Path Through Maritime History: Cruising Through the Ages

Explore the role of New York State During the 20th Century's Recreational Boating Boom

"Boating is a great North American pastime, and the evolution of recreational motor boats in the 20th century has transformed our waterscape. Boats connect people to the water and to the natural world, and power boats offer great freedom of movement and the thrill of speed."

-Antique Boat Museum, Clayton, NY

The "Path Through Maritime History: Cruising the Ages" exhibit was developed by New York Sea Grant with support from the H. Lee White Maritime Museum, Finger Lakes Boating Museum and Antique Boat Museum for the 2019 New York State Fair.

Aluminum Hulls

Aluminum has been used in the marine industry for nearly a century, and much like fiber reinforced plastic hulls, aluminum production in the post-WWII boating industry boomed. It has many advantages over wood and steel as it is lighter, and has good corrosion and fatigue resistance. Traditionally riveted, welded aluminum boats came to market in the late 1960s.

Today, there are nearly 100,000 aluminum motorboats in New York State, comprising of nearly 20% of all boats registered.

The Grumman (Marathon, NY) canoe was the most successful aluminum hulled canoe after World War II. The idea for its creation came in May, 1944 when Grumman's chief tool engineer William Hoffman took a canoe trip to the Adirondack Mountains with his 13-foot wooden canoe and struggled with its weight at portage routes.

Alcoa (Massena, NY) produced special aluminum for the canoe, which made use of Grumman's stretch presses to form the two identical halves of the hull from a single sheet of aluminum.

Between 1951 and 1976 Grumman was the leading canoe builder in the United States producing over 33,000 canoes annually in the mid-1970s.

Fiberglass Construction

Fiberglass boats, or fiber reinforced plastic, first came to market in large quantities in the 1950s, and have since occupied a majority of the market. The hull of a fiberglass boat is constructed in a single piece, or mold, requiring no fasteners or weld. This makes it particularly suited for a production line which reduces cost making it ideal for the average recreational boater. Strength is also a major advantage, as an equal weight of fiberglass is stronger than the same weight of steel.

Today, there are over 275,000 registered fiberglass boats in New York State, totaling more than 62% of all registered boats.

Transformative Boat Design: Fibrous glass strands have been used sparingly since ancient times, but the first actual fiberglass fabric for modern use was discovered by accident in 1932 by Dale Kleist, a young researcher.

Shortly thereafter, Corning Glass (Corning, NY) teamed up with Owens-Illinois in 1935 to form "Owens Corning" resulting in the first mass producible high-strength fabric glass patented "fiberglas". Today, fiberglass is used in everything from space suits to refrigerators, and of course, a lot of boats.

Outboard Motors

Prior to the recreational boating boom of the 20th century, recreational use of waterways was confined to rowing and sailing. The outboard boat motor revolutionized recreational boating as it made it possible for a boater to put an engine on their boat, remove it for service and transportation, and then reattach it. This versatility made boating more accessible and economical to the general public.

The First Fuel Powered Outboard Boat Motor: Made in New York In 1896, the American Motor Company of Long Island built 25 portable four stroke gasoline powered outboard motors. It had a horizontal cylinder, a vertical crankshaft and driveshaft, a tiller arm for steering and a gearbox below the waterline. While none are known to exist today, within ten years commercially viable outboard motors were beginning to be built.

Steel Boats

Steel has been used for nearly two centuries to build hulls for all types of boats with both advantages and disadvantages. Unlike wood and glass, which have most of their strength oriented along the lay of their grain or fibers, metal is equally strong in all directions. A steel boat can suffer a large dent whereas a fiberglass or wood boat would puncture. Despite the advantages, they're not well suited for smaller craft due to weight, maintenance costs, and difficult mass production which lessons their popularity and affordability among recreational boaters.

Today there are less than 2000 steel hulled motorboats registered in New York State, making them incredibly rare-whether antique or new-in the boating community.

Wooden Boat Building

Wood was the traditional boat building material used for hulls as it is buoyant, widely available, and easily worked. The hull of a wooden boat generally consists of planking fastened to frames and a keel. Keel and frames are traditionally made of hardwoods such as oak, while planking can be oak but is more often softwood such as pine, larch or cedar.

After World War II, wooden hulled boats were rapidly replaced by fiberglass or aluminum hulls which were cheaper because they were more easily mass-produced. Today, there are less than 6,000 registered wooden powerboats in New York State.

From Wood to Glass

The Thompson Boat Co. of New York (Cortland) was an off-shoot of Thompson Bros. Boat Mfg. Co. - once the largest manufacturer of wooden boats in the United States - who produced noteworthy lapstrake wooden skiffs, cruisers, and runabouts. In January, 1962 the Thompson Boat Co. of New York became a wholly owned subsidiary of Chris-Craft, who began producing their all-fiberglass line known as Corsair in Cortland, NY and used the Thompson name until 1969.

In Conclusion

The recreational boating boom occurred at a time when emerging technologies enabled the mass production of boats, thus increasing affordability for the growing post-WWII middle class in America. Several such technological advances have roots in New York - the first mass produced aluminum hulls, the first outboard motor manufactured, the invention of fiberglass - each contributing to the rise of recreational boating.

In 1950 there were fewer than 450,000 registered motorboats in the United States. By 1959, that many boats were being sold each year. New York was number one in America by the close of the 1950s, with 527,000 outboard boats in use.