Construction and Materials
The use of aluminium in small boat construction came soon after World War II because of availability of aircraft materials as war surplus. Fiberglass was then introduced as another way to reduce the maintenance, cost and weight of watercraft. Given the cost benefits and personal enjoyment of boat building, do-it-yourself ′Kit Boats′ were also introduced using plywood material. In 1955, Chris-Craft created The Plywood Boat Division which marketed both Kit and pre-built plywood craft.
By 1960, wooden powerboats had become rare since most new vessels used fiberglass or other lightweight materials. In addition, the art of boat-building in wood has been largely lost since it requires far greater individual skill. Nonetheless there remain a few notable exceptions, perhaps most famously the Hacker Boat Company, the oldest motor-boat builder in the world which continues to produce magnificent mahogany boats on the shores of Lake George, New York. Other wooden boat-builders include Graf, J-Craft and Boesch. Fiber reinforced plastic materials are now used extensively in construction of small runabout boats to reduce weight and maximize speed when racing powerboats.
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Read more about this topic: Runabout (boat)
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