Member Boats: Late Classic beginning in 1985

This is a continuation of the designation of Late Classic boats which were built between 1976 and the year 25 years prior to the present year.

Boats presently or previously owned by members of the Heartland Classics Chapter.

The Antique and Classic Boat Society (ACBS) has designated age classifications which include boats of all hull material and purposes. Although well known for wooden pleasure craft of the mid 20th century, the members’ appreciation of historic craftsmanship and styling blended with the purposeful utilitarian use of all vessels leads our members to be guardians of all types and ages of watercraft.

Boat Age Classifications

Cara J

1985 Trojan Sedan 37′ “Cara J” owned by Dick & Cara Moist

Type: 1930 20 ft. Model 100 Chris Craft
“The Cara J” is a 1986, 11 meter Trojan sedan cruiser. Powered by two big block GM’s We brought the boat to Table Rock Lake in the year 2000. It resides at the Ozarks Yacht Club dock. The boat spent time on the Lake of the Ozarks and the Mississippi river at Polestar marina where we bought it.

1986 Century Coronado

1986 Century 21′ Coronado powered with a Mercruiser 454. She is owned by Mark Moser.

We have a lake cottage at LOTO, Gravois Mills, MO. We had our Resorter for 41 years. Always wanted a Coronado. Was looking at Facebook one Sunday AM 2018. Came across this boat on Century Boat Club for sale. I nudged my wife Amy and had her look. She said “If you want it, buy it. Don’t spend any money.” Ok…I called Mr. Wormwood at Sebago Lake Maine. About a week later it was a “road trip to Maine”. I had my 69 BSA Thunderbolt motorcycle, I never ride anymore, to sell, and my 1968 FG Resorter with trailer. Anyway, I came out ahead after the sales. The BSA stayed in Missouri and the Resorter went to Smith Mountain Lake Virginia. We have a nice 1987 Coronado and trailer. We love our boat.

Eliminator Jet

1987 ELIMINATOR JET 21′ owned by Clay and Patty Thompson.

Jet boats were a popular choice in the 70’s and 80’s, and many companies built them, but most think Eliminator built the best. This one is the 21’ Daytona model, and a nice survivor. It has a 502 Chevrolet dual 4 barrel engine, with a Dominator racing jet pump and lots of chrome. Eliminator was known for their excellent gelcoat finishes and that is represented here with the 9 color striking graphics.

Wax On Wax Off

1987 Cobalt 23’ Condessa
Mercruiser 330hp
Owned by Scott & Linda Hendren

1988 Taylor 9235

This 1988 Taylor 23′ 9235 is powered by a GM 350 engine with 265hp. She is owned by Forrest & Kally Bryant of Kansas City, Missouri.

Black Betty

1988 Glastron-Carlson 23′ named Black Betty owned by Zack and Danielle Stafford

Barefoot

This 1989 Mastercraft Barefoot 190 19′ is powered with an Indmar 425 hp engine. She is owned by Jerry & Becky Caddell. Home port is at Shell Knob, MO on Table Rock Lake.

Century Arabian

1989 Century Arabian 19′ owned by Chuck Gibbs.

1989 Century Arabian 19′ powered by a Mercruiser 454, 340 HP with a Velvet Drive transmission. She is owned by Chuck Gibbs.

This 1989 Century 19’ Arabian was acquired by Don & Kathy Parker in 2016. We wish she could tell her own story because the boat must have experienced a very difficult infancy and teenage years. Apparently, she got caught up in a Century Boats’ bankruptcy, acquisition by Glastream, and eventually was left outside, covered with a tarp that eventually disintegrated. At some point, she was acquired by a dealer in Kansas City who began to rebuild her which necessitated new stringers, flotation, fiberglass restoration, etc. The restoration stalled at some point and she was acquired by Jason St. Onge in Carthage, Missouri. Jason contracted with a fiberglass restorer in Nixa, Missouri who completed the work on the stringers and flotation. Mr. St. Onge then began the process of putting her back together.

