A New Switzercraft Runabout

[laddies]

Just in case all of you forgot what the real runabouts were about, here is a link for a new Switzer that my buddy Robby and the Switzer brothers just built. http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=9o1rZqJYubE

[Islandmon]

It's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship for sure, my friend Rick Popa built and still owns that boat.......Hmmmmm ? I know he talked with a Switzer during the construction but Rick was the builder. That's Rick driving the boat in the vid.

[Jack Stotts]

It was good to see the poster with the arched chine runabout. I ran a D utility that looked a lot like that one in the Thousand Island Marathon in 1953. It was a great adventure for a young sixteen year old.

[laddies]

Islandmon, my apologies your right the email I received was from Robby but the message was signed Rick Poppa sorry about the misinformation.

[Islandmon]

No worries laddies , It's a fabulous piece of craftsmanship. Thanks for the post, it certainly raises the bar for the rest of us.......lol.


1953 ? Jack if you ever feel inspired to recall and record some of those early years, I'm sure I'm not the only one that would love to hear about that era.

Islandmon

[Tim Weber]

I've got a 1953 Bullet in my garage. Very cool boat, very heavy! I can see why they were popular marathon boats.

Tim

[Bill Huson]

1953 Bullet = heavy . . .

I've got a 1953 Bullet in my garage. Very cool boat, very heavy! I can see why they were popular marathon boats.

Tim

In the `50s I believe the boat had to meet a minimum weight, no driver included. The few I hefted back then were tanks compared to a modern runabout.

[sam]

Bill, you are right boats did have to meet a weight originally, but that isn't why they were so heavy.

I used to have a Switzer Bullet that was an extra light version ... probably 140-150 pounds @ 13 ft. I asked the Switzers about the differences between my boat and other Bullets and they said that many racers complained that they were originally too lightly built for long marathons so they increased the structure to make them stronger.

I think mine had 4 V shaped ribs forward and 3 parallel fore/aft ribs aft. Might have been just 3 V's forward, much less structure than others I've seen recently. My guess is that mine was older and the others are newer.

[Skoontz]

The very first photo in that video was my dad and mom on the pier. We were Switzer dealers from 1953 through '67 when we closed shop.