vintage ski/raceboat show?
 

I would like to know how much interest there would be in a one day on the water vintage ski boat show. Something like gathering at the beach near Walter's Market on Winnisquam, having a ride under the bridge and through the no wake zone, and maybe an out and back water ski race exhibition on the large part of the lake. There's certainly time to set a date and plan for 2012. It would be informal and low key as a first time event. There's no vintage race boat show next summer and it should happen at a different time than the antique and classic show. Could be on Winnipesaukee, Winnisquam seems good in that the river boat launch is right there. Any thoughts, suggestions would be appreciated, including whether this has been attempted before and was it successful. Any hints for contacts and whatever event permission would be needed for something like this would be helpful. I'm thinking roughly late 50's to late 70's vintage, roughly coinciding with the time period that the waterski races took place. Thanks. Happy motoring.

How "vintage" is vintage???
 

Well if a 1988 production based on a 1976 design counts, and you hold one next year, then count me in! :D

GH


Glastron/Carlson CVX-20 Sprint

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-...285/CVX-20.jpg

That makes 2
 

Very nice, looks like it's flying just sitting still. Has the metalflake been redone? The boat looks like new. Thanks for posting the picture for all to enjoy. Lots of nice boats out there!

I call it the smallest 20' boat on water and you only have to sit in it once to know what I mean,,, I can touch the water while sitting in the drivers seat when stopped.

Not yet sure how fast it is, only had it up to 70 something,,,

And no its not been refinished, overall its pretty clean, but like any used and unrestored boat it has a few flaws.

It would be fun to gather a bunch of these classic glass boats for an event.

Keep tryin,,, :D

Vintage ski boat reunion August 2012
 

Starting to pull some things together. If you might attend an on the water event like this next August, please share a pic of what you have for an old ski boat. Of particular interest would be any boats that actually were in the ski races, such as the "Basty", the "Green Wink" or Magnum Marines, Sidewinders, Checkmates, Tahitis, Sutphens, etc. I spotted an original Magnum at the Wolfeboro show same as the tunnel boat below. We know you're out there (even if tucked in a barn or under a tarp). Any ideas/suggestions appreciated. Laconia/Weirs/Opechee is an area that hosted every type of waterski activity. Too bad there aren't any jumps around anymore, quite a sight to see.

We saw that too and I was trying to figure out what it was. Thanks for clearing that up.

Is the Wolfeboro jump gone???

little bit of history
 

Dick binette
INTERNATIONAL WATER SKI CHAMPION FOR WEIRS, NH

Dick Binette learned to water ski on Lake Winnipesaukee and went on to become an international champion. In 1954 he broke the world's record for ski jumping at the National Championships, held on Lake Opechee and hosted by the Weirs Ski Club.

The above taken from the historical society site, which has some great pics. Northland Skis was located in Laconia, making wood skis until about 1970. I have an old Custom Slalom ski, don't know if it was made in Laconia or in their other factory, but the craftsmanship is beautiful with a perfect slight concave to it. The Maherajah skis were equally nice before the introduction of fiberglass. There's a kind of beat up Warren Witherell Northland ski at the antique mall in Laconia for something like $100, would make a nice decoration somewhere.

Current project -

69 sidewinder
 

Up for grabs on CL. Classic ski race boat. I think Glendale sold these boats, then Tahitis (Sidewinder knockoffs) were sold out of I think Lakeport. The Sidewinders were handmade out of Palo Alto California, later bought out by Thompson boats. These boats carve tight turns with real g forces. That's a 150 on back, probably a 65-70 mph boat with a huge rooster tail. Someone need a project? Save it from having the motor and hull separated.

...and Magnum's, with a SleekCraft thrown in...:D

...and a 112+mph Schiada too...:D

...and finally...the sexiest ski boat on the planet...:D

Fay's Boat Yard has one for sale, 1966 Century Resorter 21 Ft with Gray Marine V8 280 HP. Rebuilt original motor. Original parts. $19,800
http://newimages.yachtworld.com/resi...=1281476551000
http://newimages.yachtworld.com/resi...=1281476551000
http://newimages.yachtworld.com/resi...=1281476551000
http://newimages.yachtworld.com/resi...=1281476551000

Thurstons has this 1980 century for sale:

http://www.thurstonsmarina.com/PreOw...0Resorter.html

Great rides
 

Never heard of a Schiada before, it looks like it drew a crowd. Looks like a v-drive? I like the plaid shirt on the driver, if you were driving that boat you were already styling. The Sleekcraft looks very cool too, I wonder what the engine was on it. Here's a picture of a Sutphen same as the Green Wink that had twin 150's. A friend had the same boat with a big block jet, what a nice ride that was. I don't know if Sutphens were ever sold on the lake. The Sidewinder is still up for grabs on NH CL, very tempting.....boats seem to multiply in the yard if you don't keep a close eye on them!

75 royal craft
 

Recently purchased this to relive my younger days as a water ski racer during the 70's on winnisquam

Wow, Nice work on that!!!!

