If you haven’t received the July/August issue of Wooden Boat magazine yet, head over to your local newsstand and check out pages 16 and 18. Tom Jackson, editor of the currents section of the magazine, has included a write-up about The Wooden Runabout Co. and our current restoration of an ultra-rare 1936 Chris-Craft 19′ special race boat. You can see photos of this restoration on the current projects section of our website.
The full text of the article reads as follows:
The Wooden Runabout Co., LLC, has opened in Holland, Michigan, with Kirk Wingard and Mike Teusink combining their 30 years of wooden boat building experience. Wingard previously spent 15 years as senior carpenter and shop foreman at Macatawa Bay Boat Works in Saugatuck. Teusink began building wooden boats during his summers off from his job as a history teacher. They combined efforts to open the new shop, starting off with a full restoration of a 1936, 19′ Chris-Craft special raceboat, one of a handful of survivors of the 51 built by the company. The first of the boats, built lightweight for speed–which is the reason so few survive today–reached an average speed of 45.023 mph at the President’s Cup Regatta in Washington, D.C., in September 1935. The shop is also working on a full restoration of a 1934 Chris-Craft 18′ runabout and refinishing two other boats, a 1937 16′ Chris-Craft special raceboat and a 1938 Century Sea-Maid. The Wooden Runabout Co. LLC, 4261 Blue Star Highway, Holland, MI 49423; 616-396-7248; <www.woodenrunabout.com>.