A runabout is any small motorboat holding between four and eight people, well suited to moving about on the water. Characteristically between 20' to 35' in length, runabouts are used for pleasure activities like boating, fishing, and water skiing, as a ship's tender for larger vessels, or in racing. Some common runabout types are bow rider, center console, cuddy boat and walkaround.
A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is powered by an engine.
Garfield Arthur "Gar" Wood was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and championship motorboat builder and racer who held the world water speed record on several occasions. He was the first man to travel over 100 miles per hour on water.
Chris-Craft Boats was an American manufacturer of boats that was founded by Christopher Columbus Smith (1861–1939). The company was sold by the Smith family in 1960 to NAFI Corporation, which changed its name to Chris-Craft Industries in 1962. The current successor is Chris-Craft Corporation, which produces motorboats under the Chris-Craft name.
A yacht tender is a vessel used for servicing and providing support and entertainment to a private or charter yacht. They include utilitarian craft, powered by oar or outboard motor, and high-speed luxury craft, supporting superyachts, powered by inboard engines, some using water-jets. Some superyachts have a support vessel that follows them with bulky items that are not conveniently stowed aboard the main yacht, such as a helicopter, automobile or larger watercraft.
Bill Tritt was an American yacht builder.
The Riva Aquarama is a luxury wooden runabout built by Italian yachtbuilder Riva. Production of it and its derivatives ran from 1962 until 1996. The hull was based on the Riva Tritone, an earlier model speedboat by Riva, which in turn was inspired by the American mahogany Chris-Craft runabouts. The boat's speed, beauty, and craftsmanship earned it praise as the Ferrari of the boat world. The company was founded by Pietro Riva in 1842, and run by Carlo Riva through its 1969 sale to the American Whittaker Corporation.
Fairey Marine Ltd, latterly known as FBM Marine, was a boat building company based on the River Hamble, Southampton, England. The company was created in the late 1940s by Sir Charles Richard Fairey and Fairey Aviation's managing director, Mr. Chichester-Smith. Both were avid sailing enthusiasts along with Chichester-Smith's good friend and former Olympic yachtsman, Charles Currey.
Clifford E. "Cliff" Padgett was an American motorboat builder who built racing boats. He broke the world water speed record in hydroplane boat racing in 1924.
Carver is a yacht builder located in Pulaski, Wisconsin in the United States and a "recognized leader in the luxury motoryacht market".
Charles Drown Mower of New York was a noted yacht designer and author, and was at one time design editor of the Rudder magazine and a contributing author to Motor Boating magazine.
William Starling Burgess was an American yacht designer, aviation pioneer, and naval architect. He was awarded the highest prize in aviation, the Collier Trophy in 1915, just two years after Orville Wright won it. In 1933 he partnered with Buckminster Fuller to design and build the radical Dymaxion Car. Between 1930 and 1937 he created three America's Cup winning J-Class yachts, Enterprise, Rainbow and Ranger.
Stephens Brothers Boat Builders and Designers company, an American boat designer, began in the back yard of brothers Theodore and Robert Stephens. Their boatbuilding firm in Stockton, California operated from 1902 to 1987. Over the years the company became famous for its elegantly designed pleasure craft, including sailboats, speedboats, cruisers and private yachts. Stephens Bros. also built many vessels for the U.S. military, especially during World War II. The company's first vessel was the sloop Dorothy, in 1902.
Gray Marine Motor Company was an important marine engine builder. It built engines ranging from one to six cylinders in both gas and later diesel layouts which were used in pleasure and work boats.
The Verville Aircraft Company was a Detroit, Michigan based manufacturer of small airplanes and flying boats, which became bankrupt during the Great Depression. Alfred V. Verville started the corporation after working for multiple aviation companies. An innovative corporation, it could not survive the difficult financial crisis of the early 1930s. The Verville Aircraft Company was located at 4815 Cabot Street, Detroit, Michigan, occupying the former Rickenbacker plant. Verville Aircraft was organized by Walter Briggs, Sr., president and chairman of Briggs Manufacturing Company. Barney Everett (Everitt) served as the president of the company. The treasurer was S. E. Poole.
Alfred Victor Verville was an aviation pioneer and aircraft designer who contributed to civilian and military aviation. During his forty-seven years in the aviation industry, he was responsible for the design and development of nearly twenty commercial and military airplanes. Verville is known for designing flying boats, military racing airplanes, and a series of commercial cabin airplanes. His planes were awarded with the Pulitzer Speed Classic Trophy in 1920 and 1924.
The General Aeroplane Company was Detroit's first commercial airplane builder. GAC built three types of aircraft during the First World War and operated a flying school. The aircraft were the Verville Flying Boat, the Gamma S biplane with floats (floatplane), and the Gamma L biplane with wheels. All had engine installations driving pusher propellers.
Ditchburn Boats is the popular name for a manufacturer of wooden pleasure craft launches and racing boats located in Gravenhurst, Ontario, on Lake Muskoka. At one time the company was the largest boat manufacturer in the lake region. Ditchburn operated from 1871 until approximately the 1930s building wooden rowboats and canoes early in its history, and later gasoline-powered launches. Ditchburn is particularly known for producing high-quality mahogany launches which have become highly prized by collectors in recent years.
Hacker-Craft is the name given to boats built by The Hacker Boat Co. It is an American company, founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1908 by John Ludwig Hacker and is the oldest constructor of wooden motor boats in the world. The company moved operations to New York State in the 1970s and continues to produce hand-built boats in Ticonderoga, near Lake George, with corporate offices, storage facilities and a marina lakeside in Silver Bay.
Clyde Boats was a small, privately owned, custom boat company located in Detroit, Michigan. For nearly fifty years it produced custom mahogany motorboats for clients in the Great Lakes area.