Royalcraft
 

That boat is beautiful. Hope I get a chance to see it on the water. Got any pics of the races? My favorite is the look of the Magnum on the water, I don't think it can be beat. And the ride is truly like a magic carpet ride, nothing but air beneath you. Check out the 60's Hydrodyne ad. One of these boats was very active in the ski races. Twin 125 mercs and if I remember right a beer keg for a gas tank. In the late 70's early 80's the boat was for sale in front of Irwin Marine. It looked so lonely sitting there. I stopped to drool by it. There were about 10 little brass inscribed plates on the dash marking 1st,2nd or 3rd place in the WWSRA races. I thought it was the coolest boat I had ever seen.

Water Ski Races
 

More Pictures! Driver is Eric, Skier is Richard. Boat is a 1975ish Hydrostream Vixen with a built 85 hp merc,that is now back on Winni and beautifully restored. This race was boys class C or D and took place on Winnisquam around 1975-76

Wwsra
 

I have more vintage pictures, stay tuned. Black metal flake boat is a replica of a late 70's Hydrosteam and it's for sale

This was a ski boat
 

Chris Craft Cavalier

Mr. Cook's "Penthouse" crew. Those guys could ski!

I spent a lot of time in that Chris-Craft. :cool:

allison craft
 

Sold out of Jay's Marina at Winnisquam, these boats were common in the
70's. Still made today. Appears very similar to the Royalcraft. The observer and driver sat back to back in the 2 seat boat. Out of the water a lot and exciting to watch. This is a restored one, I guess they were popular race boats in Ohio.

Here is a before/after resto pic of my 22' Boss Tahiti w/BBFord & Berk Jet.
This was my 1st attempt at a "full-on" boat project.
The boat was a reader's build featured in Hot Boat Magazine in the same issue that featured the Schiada that I posted.
I am really liking the closet gearheads that have materialized on this site.
Keep those pics & projects coming.
Love the outboard stuff. :cool:

Hot Boats take over Weirs Beach Dock. :laugh:

Circa 1982-ish?. :confused:

That Hydrostream got around. :cool:

great rides (cont.)
 

The first boat on the left looks kind of looks like your Tahiti, Hondo made a day cruiser with the elevated deck. There's been one in the boathouse at the Y Landing/Pine Island channel for about 35 years, yellow and brown, big block jet. The yellow boat is a Tahiti or Sidewinder. The Tahiti version was called the Torino, 16' boat sold with an olds 455/berkeley, I don't know what they called the Sidewinder. Any ideas on the grey boat? Fast, agile small boats weren't really an issue unless you had a reckless driver in one. Plus lake conditions don't let you fly around every day in small boats (Weirs Bay on a Saturday?). Seems speed became more of an issue when there were so many 25-30 footers going 70+.

Check out the size of the boats tied to the other docks. :eek:

The more you think things have changed. :laugh:

I think that boat is a green SleekCraft jet called Jade Grenade.?.

The blue SOB is a HydroStream.

The sport goes on
 

This is what it looked like years ago - without all the safety gear and longer ropes! Checkmates were very common and very fast. I don't know why people want to put windshields on these boats, ruins the styling and really does nothing about the wind. This one is a bit over the top, supposedly does 80 (hopefully right side up). There was a guy in his 50's back in the day who cruised all the time in his red one of these with his bleached blond wife at his side. Lake legend was he rolled it and landed upright with her falling out unhurt (who knows?). There was a red one with black seats with a 135 for years on Pine Island, supposedly a 65-70 mph boat. A Bruins player had one of these in his driveway that I'd walk by on my way to school. I'd have to stop and take a look many times.

Fabulous thread
 

Really enjoying this look back at circa 70's speedboats.Right up my gunwale(age group).

Old and "new" in the channel. And the first Stepp boat on Winni. :cool:

White boat in channel
 

It looks like Paul Blizzard's 25' Bertram. He still has it and had the boat out in August for customer's appreciation day.

I am in touch with three folks that were active in the WWSRA. I will be asking them for pictures to scan for winni.com. They are very much interested in a reunion next summer.

Is there anyone here from the Winnisquam ski and boat club? The club was very active in water ski racing as well as water ski championship.

Races
 

I grew up on Winnisquam and one of the highlights of the summer were the races. The ski jumps were awesome to watch. My favorite races were the "Pumpkin Seed" boats, they seemed like little rockets. I hope that this race does happen, I think it would be a great event.

Ski Boats
 

...Those were the days. Miss you John & Pete Belkas.:(

Vintage ski/raceboat
 

My brother-in-law had a 16' Checkmate w/150 Merc. Barefooted behind it @ 68 mph. My feet felt like they were on fire!!!!:laugh:

custom slalom
 

Maybe made in the Northland factory in Laconia, put up a great wall of water.

A couple more for you guys...:cool:

L-R = "Chach" Ciaciao, Tony Cameratta, John Buckley, and Peter Belkis.

With Mr. Cooke driving, as usual..:D

Penthouse Crew ROCKED.:cool:

Ski pictures
 

There should be a few more of these pictures in the photo gallery. When I cleaned out the Penthouse in 1997 I came across a large envelope stuffed with all kinds of neat pictures from the era when "The Teenagers" (as John refered to them) skiied from dawn till dusk. At least back then gas was only 35 cents per gallon!

long rope
 

Any old pics out there?

This is a great thread and I am really enjoying it. I would like to ask that everyone with photos please post the photos in the Gallery Photo Post as well so that others in the future can see them. There is a "Things That Float" area for you to post in. It is a great repository for these historic photos.