men, all Naval architects: William H. Hand, Jr., George F. Crouch and
John L. Hacker. Later came Elliott Gardner, E.W. Gregory, Chris Smith and his
sons Jay and Bernard, Gar Wood and Horace E. Dodge.
The first motor boat in this country, so far as we are able to discover, was built about 1889. Previous to that time there were steam and naphtha launches. First, of course, was the steam launch with its cumbersome boiler, smoke and cinders. Next came the naphtha launch, much preferred because of its cleaner operation. The first gasoline engine was imported from Germany, but about 1891 the Pennsylvania Iron Works, Philadelphia, began to build the Globe marine engines. These were huge awkward affairs considering the power developed, but they ran and established quite a reputation for reliability.
Just about this period the electric launch was making quite a flurry. Readers may remember a story which appeared in these pages a number of years ago regarding the origin of the Elco Works. This company, then Electric Launch Company, started as builders of electric launches for the World's Fair in Chicago, probably the first step in standardized boat building.
Gradually gasoline launches increased in popularity until, in 1901, they weren't any particular novelty. Much of this popularity was due to the development of the two-cycle engine during the middle and late '90s.
In 1901 the Truscott Boat and Engine Company, St. Joseph, Michigan, built about 25 launches for use at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, quite a notable achievement in those days.
As more powerful engines came on the market the boat builders discovered the need for more efficient hulls. First came the compromise, or canoe-type stern, a considerable improvement over the fantail. This served for a while but gradually gave way to the full torpedo type, then the V-type stern, originally known as the Normandy stern, and finally the flat transom type.
To the best of our knowledge the word "runabout" was first used to describe fast launches in the Thousand Islands district. The St. Lawrence River, from Ogdensburg to Clayton, was really the cradle of the runabout and many fast boats were developed in this district as early as 1904. Most of them were of the very narrow, or toothpick variety and were built by Joe Leyare of Ogdensburg, Fitz Hunt of Alexandria Bay and the Milton Boat Works, Brewerton, New York. The popular engines were the Barber and Leighton two-cycle engines in two, three and even four cylinders.
About this time the V-bottom hull began to attract attention, but in those days the Vee was very deep forward, with practically no lifting power, the idea being that a sharp wedge could be driven through the water with a minimum of resistance. A V-bottom runabout, Durno of Rochester, won the Interstate Trophy on the Hudson River in 1905. This race was a handicap affair open to boats of less than 33 feet in length. Durno was a 25-footer with 4-feet beam, powered with a two-cylinder, 7-horsepower Rochester engine, and made 12 miles per hour. The engine was installed forward of the driver, a feature which was becoming popular about that time.
The V-bottom type was not new. Previous to 1900, boats of this type were known as the deadrise model. John L. Hacker was early attracted to this type and actually built several of them while still a boy in his teens. William H. Hand, Jr., a young Naval architect at New Bedford, started to build Hand V-bottom boats about 1904. We believe that he was the first to call the type the V-bottom boat and certainly he was the first to popularize it by offering low-priced plans of easy-to-build V-bottom boats to the general public. Both Hacker and Hand discovered that, even with the heavy single and double cylinder engines of the early 1900s, it was possible to obtain two to four miles per hour more from their boats than from the conventional round-bottom fantail and compromise stern types of similar size and power, but it was not until the coming of the lighter and faster engines that their hulls really began to attract general attention.
During the first couple of years in the new century the influence of the automobile was making itself felt, but in those days practically all the cars were powered with engines of one or two cylinders. In 1903, the four-cylinder car began to attract attention in Europe and by 1904 several American builders had started to produce this type. Several European four-cylinder automobile engines were imported and installed in boats and it didn't take American manufacturers long to realize their many advantages.
Organized racing began with the formation of the American Power Boat Association in 1904. Four-cycle engines of this date were heavy, slow and cumbersome and most of the higher speed boats were over 30 feet in length. In 1905 the trend toward higher speed, lighter weight four-cycle engines became noticeable with engines of greater power packed in shorter boats.
Around 1908, designers began to see the possibilities of wider boats capable of running over the top of the water rather than the narrow wave-splitters then popular. William H. Hand, Jr. developed a 25-footer in 1908 which showed better than 21 miles per hour with a four-cylinder 18-25 horsepower Sterling engine. Looking back at this particular boat it would seem that it was at least three years ahead of engine developments. About this time rumors of a new form of hull - the hydroplane - came from Europe, but it was not until 1910 that we had the opportunity to see a real hydroplane in action. In that year the famous Pioneer, a Fauber-type 40-footer, owned by the Duke of Westminster, came over here to race for the British International Trophy, then held by Dixie II. She was at least 10 miles an hour faster than Dixie but she lacked the reliability of that famous craft and lost. However, the coming of Pioneer revolutionized boat design in this country.
