Vintage Race Boat Shop

  We maintain vintage wooden boats.


 

Our 2010 Vintage Event Schedule - another summer of fun ???!!!

 

APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit

The first APBA sanctioned vintage race boat regatta was at Clayton, New York in 1992, where we got a chance to run our beloved vintage race boats on an actual race course, running some pretty hot laps. Since then, in the spirit of Gar Wood and Orlin Johnson, we have run our beloved Gar Wood Speedster Obsession on the APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit. Like vintage car racing, there are actually people out there who run their vintage race boats on APBA (American Power Boat Association) sanctioned race courses, and participate in a very active APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit.

These vintage regattas are run under the rules and regulations of the Vintage & Historic Division of the American Power Boat Association (APBA). This is pretty serious stuff, complete with surveyed race courses, safety inspections, drivers meetings, crane launching and demonstration heats usually of 5 or 6 laps. We do have fun, but safety is our main concern, and our APBA Vintage & Historic Division has a great record of running safe and fun events.

APBA V&H Division

2010 Event Schedule

Lots & lots of photos !!!

 

Local ACBS Vintage Events

Since 1979, we have also been active members and promoters of our New England Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society. We are Board Members, continue to maintain the chapter Website, and we are very active participating at local ACBS vintage events here on beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee.

ACBS Website

2010 Event Schedule

Lots & lots of photos !!!

 

New Hampshire Boat Museum

Additionally, we are active members and promoters of our beloved NH Boat Museum, located right here in beautiful Wolfeboro, where we were board members during the early years and started their Website.

NH Boat Museum Website

2010 Event Schedule


Our 2010 Vintage Event Schedule !!!

For the past ten years, we have been “on the road” promoting, supporting and participating at APBA vintage regattas every summer. Lots of fun, but also lots of expenses with the many miles, lodging and way too many days away from our shop. So this year we are trying to balance our road trips on the Vintage Race Boat Circuit with local vintage events here on beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee.

 

Please consider joining us - for all the adventures and all the fun ???!!!

 

Spring Fling Vintage Race Boat Regatta at Tavares - March 9-21, 2010

Sunnyland Antique Boat Festival at Tavaras - March 26-28, 2010

After many years of wanting to make the Mt Dora/Tavares ACBS boat show and many years of excuses, this is the year that we are finally going to make to trek south to warm and sunny Florida. Will be hauling My Precious to participate at both the CRA Vintage Regatta and then the ACBS Boat Show the following weekend.

Please, please, please - let it be warm & sunny ???!!!

 

Spring Romp & Spring Gathering - June 12, 2010

This is a Spring gathering of our local ACBS membership, and a celebration of our beautiful wooden boats. The afternoon begins with a Spring Romp, meeting at the Wolfeboro public docks at 1 PM for a scenic cruise. The route will depend on weather and water conditions. After our Spring Romp, we will gather at the home of Charlie & Ilona Train for a cocktail party, live music and a catered dinner. Lots of good friends, music, and of course lots of food and drink.

Click here for photos

 

Detroit APBA Gold Cup Unlimited Hydroplane Regatta - June 25-27, 2010

Tom Bertolini and Joe Schulte are hard at work, planning for this summer's Detroit APBA Gold Cup. This is perhaps the most exciting event on our vintage circuit - as we get to run with the big dogs - the unlimited hydroplanes. In addition to the spectacular Unlimited Hydroplanes, this is also a very large gathering of beautiful vintage race boats, including 3-point hydroplanes, Jersey Speed Skiffs, Gold Cup fast steppers, and fire breathing grand prix hydros. The vintage boats will on display all weekend, and will also ran demonstration heats on the historic Detroit Gold Cup race course. This year, we will again be located in the "Piston Park" area, close to the start/finish line, and the logistics will again be just superb - thanks to the event organizers. We will have lots of space,  3 cranes for just our vintage boats, and over 100 feet of good docking on the water. The boats will be crane launched, and the docks will be so long that we will be able to pre-stage our vintage heats at the dock. The boats will all be released all at once, great fun and very dramatic, especially on heats with over 8 race boats !!!

