Amazing Classic Fiberglass Boat Collections PowerBoat Television

When people think of antique boats, the assumption is that they're made of wood. Let's face it, wooden boats have been around far longer than any other type, so by nature there's going to be many more in circulation. But once the science of fiberglass made its way into the marine industry, the game changed. And much like cars of the 50s with their rear wings and lavish lines, the boats of this era were also quite radical because builders had an empty pallet of fiberglass to play with. So let's take a little stroll down memory lane and into the world of classic glass. The sort of groundswell, if you will, to fiberglass came following World War II when the technology of glass-reinforced plastic, as the Brits like to call it, when fiberglass boats started to appear in the late 1950s, the consumer really gravitated to them quickly. Within a space of three or four years, if you weren't building fiberglass boats in quantity, you were out of the boat business. In the 60s, it was a fiberglass world. That's where we met our friends from the Trent Severn Antique and Classic Boat Association to see some of their unique fiberglass restorations. The Trent Severn Antique and Classic Boat Association has been around for a little over 20 years now. It's a group of enthusiasts who collect and restore antique and classic boats. I think probably most of our members have wooden boats and now there's a growing number who are getting into the classic glass. I'm not real good at selling them. I'm collecting them. Right about now, I've probably got around 60. One part that I enjoy maybe the most now is digging into the history of all these boats. They've all got a very unique story. These are a couple of glass trons, both 58s. This one is a surf light. Everybody, as soon as they see it, they say, oh, there's a 57 Chevy. Basically, it was the 57 Chevy that inspired glass tron in 58 to come with the wings and the chrome mylar. We've always called this the love curve because everybody has to feel that this curve, it seems to be a big attraction. A lot of them I've picked up out of fields. The blue glass tron, it had a tree growing out through it. Had to cut the tree down to get the boat out. Stuff like that, you can get for pretty much nothing. This is a Commando Ranger, 1956. This is one I restored a year ago, I guess, with a Johnson 35 horse. Not quite original colors, but the boats had a little bit of retro done to it. Resto mods like Murray's Commando are common in restoring since it's often difficult to find the exact pieces of hardware that would have been affixed to a boat like this when it was made almost 60 years ago. Sometimes you work with whatever you can dig up to bring it as close as possible to the original design. And of course, the internet can be a great tool to find what that's supposed to be. This is a Leavens, it was built in Toronto on Dufferin Street by one of the Leavens brothers. This was 1960. This particular one is a bit of a resto mod. The windshield used to be about that high. The only reason I cut it down was it was broken and I was originally not going to put a windshield on it. And then I thought, well, I'm going to cut it off and see what it looks like. I loved it. I designed all of the wooden panels and then had another person who's a member of our club do the interior. Basically, I gave her a photo of a 64T bird and I said, this is what I want in red and white. And that's what I got. Once the auto industry moved away from these types of designs, the boat builders were quick to abandon them as well. And of course, as with anything with a motor, we have to determine who can go the fastest. So as boat racing grew in popularity, boat designs were quick to follow. One of the boats that kicked off Murray's obsession was this 13-foot checkmate he got as a 14-year-old and restored just a few years ago. He even did paddles and shoes to match. Tim Jackson is another local restorer who normally works with wood. He redid this 14-foot 1975 Sidewinder a few years ago. This was actually the first fiberglass boat that I ever attempted to restore. I think we paid about $700 for it, both motor and trailer. Stringer was replaced. It was cut out, new laminated plywood, sealed back in with fiberglass. Transom was cut out. It was absolutely rotted as well. We have a 1974 70-horsepower Hustler. Power tilt and trim, stainless prop. It goes like a rocket and it just, it feels very safe. You know, with the numerous old fiberglass boats that are just sitting around, it's a very easy project for anyone to attempt and bring something back to life that deserves a second chance. Coming up later in the show, we head over to Port Perry, Ontario, to look inside a private museum with some of the craziest prototype boats I've ever seen. As far as I could tell, we had just scratched the surface of the history of fiberglass boats in Peterborough. I wanted to see some of these wild designs I kept hearing about. From our field of dreams, we headed west to an old chicken bar near Lake Scugog, now known as Wayne's World, to party on and check out Wayne Robinson's incredible collection. We're at Wayne's World in Scugog, Ontario. A grouping of my collection of boats, motors, signs, marine history, nautical antiques. I love the boats. I love the accessories and all the marine history that goes with it. The goal is just to continue curating. I think that's what I enjoy. A cornerstone of Wayne's display is his lineup of beautifully restored aristocrats, one of every model the Atlanta-based builder produced back in the 50s and 60s, which now earn him awards and boat shows on a regular basis. These aristocrats are finished so nicely that a lot of people mistake them for fiberglass. The transition for me into fiberglass just seemed natural because aristocrats transitioned from wood in the very early 60s to fiberglass and discontinued making wooden boats. You know, from there, it's just the collection includes a lot of very unique boats. And inside Wayne's old chicken barn are some pieces that would have been considered quite unique and different in their day, some that inspired a new wave of what's now quite normal. How it came about, I don't really know, but it is a Canadian-built boat called the Aqualoupe, and it was built in Quebec. Interesting. In the early 60s. Well, they love their snowmobiling here, and you can see the influence in the cowling there. Including the steering setup, you know, it looks like an early Sea-Doo, follows the lines of an early snowmobile. I saw this KenCat advertised on a website for an antique boat club. And because it said KenCat and my name is Ken, I said, I've got to investigate this further. These boats were built originally in Manchester, England by a company called Kenmar, and a company called Custom Craft Canada actually acquired the Canadian rights. These are the fun things that we get to play with in this hobby of antique and classic boating. Among the beautiful and award-winning pieces, both wood and glass in Wayne's world, there's no shortage of fun, like this one. Though he's unsure of the make, it's the same boat as one Wayne was given as a grade eight graduation gift just a few years ago. I discovered the boat in Omimi at a restoration gentleman's place, John Hendren, who had a boat, he wanted me to look at it, in a field behind his barn. And it was upside down, he flipped it over. It's a boat that I've been looking for, for personal reasons, for most of my life. For purposes of discussions, we're saying it was made by Monroe Boats in 1960, 61. It's subsequently been restored. We were able to find a motor that Ken Kirk had in his collection, the 12 horsepower Alto, which is the same motor that I had when I was 13 years old on Halliburton Lake. Now this one looks like some fun. This is an 80s boat built by Spidercraft Boats, called the Water Spider. We have really been unable to find much information. It was made in Canada, and supposedly in the Windsor area. I've run into a dead end as finding out more of it, but it's pretty unique. This is called a Ski Flea. It also is a Canadian boat. You stood on it, and you had a set of ropes, and you steered it with the balance of your body weight. And it was rated for a 10 horsepower motor, which sat up in the front. And then we've got three of a kind over here. Similar, but not the same. The first boat is called a Jetlark. It has a Brute 432 jet engine that's going to be mounted in the back, that's being restored as we speak. The next one is called a Hydromite, and it has a six horsepower Johnson engine mounted in the front. You can see the propeller sticking out below. The third boat we're looking at is called a Sealark, built by a company called Tamco in Windsor. The information goes pretty dry after that. There's not much left. Unique designs of boats in that beginning of the fiberglass era. Early 60s, low production companies that have disappeared. Well, Wayne, thank you so much for having us here at Wayne's World. It really is an impressive collection, and it's great that you guys are preserving the history of boat building, especially Canadian boat building. And maybe we'll come back in a couple of years when there's probably 10 or 12 new boats in here. More than welcome.