She is powered with a Mercruiser 454, 340 HP with a Velvet Drive transmission. At the time we took delivery the engine had 6.1 original running hours. In 1987 Century had been acquired by Glastream Group and so her hull number (GSYDV053G889) actually indicates she was built by Glastream.

She was purchased by Chuck Gibbs in 2019 to be used on Grand Lake in Oklahoma. She should be a great vessel for Grand Lake with her 7’3” beam, 19’1” length and deep v hull design.

1990 Cobalt 21

This 1990 Cobalt 21 is owned by Ken and Ro Everett. Home Port is Table Rock Lake, MO.

My Phoenix

This 1990 Cobalt is owned by Mark Beacom of Omaha, Nebraska.

Mark Beacom says,”Just got her a few weeks ago. 5.7 Volvo DP. Hour meter says 138. I can’t verify that. I’ve been cleaning and buffing. Her name is My Phoenix. She is a really nice boat.”

Untouchable

1991 Hacker Craft Triple Cockpit 30′ “Untouchable” owned by Jim & Marilyn Conner

1991 Hacker Craft Triple Cockpit 30′ with a Crusader 454.

Home Port is Grand Lake of the Cherokees, Oklahoma.

1992 Tiara

1992 Tiara Bowrider owned by Jodee Winkle and Brad Pedersen of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1993 Cobalt

This 1993 Cobalt 198 open bow runabout is owned by Kerry and Bobbie Jensen. Home port is Beaver Lake, Arkansas.

The Cobalt 198 is the upgraded Cobalt 196. The 198 includes additional amenities like full color hull, courtesy lights, walk-through doors, lockable glove box and ski locker, captains’ chairs, bench rear seat and sun-pad.

This Cobalt came into our lives around 1995. It was a neglected backyard boat that had been put on consignment at a local boat dealership that was an advertising client of mine. As luck would have it, I called on that dealership the afternoon she arrived. She never made it off the back lot before we had purchased her. I had the dealership do a complete service job and then I added hours of TLC. Friends thought we had a brand-new boat when we finished cleaning her up. This boat is known to the family as “The Cobalt”. She has been the everyday boat since her arrival for all cruising, water sports and trips to other lakes that our family has enjoyed. Her home is a covered slip on a boat lift in the family boat dock located in front of our home on Beaver Lake.

Ready to Rumble

“Ready to Rumble” is a 1993 Fountain 32′ 32 Fever with 2 Chevrolet Big Block engines. She is owned by Ward & Karen Brasses of Edmond, Oklahoma.

Sails Call

1995 Hunter Vision 36, owned by Kerry and Bobbie Jensen. Located at the Grand Lake Sailing Club on Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees, OK

Sails Call is the 3rd cruising sailboat Bobbie and I have owned. We decided to add a cruising sailboat to our fleet after chartering a 46 sailboat for a family vacation in the lower Florida Keys. We rescued a 20-foot sailboat from Dallas, TX, then jumped to a 26-foot sailboat rescued in Manhattan, KS, then to a 36-foot Hunter 36 Vision that sort of floated into our cove and tied up to our dock. Good friends of ours owned this sailboat but he had become ill. I offered to clean up the sailboat and he suggested relocating it to my dock on Beaver Lake, AR to do the work which I did. Sadly, he passed away and we were offered the opportunity to purchase the boat already at our dock and we did. So it did float down our cove, tied up to our dock and stayed.

The idea for the name Sails Call came from when I was in sales and my boss would call and ask where I was. I would always answer saying I was on a sails call so it was the perfect name for the sailboat. The Hunter 36 Vision is designed as a comfortable live-aboard for a cruising couple. The free-standing mast eliminates the need for shrouds, backstays, and spreaders. The interior layout includes vast amounts of teak and is similar in usable space to many 46-foot sailboats. Bobbie and I spent many years sailing with our family, friends, and recently, grandchildren. Many a quiet night was spent on the hook tucked into a cove as we enjoyed overnights and longer cruising on Beaver Lake. We were limited to the north 2/3 of the lake as the Highway 12 bridge would not allow her 62 ft mast to go under. We recently had Sails Call pulled for upgrades and service work. Then relocated Sails Call to the Grand Lake Sailing Club. We are now enjoying exploring a new-to-us lake and training our son Brendan (Heartland Classics member) and his son Hunter to become the new Captains of the ship.

