Fiberglass on Wood

From ClassicBoatWiki

As Chris-Craft inched towards the inevitable transition from wooden boat builder to fiberglass boat builder, there were numerous occasions when the company got their feet wet in this new material. In the mid 50s Chris-Craft utilized fiberglass in the production of the Cobra's fin and hatch assemblies. In 1957 Chris-Craft purchased the Lake ’N Sea Boat Company. By most accounts this acquisition was somewhat of a failure, though the company learned some valuable production lessons along the way. By the late 50s the company was manufacturing cruiser tops in the new composite material. By the 1960s full cabin assemblies were being molded out of fiberglass.

During the early 50s, there were a couple of examples where Chris-Craft utilized fiberglass over wood, as. arguably, a transitional construction method. Such an application was the hull bottoms on Cavalier Division boats. These plywood hull bottoms could be optioned with an outer lamination of fiberglass, for extra protection. Another such example of fiberglass over wood construction was the 1958 Silver Arrow.