GOAT: Chris Craft Corsair & Launch, classic and classy American runabouts and sports cruisers

Chris Craft boats is one of the oldest boatyards out there, they originally made their boats from wood and they were beautiful, there are enthusiasts and specialists that keep them as pristine as the day they left the factory. Today, I am going to tell you why a range of their newer boats, the Corsair with their closed bows and cuddy cabins and their bow rider or open bow twins are worthy of the GOAT badge.

First thing about them, just take a look, much like the Riva Aquarama, they are classic and timeless, a tasteful range of paints and gelcoats, the stainless trims and, of course teak, lots of it, even more with the Heritage option. This boat looks good wherever it is, can blend in amongst modern and classics.

I had always liked these boats, few problems, excellent construction well above the norm, that classic design, two experiences really cemented the GOAT award for me though;

Brace, brace, brace

No, not an aircraft, I was on a sea trial with my boss on a 36 corsair with twin Volvo diesel motors, a new boat going out to its owner the next day, the weather had been bad the entire week, all boats must be sea trialed before handover, so we picked our moment and went for a test, the waves were an honest metre and rolling, not breaking. It is fortunate that my boss has more sea miles and experience than most others, so he knows precisely what he is doing. We were going far faster than an owner would, we came off a wave and clearly were in the air, I braced, prepared my knees for the landing and......it just never happened, there was just a "woosh" as the hull touched back to the water and a very soft landing, a bit like flopping onto your bed, we then continued. Whether this was the person at the helm picking the perfect angle or the highly flared bow or a combination of the two, I will never know, I was immensely impressed though.

Get a move on

Anyone who knows me, would never accuse me of rushing, I don´t really do anything with any great alacrity, instead working at my own pace, I am most definitely the tortoise and not the hare, however, on this occasion I was under starters orders, get going, a 28 nautical mile run along the coast, fill up the fuel tank and don't spare the horses. The boat that I made the trip in was a Chris Craft Launch, one of, if not the smallest in the range at 20 feet, a Mercruiser 350MAG MPI with 300hp for propulsion.

I remember thinking a couple of things, the pale yellow hull colour against the teak accents was gorgeous and secondly, maybe the boat was a tad small to going fast for a continued period, oh how wrong I was, the hull with that power package was utterly beguiling. The sea was very clam, sun was out and I made the trip, including fueling up in an hour, never having to go above 3500 rpm. I had expected some mishaps along the way, such is the nature of things when you´re rushed, but no, that little boat got me. If that trip in that boat were a song it would Lou Reed "Perfect Day". I cannot think of any other powerboat of that size that blends looks, performance and style in such measure.

Recommission not reinvent

Of all the projects I have worked on involving these boats, no client has asked for anything other than putting in back to how it was originally, more like a bit of revitalization, oh sure, perhaps newer battery charger, LED lights and more modern stereo, but, no terrible paint jobs, no replacement of the teak deck with foam, no whacky upholstery combinations, its not boring, its classy and will always be so.

These are boats you move or graduate to, when you have matured, you no longer drink Red Bull, club soda is preferred, no more short skis, you use long ones, you are not ready for a slow boat but prefer to go discreetly, no more rough or wet riding hulls.

The last detail I will leave you with is this boat travels very well, it looks good anywhere from St Tropez to the Florida Keys, Honk Kong to Southampton. Some boats don't look right when you move them to a different geographical location, the Launch and Corsair series are the complete opposite.

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