The first American hydroplanes appeared in 1911. Tams, Lemoine and Crane, famous Naval architects, designed Dixie IV, which successfully defended the British International Trophy. In the same year John L. Hacker, Adolph Apel and Chris Smith leaped into fame as designers and builders of hydroplanes. The era of high speed had arrived. In this connection it is interesting to note that John L. Hacker was the first to design and build a single-engine, one-step V-bottom type hydroplane. And his Kitty Hawk of 1911 wasn't so far removed from the latest designs of today.
In 1911 George F. Crouch designed a 26-foot runabout for James Simpson of New York City. This little boat was called Reliance IV. In general profile it looked like an ordinary round-bilge runabout of that period, but actually it had a concave V-bottom and planed nicely with an engine of only 50 horsepower, attaining the then sensational speed of 25 miles per hour. John L. Hacker of Detroit, working in conjunction with the Van Blerck Motor Company of Detroit, designed and built several V-bottom boats which showed about 30 miles per hour with engines of about 100 horsepower.
To the best of our knowledge the
first V-bottom runabout to be fitted with a forward cockpit was Ginger, a
25-footer designed and built by William H. Hand, Jr. about 1914. This boat,
however, did not have the steering and engine controls in the forward cockpit.
This development was to come much later. In 1913 George F. Crouch
designed
many highly successful V-bottom runabouts which made better than 30 miles per
hour with engines of less than 100 horsepower. Prominent among these were
Cinderella, a 26-footer, and Marco III and Peter Pan Sr., 28-footers.
The Sterling Engine Company developed a 250 horsepower racing engine for hydroplanes and one of these engines was installed in a Crouch-designed 35-foot runabout, built by the Canadian Beaver Company at Toronto, Ontario, for Richard Waldron of Kingston, Ontario. This boat, Kiota III, was the first runabout to claim a speed of 40 miles per hour and in international racing at Alexandria Bay, New York, set an official A.P.B.A. runabout record that stood until 1919. True, she did not show 40 miles per hour in this race, yet it is a fact that the engine swung a three-blade propeller of 20 inches diameter and 34 inches pitch and 1600 revolutions per minute and better than 40 miles per hour was made in mile trials on a number of occasions.
John L. Hacker and L.L. Tripp became associated in 1913 and operated a boat plant in Watervliet, New York, changed to the Albany Boat Corporation. So far as we have been able to discover, the first runabout with forward cockpit and controls was built by this company in 1916 for W.E. McCann of Cincinnati and used on Lake George. This boat was a 32-footer and was powered with a six-cylinder Van Blerck engine. The hull was designed by John L. Hacker, who resigned from the company about this time, and the details were carried out by Elliott Gardner, who had been an assistant Naval architect.
It is interesting to note that the Albany Boat Corporation spent a great deal of money advertising and pushing the forward cockpit idea but the public didn't appreciate the advantages of the type at that time. In 1917 they tried out the idea of installing the engine aft with gear driver, with one large cockpit forward. The first of these boats was bought by President Woodrow Wilson, but the type didn't have popular appeal. Three years later they didn't have any trouble in selling these boats.
Looking back on these boats from a present-day viewpoint, it seems strange that it was so difficult to introduce the forward cockpit idea. However, it is noteworthy that all these original forward cockpit runabouts were 32 feet or over in length. They didn't have the light weight, high speed marine engines as we know them today and the shorter and more spectacular forward cockpit runabouts were impossible with the engines available.
In 1915 the various boating magazines carried advertisements under the name of the Hacker Boat Company, offering plans for fast runabouts, also complete boats in several sizes. It would seem, therefore, that of all the firms of today who specialize in fast runabouts that the Hacker Boat Company was the first to advertise them generally as stock boats.
Runabout development stood still when this country entered the World War, but with the close of the war there was a great burst of development work. The government had thousands of airplane engines to sell at junk prices and many of these went into boats despite objections of the marine engine builders. These engines had a tremendous influence in the development of boating. In fact, they were responsible for the opening of a new era in creating a demand for more powerful marine engines of lighter weight. They forced marine engine builders to meet their competition and produce newer and lighter engines of high horsepower. It was a tough struggle for the engine builders and the accomplishments in the next decade are worthy of the highest praise.