Ship Ahoy

With the shrill blast of a bo'sun's call, the 42nd annual National Motor Boat Show was opened in Manhattan's Grand Central Palace last week, and the first of some 250,000 sailors and would-be sailors were "piped aboard." Biggest news at the show this year are mass-produced, prefabricated "kit-boats," which an amateur boatbuilder can put to gether for as little as 50% of the cost of buying a finished boat. Completely precut, right down to drilled holes and fitted joints, the kit-boats range in size from an 8-ft. pram by Roberts Industries ($35) and an 18-ft. outboard cruiser by Manhattan's U-Mak-It ($528 without motor) to a 31-ft. Chris-Craft cabin cruiser ($1,995). Chris-Craft alone has nine kit-boat models, has turned over their Caruthersville, Mo. factory to making them.

Said one Chris-Craft man: "Anybody who can read English can put together one of these kits." With metals growing short, many boatmakers are switching to plastics and molded plywood hulls, which are easier to maintain and often sturdier. Sample: the 24-ft. Raven sailboat, a new racing class which has caught on fast, is now being made of Fiberglas, permanently impregnated with paint ($2,885 without sails). Light, low-priced planing sailboats are coming into their own. Simplest of all is the surfboard-like Sailfish, from 10 ft. to 14 ft. ($179 to $295, or in a kit, $139.50 to $179.50). Roberts Industries has a tiny 8-ft. sailing pram, the Guppy, for $117.50 ($225 assembled).

The defense program has already pinched readymade luxury boats. Some big boatmakers, e.g., Matthews Co., have switched over to defense contracts almost entirely, and were not represented at the show. Richardson Boat Co. has sold all of its 1952 stock of 29-ft. and 33-ft. models and can make no more. Owens Yacht Co. Inc. has so much Government work that it now builds only one 30-ft. express cruiser.

Welin Davit & Boat has used its experience in building Navy lifeboats to turn out a new unsinkable, all-steel 26-ft. pleasure cruiser. Built with two large steel air tanks under its cockpit deck, it stays afloat and can run on its own power even when full of water. Its engine is sealed in a watertight compartment with a snorkel-type exhaust. Price: $7,000, about $1,000 more than sinkable boats of similar design.

Prices on many types of boat have inched up in the last year, and more increases are in store. Both Chris-Craft and Wheeler Yacht Co. announced a hike, and other companies are due to follow. But there still seem to be enough well-heeled customers to buy even the most luxurious yachts. Chris-Craft--to "meet demand" --puts out a 62-ft. yacht. Price: $121,750.

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