Vintage Ski Boats

Vintage Ski Boats craftmanship of a classic

by Mike Petrucelli | photos by Kurt Westman

As spring moves on and summer arrives to LAKElife

Country, the usual sounds of boat motors echo and bounce across the water; it’s just one of those sounds of summer— and it more than likely fades into the background noise.

But then, every once in a while, a different sound arises from the din; one that will make a lot of boaters of a certain predilection stop and take notice.

“There’s nothing quite like the sound of a good old straight inboard motor going down the lake; that throaty, open engine sound,” said enthusiast Kurt Westman.

The sound Westman is referring to is the recognizable audio, signature of a classic, or vintage, if you will, ski boat.

It’s a sound Westman is well-acquainted with, thanks to his family history focused around the shores of Lake Wawasee.

His grandfather, he said, was one of the first purchasing customers from Larry Griffith at Griffith's Wawasee Marina shortly after it opened in 1946.

He is just one of many members of his family who learned to ski on the lake, not to mention catch the boating bug.

“It’s entrenched in me,” Westman said.

So, it’s no surprise that he is among the many enthusiasts for vintage waterski boats that were produced beginning in the 1960s through about 1990. The boats— from a variety of manufacturers such as Ski Nautique, Master Craft, Ski Supreme, Supra, Malibu, and chief among them, Correct Craft— have become more and more sought after and inspire passionate fan bases. The reasons vary from the practical to the nostalgic, and in between.

“I guess it’s the raw simplicity to boats that were built before 1990,” Westman said. “They’re more of a reflection back to the classic lines of the ‘Woodie’ boats of the 1950s and ‘60s.”

Manufacturers took the designs of the classic wooden boats (think the brown shiny boats, in which Cary Grant might have pulled up to a dockside café) and remade those boats in fiberglass. Correct Craft was a pioneer in that area.

These boats featured a Ford 351 marine engine, a direct drive, two-gear transmission, with a right-rotation propeller, making for a level ride. The gauges and dials were all analog (easy to replace and change), and if you want to strip out and repair or change the interior, you could get a lot done with a crescent wrench and a Phillips head screwdriver, Westman said.

Terry Griffith, now semi-retired from Griffith’s Wawasee Marina, agreed. The mid-engine design of these boats (instead of the year) meant you could pull the engine box out, change your own oil and oil filter, replace worn belts, and make all kinds of mechanical repairs and upgrades yourself.

The cost of doing all this, from repairs to remodels, covers a wide range, making them great boats for a lot of different budgets. Westman said owners of these boats can scour online sites for parts, but some manufacturers have begun producing replica parts for the market.

Even buying a vintage ski boat can be a lot more economical than buying a new one. Griffith pointed out that what are called ski boats now can cost upwards of $200,000, between the digital equipment, the layout of the boats, as well as a number of other factors. That’s a far cry from the $18-20,000 of the vintage boats.

Also, boats now, he said, aren’t built with the single purpose of water skiing like the “competition ski boats” of old.

Westman agreed, noting that boats feature more technology, fuel injection, electronic ignition, and more “creature comforts,” to make them more attractive to the mass market as a daily driver.

That said, his boats—a 1980 Correct Craft Ski Nautique, which was purchased from Griffith’s, a 1967 Century Resorter 17, and a 1988 Ski Nautique—may have been built for one purpose, but are perfectly usable as a daily driver, especially since their shorter and flatter-bottomed design are better suited to the lakes around this area.

“For the most part, the people who own these boats use them as they were originally intended,” he said. “When they get these boats, they use these boats … The lines, the sound, the simplicity, that’s a big draw.”