In celebration of the show’s 46th year, the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation, in conjunction with Tahoe Luxury Properties, is excited to announce the return of one of the most popular Marque Classes, Original Tahoe Boats.
America’s premier wooden boat show will be held at the historic Obexer’s Boat Company in Homewood, California August 10th and 11th, 2018.
On behalf of the Tahoe Yacht Club Foundation, we are proud to once again honor the boats that were originally delivered to or commissioned new on Lake Tahoe.
Although there was never an indigenous boat building industry on Tahoe, it has been a center of recreational boating since the late-19th century and we are fortunate that many of the boats that were delivered new to Tahoe have survived in such caring hands. In many cases, the boats have remained in the same families for generations. Others have changed hands over the years but have been kept at Lake Tahoe.
The first runabouts on Tahoe were from west coast yards such as Kneass and Stephens. As Lake Tahoe became a favorite summer playground for families from the Bay Area and Sacramento, sizeable fleets amassed from the larger Michigan builders like Chris-Craft, Gar Wood, and Century. The existence of this group of survivors ensured Tahoe as a place in the renaissance of the wooden boat hobby beginning in the early 1970s.
2018 is the 90th Anniversary of Obexer’s Boat Company becoming the first Gar Wood agent in the western US, along with other prominent Chris-Craft dealerships serving Lake Tahoe such as N.R. Mayfield (later becoming Tahoe Boat Company) and John G. Rapp & Co. of San Francisco. On the North Shore, Sierra Boat Company became an agent for Century boats in the 1950s, eventually becoming Century’s highest selling dealer.
Each year, a Marque Class is selected by a panel of nationally recognized classic boat experts and judges to exhibit at the Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance. Each individual Marque Class is designed to bring a unique element and theme to the show and ensures boating enthusiasts a new educational and viewing experience year after year.
When we last featured Original Tahoe Boats as our Marque Class in 2004, it was our largest Marque Class in the Concours‘ history. It is sure to be a terrific and nostalgic event at Obexer’s this year!