1995 Bryant

1995 Bryant Capri owned by David and Loretta Sheets.

1995 Bryant Capri 210 is 21′ long powered with a 1995 Mercruiser 7.4L, 8 cyl, 310 hp engine.

She is in the “Late Classic” age classification which includes boats built from 1976 through the year 25 years prior to the present year.

1994 Donzi Sweet 16

This 1994 Donzi Sweet 16 is owned by Trey Abraham of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Pub Decision

1995 Hacker Craft Gentleman’s Racer 18′ “Pub Decision” owned by Bruce Hurst

Pub Decision was purchased from Ron Montoya of Jefferson Yacht Sales in Michigan, November 2009. It is 18 ft long and 5 ft beam. The seller had no idea who built the boat or much else about it for that matter. The hull #PCK1802A595 identifies that she came from Packard Classic Boats in Sarasota, Florida. The company was owned by Bud Finkl who apparently passed away in 2007.

I wrote Vintage Race Shop during the summer to ask them if they had ever seen the boat. Bill Johns thought a guy named John Ford had built the boat, which turned out to be a fact. Bud Finkl built Packard boats but they were fiberglass reproductions of vintage runabouts, never a wood boat. A call to Gary Scherb in Florida verified that Bud had contracted John Ford to build four boats, three 18 ft and one 26 ft. Gary also told me his company did the finish work on the boat and installed the very hot (250 hp) V6 Chevy engine built by Flagship Marine Engine in Punta Gorda, Florida. It has hydraulic steering and transmission.

My first outing in Pub Decision was on Lake Keystone, my home waters. I got fairly comfortable with it on flat water before I pushed it to its limit, a mere 50 mph on the GPS, but it would start to bounce. I later added some wedges under the transom which stopped the bouncing and slowed the boat a couple of miles per hour.
We made all of the Heartland events in 2010 and thoroughly enjoyed them. Pub Decision is so much fun to drive in calm waters. I personally don’t mind a bit of chop but it gets quite wet!
I’m not sure who named “Pub Decision” but it suits me as I grew up in English Pubs.

Free Spirit

1996 Hacker Craft Double Cockpit 26′ “Free Spirit” owned by Forrest & Kally Bryant

Free Spirit was first delivered to Mr. and Mrs. Williams at Lake George, NY on 2/26/1997. Kally and I purchased the boat from Mrs. Williams (92 years old) on 8/10/2006.
Free Spirit’s original name was “Gums” as Mr. Williams was a Periodontist. Her hull material is triple plank mahogany. In 2011 we discovered that Free Spirit was one of those Hackers built with ash frames, keels and chines. They were retaining moisture and there was some wood rot. A new bottom was built and installed by the Hacker Factory featuring a triple plank west system. She got new varnish inside and out, all chrome was polished and a new interior was installed. She also got a new mahogany banjo steering wheel and a second bilge pump was added. The restoration was completed in 2012. We also purchased a 2012 all aluminum Loadmaster tandem trailer.
She is a great, smooth riding boat that has an excellent sound out the dual exhaust. She can easily carry eight passengers.
We named her “Free Spirit” because that’s the feeling you get when you’re up to cruise speed with the wind in your face and hair blowing – you are a Free Spirit with no worries in the world. You’re as free as a bird. Just you, nature, and the cool blue waters of the lake with a white foamy wake spreading out in back of the transom.
Life is Truly Good!

1998 Allen Craft

Al Stoller, Master Shipright, designed and built his own Classic Wooden Boat in 1998. This “Allen Craft” is 22′ feet long and powered with a 4.3 OMC. Home port is Sun Rise Beach, MO