Brightwork, a publication of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society (ACBS), recently offered this primer on describing ACBS classic and antique boats:
A Utility means you have a box in the middle of the boat which contains the engine. If you don’t have that box, it’s a Runabout. So, a runabout has an engine mounted inside the deck, a utility has the engine in a box.
Restored and Preserved might be a bit more simple, with only a small garnish of mud. A restored boat is a boat that might have been almost completely rebuilt, but has enough left of the original boat so that it is not just a contemporary replica.
So, a restored boat might have most of the original keel, some of the original hardware, but a lot of new decking, sides and seating. In order to be Restored, the project must have utilized the same materials (type of wood, for instance), and methods of construction (joinery, for instance).
A preserved boat must have at least 60% of the boat original. What has been rebuilt or replaced also has to be of the original type and material. An example would be that mahogany planking has to be replaced with mahogany planking, not mahogany plywood.
The boat’s bottom is not considered in the 60% rule as long as a bottom repair or replacement is of the same construction and material.
In short, preserved means at least 60% of the boat is still there. Restored means more than 60% of the boat had to be replaced.
And there is RestoMod, an example could be a boat that originally had an outboard engine — and now is jet-powered.
Here are some basic period definitions:
Historic Boats are older than 1918; Antique Boats are built from 1919 through 1942; Classic Boats are built from 1943 through 1975; Late Classic Boats are built from 1976 through 25 years prior to the current year; Contemporary Boats are built within the past 25 years; RestoMod is a modification made on a boat
originally built at least 25 years earlier.
And then there are boat classes.
A Runabout has one or more closed cockpits with the engine under a deck;
A Launch has an open cockpit, rounded bilge, non-planning hull;
A Utility has an open cockpit, usually with the engine “in a engine box”;
A Racer is an inboard or outboard designed primarily for racing;
A Outboard is a boat with an outboard motor;
A Cruiser is a power boat with fully enclosed cabin having at least two berths, a head in a stand-up compartment, a galley with running water, an icebox or refrigerator, and cooking facilities. Usually (but not always) powered with inboard engines; and
A Sailboat with Auxiliary is a sailboat with a permanently mounted engine.
This essay first appeared in Brightwork, a publication of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Antique & Classic Boat Society (ACBS). Learn more about the ACBS chapter at their website www.acbs-flc.org
Illustration: A Hacker Craft antique boat courtesy ACBS Finger Lakes Chapter.
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