May-June 2003

This question is a good one, but very unfair to me! You must remember that I came from a blue-collar family who used a boat for two reasons ~ and two reasons alone. Fishing and hydroplaning and later, water skiing. No cocktail cruises after dinner ~ no cruising around the lake with neighbors or friends waving at all the other people in their cottages who come out at that time of the evening just to watch them go by. No, it was up before dawn to fish before it got too hot ~ later to water ski and swim.

Enough of my rhetoric. Two boats the same size, one boat a Runabout with the two seat front and back close together - the engine under that hatch and all the beautiful mahogany deck just gleaming. The other a Utility, front seat, motor box, rear seat and the rest of the boat all open. These boats were great for storage, but not very good for conversation. The distance from front to back seat can be 10 ft. away with an inboard engine in between.

There is no doubt in anyone's mind that the runabout is most prestigious and best looking of the two styles of boats. Of course, the price of a runabout is a direct reflection of which boat is most popular with the antique and classic boat enthusiasts. Also, the number of runabouts built compared to utilities was tremendous. Just for example, in 1960 and 1961 there were 172 Chris Craft Capri's built. In 1960 alone Chris Craft built 185 17' Sportsmans and 180 17' ski boats, that is not including the 18 Continentals that built over 500 units. So, with less than 25% of the market and its over-all beauty, we now can see why the runabout far and away is a buy and of course, we have seen the runabouts have increased in value far more than the utility.

To defend the utility of which I personally prefer, is of course storage room, attractive price, water skiing, room to move around, easier to work on the engine, better for kids and they still look darn good in the water.

So, now you know that utilities are the boats Jack McCarthy seems to like!