TOPIC: Newbie and ?

Hi all -

I've used the site as a resouce for several years, and have now bitten the bullet to join.

My question is:
Does anyone know when/who built the first f/g cabin cruiser?
I have, among other projects, a (58?) Glaspar Club Mariner.
I see they were first offered in '57, so mine's definitely early.

Tnx, and more ?? to come.

Glad you came out to join us etc., welcome aboard. We'd love to see some pics of your projects some time.......

Plenty of Glaspar and "cruiser" folks here, I'm sure someone will help out with an answer to your question. In the meantime, did you get a chance to check out this great thread from a while back?
www.fiberglassics.com/glassic-forums/2-main-forum/40882-calling-all-day-cruisers.html#40882

Etc,
Welcome aboard, glad you joined. Mark is correct we love pics, look forward to seeing your projects. As far as the first glass cruiser, I can't help much but I think Thompsonboat (Andreas) can probably help here, he's an unsung hero here when it comes to glassic boat history.

Bob

Hey Bob, thanks for the kind words.

Winner Manufacturing Co. of West Trenton, NJ made 28 ft. patrol boats for the US Navy in 1946. They sure look cabin cruiserish to me! Of course, these were not available to the general public.

Winner had the 19 ft. Corsair cabin in 1957. One of these recently became the ward of someone here on this forum.

Wizard Boats, Inc. had their 15 ft. Resorter cabin and 17 ft. Sea Queen cabin in 1955. These models may have been available earlier (1955 is the earliest Wizard brochure in my collection).

There could have been earlier ones for other manufacturers.

Andreas

ETC,: WELCOME from Chattanooga.. I have a friend, in Nashville
with a 16 ft cuddy ... I have the 17 1/2 sedan version. Would like to know the color of your 58 Club marniner. ? Never seen one in person.

What other boats you got.

Tnx for the great welcome, guys!

And tnx, Andreas, for the historical info.
Rat's butt! I was hoping Glaspar was first!

Split - Mine's gray w/blue/black trim; a repaint, no doubt.

Other projects:
I also have a '60 Norris Craft 13' runabout, white/green.

The oddest is a The Meier Line (not Meyer) runabout, from Tucker, Ga.
Don't know year/model, 'cause I can't find a word about the boat or company anywhere.
Originally had a wooden foredeck, now shot, and was "converted" to a fishing boat w/a couple plywood seats by a previous owner.

I also have Bearcats, dockbusters, Johnsons from '27-'early '70s, Champions and a few others.

WAAAAY too many!

But I recently sold my '58 FeatherCraft Rocket II, so I guess that's headway of some sort, right?

regards,

Glad you finally joined. We do not bite and we do look forward to your in-puts and pics. WELCOME

Thanks -

I'll try to upload pix so everyone can see what I've gotten myself into.

And if I can find 'em, I believe I have some late '50s/early 60s Norris Craft brochures that might be of interest to others.

Terry

Arch Talbot from the Bellingham shipyards started experimenting with Fiberglass during the Korean war building non magnetic minesweepers for the Navy and in 1952 him and Art Nordtvedt and Arvin Olson founded Bell Boy Boats in Bellingham Wash. Rest is Fiberglass history . Art is still going strong and loves to talk about boats. And he does have the occasional autograph seeker