1966 CC Corsair Sport V

by **Thommyboy** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 6:53 am

I finally did it. I jumped in and obtained a Chris-Craft. Now I'll get the respect and admiration at boat shows that has been sorely lacking all these years with my Thompson boats. :wink:

I obtained a 1966 Chris-Craft Corsair 17'-6" Sport V outboard fiberglass runabout! She's in pretty good shape - a bit dirty and she has torn upholstery. She has blue hull with white deck. A little blue bomb like Bill Basler's boat!

She is powered by a 1966 Evinrude 100 HP outboard.

When I get my film developed I'll post some photos (Yes, I still use film).

Andreas in Minneapolis

by **10blade** » Fri Jul 03, 2009 1:27 pm

Nice. Get the photos online and get ready for some fun times.

by **Thommyboy** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:02 pm

Here are a few images of the boat

Andreas

by **Mark Christensen** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 6:58 am

Nice boat Andreas. Keep us posted on the restoration...

by **Thommyboy** » Wed Jul 08, 2009 11:09 am

Ripped out the nasty carpet yesterday. Luckily it was not glued down. Nice textured fiberglass floor under the carpet. It is probably the original flooring. Lots of holes tho. Replaced windshield wiper arm/blade.

Can't get the motor to start. Need to see a man about that issue.

I'll eventually have to get the seats reupholstered. But for now they will have to do. Will buff the hull. Probably paint the bottom again, as it had been painted in the past.

Fiberglass boats are totally foreign to me, so everything is a learning curve!

I think the funniest part of all this is how she's registered. In the state of MN records she is a "CitrusCraft" not a "Chris-Craft". Sure didn't smell citrusy when I got it!

Andreas

by **Thommyboy** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 10:08 am

Brought the boat today to the motor repair guy. He will take a look.

Was there anything on the floor other than the fiberglass from the factory? Was there vinyl like Nautolex? or was it just the fiberglass? What was the enclosure made from that covered where the battery and fuel tank sat under the motor/splash well?

It would be nice to find some interior photos of this thing. Anyone else have one or something close?

Andreas

by **Thommyboy** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:05 pm

Received my hull card copy from the Mariners' Museum today. The blue bomb shipped from Cortland, NY on 27 June 1966 to Cleveland Yacht & Supply in Cleveland, Ohio. Fun to know this fact.

Andreas

by **Bill Basler** » Mon Jul 20, 2009 9:53 pm

Andreas....good to see your Bomb. A virtual dead ringer for my "Blue Bomb" although yours has a strange engine thing hanging on the back end.

Your boat would have had a white gelcoated floor from the factory. No Nautolex, or other type of vinyl flooring, just a lightly textured fiberglass.

As I mentioned to you via Email, I have been working feverishly on mine. Every time I think I have gone as deep as one can go, I find a problem that takes me deeper. Beware of the holes in the floor and make sure they are well sealed. This is a weakness for these boats. The cockpit liner is a one piece fiberglass pan that is bonded to the inside of the hull all around, 360-degrees. The floor creates a nice water tight pan, but Chris-Craft unfortunately filled the pan full of holes to mount the seats. If your floor is firm you may be OK. If your floor feels spongy you may have a challenge. I'll bet you're OK though, unless the boat was treated poorly.

This last week, I cut the floor out of our Blue Bomb. It was quite obviously rotten and I had to get to the bottom of the issues. Once I removed the floor, I found full foam flotation, that squished up water. The water went down in from the top for inches, and came up from the bottom for inches. Once I started cutting out the foam (a whole lot of work) I found a balsa cored bottom. The coring had a thin layer of glass and resin over the top surface. Prodding with a sharp knife revealed that this skin was delaminated from the core...with the core totally soaked with water.

In short, I spent a week removing the floor, the foam, the fiberglass inner skin, and the coring. I took a bathroom scale and weighed the bad stuff that I removed. 550 lbs of wet foam, plywood and balsa. In total I would guess this amount of material, if dry, you be less than 70 lbs.

I will post some photos soon of the progress. I am almost ready to start going the other way.

by **Thommyboy** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:18 am

Here she is on Lake Minnetonka, MN Friday 14 August. My version of the "blue bomb" floats!

by **Bill Basler** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 9:23 am

Oof! Andreas I am jealous. She looks good!

by **Thommyboy** » Sun Aug 16, 2009 6:52 pm

I was out on the lake again today. Got home and removed the seats and vinyl covered side panels. Filled the holes from previous seats and other stuff. Will paint the existing fiberglass floor pan. I think I am going to use meranti plywood, stained and varnished, for the side panels lieu of the vinyl covered plywood. Will try to match the existing vinyl as closely as possible.

Started buffing out the gel coat. She turns out nice!

Andreas

by **Thommyboy** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 6:54 am

Boat is pretty much completed. New seat upholstery. New wood grain covering on ceiling boards, seat bases, dashboard. Filled all the holes in the floor and painted. Buffed the hull. New steering cable. Painted a white boot stripe. Painted the motor. New propeller. New registration numbers. All I need to do is rewire her.

The 1966 Evinrude 100 HP sucks fuel like there is no tomorrow. The oil companies love this conspicuous consumption!

She handles very nicely.

Had tons of comments "What the heck is Chris-Craft by Thompson" at the Lake Minnetonka Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous last Saturday.

Andreas

by **Paul P** » Thu Sep 17, 2009 3:41 pm

Andreas,

A hundred horse outboard on that boat must be positively wicked! I learned to water ski behind a 35 Evinrude hooked to an alminum DuraCraft, and the "Blue Bomb" weighs more, but not that much more!

I have the identical nose light hardware on my 1966 20' glass Sea Skiff, and I noticed your Corsair has what I call a "raised nose rail" that I also see on a very few of the early 20' Corsair models. Later Corsair Sea V models didn't replicate that raised nose, and opted for the more flat profile I have on the Skiff. Just one more obscure detail in topside castings from Cortland, NY.

I saw your note about the "what's this about the Thompson/Chris Craft"? That's really part of the fun with these boats. I think the mahogany runabout scene is pretty well documented, on some models every surviving example is known and tracked, but with these "modern classics", I think we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as interest, collectability, and appreciation. Congratulations with yours, hope is gives you many years of good service and fun.

Regards,
Paul
Nashville, TN

by **thompsonboatboy** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:01 pm

Picture of the rig in the water, July 2010 at Clear Lake, Iowa:

1966 CC Corsair Sport V

1966 CC Corsair Sport V

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