60’s Ski Nautiques - Rare?
Printed From: CorrectCraftFan.com
Category: General Correct Craft Discussion
Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: Anything Correct Craft
URL: http://www.CorrectCraftFan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=7665
Printed Date: May-18-2024 at 3:23pm
Topic: 60’s Ski Nautiques - Rare?
Posted By: M3Fan
Subject: 60’s Ski Nautiques - Rare?
Date Posted: July-24-2007 at 6:34pm
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I don't know why/how I came to this realization but is it me or do you just not see many early Ski Nautiques? There are a handful in the diaries section but it seems like the majority are Mustangs and other varied models. What made the Ski Nautique of the 60's era different from boats like the Mustang? Were the original SN's just not as desirable or more expensive or what? ------------- 2000 SN GT40 w/99 Graphics/Gel 2016 SN 200 OB 5.3L DI https://forum.fifteenoff.com |
Replies:
Posted By: Riley
Date Posted: July-24-2007 at 6:42pm
| I think they were more sparten, and not as sporty. Less family oriented. |
Posted By: reidp
Date Posted: July-25-2007 at 12:09am
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Joel, Riley's pretty much right on. The SN surely wasn't the queen of the fleet like it is today. It was a more one dimensional boat than it is today and meant for just one thing. The gen-one hull boats (61-69) had sprayed gelcoat interior sides, vinyl-covered wood floors, and simple squared off hand-built wood framed seats, however many other models had these same seats. But they still remain among my favorite CCs. My biggest dislike is/was the wooden sprayrail which seemed to rot on many I've seen and is the devil to replace. Plus original ones were sprayed with gelcoat to match the hull color, but the gel typically seemed to fall or crack off. We've got 4 of this vintage (64,67,67,68) with none currently running and 3 being total basket cases in need of total resto. ------------- ReidP /diaries/details.asp?ID=231&yrstart=1971&yrend=1975 - 1973 Mustang |
Posted By: The Lake
Date Posted: July-25-2007 at 3:33am
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Reid,
Fortunately my spray rail is still in fairly good shape. I sure like the looks of your baby blue one. Do you have a motor in that one yet? Chuck ------------- Walk on Water www.coldwater.me http://correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=775&sort=&pagenum=3&yrstart=1966&yrend=1970 - 69 Ski Nautique |
Posted By: 8122pbrainard
Date Posted: July-25-2007 at 8:33am
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I was just emailing Bill Long who has picked up a 61 Compact Skier and was telling him that many early Correct Crafts were actually a throw away boat! They were built inexpensivly without all the solid wood planking that you find on say a Chris Craft. The amount of labor to refinish some of the models exceeded the value so they were used till they wouldn't float anymore! I remember in the 60's when everyone was going to glass that our local marina up north would have boat burnings on the ice. It was a big event between Christmas and New Years that the Marina's owner would invite the whole town to. Always had the keg flowing and the brats (Wisconsin style brats) cooking. Many a boat went to ashes! I agree with Riley and Reid that the early glass CC's were sparten as the less expensive construction was carried through to the glass. I would guess that before 1970, less than 30% of the CC's made are still in exsistence. Also, some of the early unusual models were very low production to the point that the boat in the photo was the one and only! ------------- /diaries/details.asp?ID=1622" rel="nofollow - 54 Atom /diaries/details.asp?ID=2179" rel="nofollow - 77 Tique 64 X55 Dunphy Keep it original, Pete < |
Posted By: 63CCSN
Date Posted: July-26-2007 at 3:01pm
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Hi all!
As you can see from my screen name, I've got a 63 SN, with a 312 ford interceptor (215HP). The spray rails, and the stringers on mine were of course, rotten when I got her. But for $300, purchased out of some guy's front yard, I couldn't pass her up. She remains a work in progress and I wish I had more time to get her finished up. Slow and steady progress will have to do. From my experience, the early 60's SN's were not designed to be a family watersports boat, but rather a boat designed purely to pull a tournament skier. The earliest SN's followed the layout of most "utilities" of the time, and had a bench front seat (and as a tournament boat often times they had no back seat). The really early SN's did not have any foam in them. The hull fiberglass was very thin, and the boat would have some "flex to it", as a result they often had gel coat cracking problems and were a very noisey boat to ride in. They have very little room/storeage space. In addition, the hull had very little freeboard, making them not well suited to handle choppy lake conditions (which wasn't an issue on glass flat tournament ski lakes). The low freeboard combined with the narrow beam of the hull, gave the boat an almost "dart" or "arrow" type look to the hull, that could, in some peoples eyes, detract from the "lines" of the boat. For a family sports boat, the mustang, etc was a much better choice (and depending, a more attractive looking choice). So, as I understand it, fewer early 60's SN's were made/sold to the average family/recreational skier and as time went on fewer of them survived. All that being said, as a tournament boat, for the time, I'm sure the SN's were great, with a low soft wake, and plenty of power! When I bought it, I got the boat hauled home and my father came over to have a look at her. He said, "that old horse has pulled a lot in her life time, but she's just a broken down old nag now." Well, I felt strongly that I could totally restore the "old work horse". When I get her finished she will be named "SkiBiscuit", because sometimes you have to believe that a broken down nag, can become a prized race horse again. |
Posted By: bkhallpass
Date Posted: July-26-2007 at 3:13pm
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Good story 63.
Unless you want to be asked a lot of questions about your spelling, remember that it is spelled "B-I-S-C-U-I-T" Also, if you care for the authenticity of your play on words, the name of the famous horse was Seabiscuit - all one word. BKH ------------- Livin' the Dream |
Posted By: 63CCSN
Date Posted: July-26-2007 at 3:20pm
Thanks for the correction on my typo. I updated my previous post. 
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Posted By: quinner
Date Posted: July-26-2007 at 4:13pm
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Interesting info guy's, SkiBiscuit, can you post some pictures of your boat, it's great seeing the before and after of some of these great restorations. Reid, hope we get a chance to see all those boats when we are down there in 8 days!!
------------- http://www.correctcraftfan.com/diaries/details.asp?ID=1143" rel="nofollow - Mi Bowt |