Cruiser
From ClassicBoatWiki
A cruiser, short for cabin cruiser, is a boat that has some sort of enclosed, or semi-enclosed cabin structure. Chris-Craft and other manufacturers have designed and built many variations of cabin cruisers over the years, including, enclosed, semi-enclosed, express, enclosed bridge, aft cabin designs. All of these cruiser variations define internal spaces differently.
A semi-enclosed cruiser, for example, may have a fixed windscreen and side windows, with a hard top roof structure overhead. The cabin may be open to the aft deck with only the helm station under the roof at the cockpit sole level. Other cruisers have large fully enclosed cabins, that extend to the transom of the boat.
Most cabin cruisers have at least some creature comforts below decks—that is to say a couple of steps down below the cockpit sole. These amenities range from a simple portable head, or a V-berth, to well-equipped living environments suitable for long-term cruising. Larger cabin cruisers may have a full galley, (kitchen), multiple staterooms (sleeping quarters), complete entertainment spaces, and fully equipped heads (bathrooms).
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[edit] Chris-Craft Cruisers
[edit] History
Chris-Craft began building Cruisers very early in their long history. Although the term “Cruiser” was not associated with any of their production boats until 1931, some early models fall into the definition of the term “Cabin Cruiser” and some custom cruisers may have been built as well. Thus, it’s appropriate to review the History as it relates to Cruisers.
Depending largely on one’s definition of the term “Cruiser”, we could consider that Chris-Craft started building them from the beginning of their first production boat in 1922. It all began with the introduction of the 26-foot Runabout. This first production boat was offered in a “Sedan” model which some may think of as a Cruiser. Yacht Tenders were also produced in this series which was offered from 1922 through 1930.
Although cruisers as such were not considered a Company production boat in those early years, some cruisers ranging 28- to 55-foot were believed to have been custom designed and built for a small number of clients. The Company grew rapidly from the old boat house in Algonac to a new 7,500 sq. ft. facility just outside the village in 1922 to almost 150,000 sq. ft. of floor space under roof by 1927. Among these structures was a large Cruiser Division facility which included a Cruiser Woodworking Plant, Assembly Plant, Power Plant, Launching Dock Facility and a new channel to the St. Clair River for water testing.
In 1928 Chris-Craft began production of the 30-foot “Custom Commuter”. In 1929 the 38-foot model was introduced and a year later a 34-foot model was available. Again, these might be considered as “Cruisers” by some. They were equipped with a head (toilet), lockers and comfortable interiors.
Now in 1930, the Company skipped to the opposite extreme by producing the 48 foot “Motor Yacht”. Five of these hulls were built in 1930 and 1931. To use the term “Cruiser” to describe these may be insulting to some, but I think that most would agree that they are indeed cruisers.
In 1931 there could be no question about the term “Cruiser” when Chris-Craft began production of 31- and 36-foot models, very literally their designations were “Cruiser”. Chris-Craft produced Cruisers from the 23-foot Express Cruiser (1941-1942) to the 55-foot Motor Yacht (1939-1941) in the Pre-War years and from the 16-foot Cavalier Semi-Enclosed Sports Cruiser (1957-1959) to the 74-foot Roamer Motor Yacht (1977) using mahogany, plywood (including lapstrake), steel, aluminum and fiberglass. These were produced by almost all of the Divisions operated by Chris-Craft over their history.
These divisions of operation that produced Cruisers included the Main Division (1922-1942, 1946-1977), Kit Boat (1950-1958), Sea Skiff (1954–1970), Cavalier (1955–1969), Roamer (1955-1977), Corsair (1963-1977), Commander (1964-1977) and Catalina (1970-1974). The Sailboat (1963-1976) Division was the only exception. Kit Boats included some small cruiser designs. The 31-foot Express Cruiser Kit Boat is believed to have been offered with a double planked mahogany hull and plywood topsides. It should be noted that Chris-Craft did not cease operations between 1943 and 1945 and that several of their Cruiser models were built for military use. Chris-Craft built and helped maintain Cruisers world wide during the war effort.
[edit] Names
Cruisers in the Pre-War years were generally given names to describe their features or function. Some examples are “Double Cabin Enclosed Bridge”, “Double Stateroom Cruiser”, “Express Cruiser”, “Single Cabin Cruiser”, “Double Cabin Fly Bridge”, etc. There were a few exceptions such as “Deluxe Sedan”, “Custom Express”, “Family Streamline Cruiser” and especially the “Clipper” and “Challenger”, names which gave no hints to their features or function.
This trend continued following the War years when commercial production of cruisers was resumed in 1946. In 1948 the Challenger was re-introduced. In years that followed, more glamorous names were being given to the cruisers such as Commander, Catalina, Buccaneer, Conqueror, Corvette, Corsair, Commodore, Constellation and Futura which were more appealing to potential buyers than the earlier form/function names. By 1959 the only form/function name left in the Chris-Craft Main Division line of Cruisers was the 25’ Semi-Enclosed Cruiser.
[edit] Quantities
Chris-Craft built more than 67,700 Cruisers in almost 470 distinct models between 1922 and 1977. About 30,500 of these were built with double planked mahogany bottom construction. Another 26,400 or so had plywood bottoms, many of these were lapstrake construction. Around 8,800 fiberglass hulls, 1,485 steel hulls and 530 aluminum hulls were produced by Chris-Craft and their Divisions. The Main Division built mahogany hulls exclusively through 1972 then changed to fiberglass for the 1973 and later models. The Catalina, Corsair and Commander Division Cruisers were exclusively fiberglass boats. Kit Boat, Cavalier and Sea Skiff Division Cruisers were primarily plywood with the exception of the Cavalier 30-foot (1966-1969), 36-foot (1966-1968) Crusaders and at least some of the Kit Boat 31-foot Express (1952-1954) which had mahogany bottom construction. The Roamer Division built all of the steel and aluminum Cruisers for Chris-Craft.
Thousands of these Antique and Classic Cruisers are still in existence today. However, many of them are being scrapped out, plowed under or burned each year. Thus, some of their rich and colorful history is being lost. Saving one of these can be costly and time consuming but can also be very rewarding. It’s a great hobby that can help preserve an important part of our boating history, to assure that it may survive for future generations to understand and enjoy.
The Chris-Craft Archival Collection at The Mariner’s Museum in Newport News, VA is a very complete collection of documents, drawings, photos and hull cards that clearly defines the history of the Company from 1922 through 1977. Research packets are available (for a small fee) for any Chris-Craft boat built prior to 1978 (with very few exceptions) based on the boat’s original hull number. Kit Boats did not include hull numbers.
[edit] References
- Chris Craft, The Essential Guide, by Jerry Conrad; Mariners' Museum
- Type: Book; English
- Publisher: Newport News, VA : Mariners' Museum, ©2002.
- OCLC: 49780180
- Chris-Craft Boats, by Anthony S Mollica; Jack Savage
- Type: Book : Biography; English
- Publisher: St. Paul, MN : MBI Pub. Co., ©2001.
- ISBN: 0760309205 9780760309209
- OCLC: 48086949
- The Legend of Chris-Craft, by Jeffrey L Rodengen
- Type: Book; English
- Publisher: Fort Lauderdale, FL : Write Stuff Syndicate, ©1998.
- Edition: 3rd ed | 3 Editions
- ISBN: 0945903200 9780945903208
- OCLC: 40002035
- Chris-Craft Corporation History