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37th Annual Boat Show - July 23-24, 2010

Our annual Antique & Classic Boat Show at the Meredith public docks is a huge gathering of beautiful antique and classic wooden boats, with large crowds and over 80 vintage wooden boats on display all day in a judged competition. This is quite a sight to behold, and for a special treat get to the docks early on Saturday morning to watch and listen as the vintage boats arrive under their own power. There will also be a large static display of vintage race boats. The sights and sounds are magnificent, and to get an idea of the magnitude of this gathering of wooden boats, please take a moment to view our photo album from last year's show.

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Antique Race Boat Regatta at Clayton, NY - August  12-15, 2010

Back in the early ‘90’s some nostalgia buffs with old race boats were musing about the success of the Antique Boat Show at the Clayton Antique Boat Museum.  The idea to hold a similar event with vintage race boats was tossed out and caught hold.  Bill Munro chaired a large group of committed enthusiasts who hosted the first ever Vintage Race Boat Regatta in August of 1992.  Eighteen years of this biennial event have brought together some of the greatest names in racing and likewise many of the most famous boats of all time.  Such greats as Riggs Smith, Bob Schroeder, Fred Alter and Buddy Byers were on the original organizing committee.  Many others were in critical positions making it all happen.  Over the years the Vintage Race Boat Regatta has given owners, drivers, historians and public an opportunity to see the greatest boats of all time performing in the water with dramatic rooster tails and the roar of powerful engines. Next summer, 2010 will be the 10th Anniversary of Race Boat Regatta at Clayton.  We hope many of the boats that attended the very first regatta as well as those that came out of barns and storage sheds over the years will be with us doing vintage fly-bys on the museum waterfront.  Vintage race boats have come of age and our opportunity to demonstrate them in their natural environment has caught the public attention.  Just think, vintage all started in Clayton in 1992 and has grown to where in 2009 there were 27 sanctions approved for vintage events. Between now and August 2010, a large group of volunteers are working diligently to make this the biggest and best event in our long history.  Please mark your calendars for 12–15 August, 2010.  While we won’t send out the formal registration package until January, if you are planning on attending we would appreciate hearing from you.

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Wolfeboro Car & Boat Rendezvous - September 25, 2010

On Saturday, September 25th, the Wolfeboro Car & Boat Rendezvous will be held at the Public Docks and Parking Area in downtown Wolfeboro, NH.  Sponsored by the New England Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society, this event is a wonderful blending of pre-1970 wooden boats and automobiles.  Picturesque Wolfeboro, situated on Lake Winnipesaukee, is the perfect background for a fun filled day of nostalgia, fall foliage, music, shops and restaurants. This is a non-judged and no-stress show, a Fall celebration and rendezvous. More details and the registration form will soon be posted, but please mark your calendar for September 25th !!!

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Fall Foliage Cruise - October 9, 2010

George Johnson started this tradition years ago, and now Charlie Train has stepped up to to revive our annual trek. This is a Fall gathering of our local ACBS membership, and a celebration of our beautiful wooden boats. The route will depend on weather and water conditions, and all are welcome to join our entourage. After brunch we usually take a scenic cruise up to Greens Basin at the northern tip of the lake, then return home to Wolfeboro.

Click here for photos

That's the plan for our 2010 summer of fun, several road trips on the Vintage Race Boat Circuit and several local vintage events here on beautiful Lake Winnipesaukee. Please consider joining us for all the adventures and all the fun ???!!!


And start planning for 2011.....

Wolfeboro Vintage Race Boat Regatta - Sept 14-17, 2011

The past will come alive as some of the best known race boats of bygone eras return to Wolfeboro, for our sixth Wolfeboro Vintage Race Boat Regatta. Wolfeboro is now a major stop on the APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit, and this summer's regatta expands to 4 full days, and includes 70 Vintage race boats running demonstration laps on a 1 mile oval course, on beautiful Wolfeboro Bay. In addition to seeing and hearing these unique and beautiful boats run, spectators are invited to view them close-up in the pit area, at the Town Docks between 9 and 4, on both Friday and Saturday. This year our Wolfeboro vintage event is scheduled for the weekend after Buffalo, and as many of you know, our Wolfeboro vintage regatta is held every other year, alternating with Clayton, and we are becoming well known for our "flat water" and lots of water time. In fact, we run vintage heats every half hour for two full days. So if you wanna see lots of vintage race boats running at speed, you just gotta come to Wolfeboro in 2011!!!

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And here are some related vintage race boat links:

   

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