I agree with Mike. Our chapter has been great from day one with me. A very friendly and inviting group. From what I saw on the thread with the Florida show sounded the same.
I do have to say if I would have read the letters to the editor in the latest issue of Rudder before I joined I may have not done it. I know these are open letters but they reinforce every stereotype of the ACBS.
First, regardless if a year / style boat would qualify or not for entry into a show to refer to these boats as “garbage” is sickening to hear from a fellow ACBS boater or any boater for that matter.
I know there is an issue with the cut off dates and how the acbs would come up with them. Like according to the old rules my old 1976 Donzi 18 wouldn’t qualify but it came out of the same mold as the earlier versions that do qualify. Then there is the 25 year rule. Is a boat from 1991 considered an antique or classic? And if not how many wood boats at these shows that were built in the last 25 years are? Should these boats be bumped for older glass boats? It’s not the Antique and Classic Wood Boat Society it’s the ACBS.
These so called members also came up with ideas like, allowing glass boats to register and if a wood boat came in late they would bump the “garbage” boat for it, not bother allowing them to join because they will turn it into a modern day glass club that no one will be interested in, when it comes to dock space modern owners will run off “traditional” owner who will get mad and not come back, charge a lot more money for entry to shows to keep some out, let them join the club but not the shows, etc, etc.
This is why some chapters are going to fail and I think the Chesapeake Bay chapter will survive. I know Chris’s goal when I first met him was putting out an olive branch to classic glass owners. The reason I even looked into it in the first place was seeing on Chris’s web page the FiberClassic Award the year before going to a 1973 Nova 24 at a show I would have never thought of entering before seeing it. I love wood boats as much as the next guy and probably a little more being I grew up with them but let’s face it they are a lot of time, skills and especially money not to mention the tools and space to do it in when it comes to wood boats. You can spend 10 grand buying 20 feet of kindling and then dump more then what my first house cost into one long before it’s ever ready for a show. And they are not getting cheaper being there is less and less of them. If they want the ACBS to be a snooty rich guys club, beside Ghost (lol) I can see where some would be put off with that kind of entry fee.
The ACBS needs to step up. They need to figure out what they are going to do about the cutoff date (25 sounds too low even for me). What about boats like my old Donzi that the same boat was built for decades out of the same molds before and after the cut off dates. Justify new wood boats and not glass. If they are going to embrace glass like they say they need to step up and own it with reasonable rules, fair treatment and leave it up to the chapters to regulate their shows so they are not “over run” if any chapter is overly blessed by running out of space because of to many entered boats for a show. If they have too many entries of any class let everyone enter at full price and have a pre-show run off for the show slots. No reason wood owners would get overrun with proper chapter management. Get the rules fair and straight and there is no reason for wood and glass owners should have any issues.
A winner is just a loser that got up and did it one more time.
1959 Biesemeyer - 4pt Hydro Drag - 2013 ACBS Winner - Best Race Boat
1972 John Allmand - Super Nova 19
1967 Nova Marine - SuperNova24 - ACBS Winner - 2012 Best Race Boat - 2016 Peoples Choice & Best Non Wood
1972 John Allmand - Super Nova 19 (#2)
1982 PolarKraft -Jonboat - Crab Killer
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