The cult of the classic Boston Whalers - The Boston Globe
In 1958, in a garage in Braintree, an eccentric Harvard grad named Dick Fisher revolutionized nautical design when he began crafting a little boat that looked like a blue bathtub.
He called his creation a Boston Whaler, and the unusual shape of the hull was only half of the radical design. More important was what was inside of the hull, the result of a cutting-edge foam-and-fiberglass construction process that allowed Fisher to make an unbelievable claim. IT'S UNSNKABLE.
“They’re everywhere,” said Quentin Snediker, curator for watercraft at the Mystic Seaport Museum, which has one of Fisher’s original sawed-in-half boats in its collection. “They are the right combination of seaworthiness and fun, which continues to strike a chord.”
Today, the classic Whalers — built until roughly 1993, when the company was sold and then moved to Florida and pivoted to more traditionally hulled boats — remain prized for their nostalgia factor, but also their “affordability.”
Classic Whalers come in various sizes and models, including many that were steered standing up from a center console, a Whaler innovation. Today, they can usually be had for between $5,000 and $25,000. With many new center consoles retailing for well north of $100,000, those old Whalers remain the top recommendation for people looking to get into boating safely, without a lot of experience or deep pockets. In addition, the lightweight construction means they can be towed by the average car.
No comments:
Post a Comment