TAHOE 19 as built by Dr. James Lange in Minnesota powered by a 283 C.I. Chevy V-8. "It was great fun. Thank you for all your help along the way." While a dentist by profession, Dr. Lange has also built, repaired, and restored several other boats over the years as well as being a regular user of our various kits and supplies. You can be sure he thinks boats are a great hobby.
Custom builder's Tahoe 19 (above) selected for test in British boating magazine...
When it comes to classic mahogany runabout designs, our stock plans are simply the best and most up-to-date in terms of ease of construction, strength, design authenticity, overall appearance, and performance. These three photos above show what we mean. It’s our TAHOE 19 design (stretched to 20') as built by the Hornsby brothers of Williams Marine in England. Featured in a test article in the September 1997 issue of CLASSIC BOAT (a British publication), writer/tester Adrian Morgan (an experienced hand with Riva runabouts) had this to say about the boat:
"Hankinson clearly knows his stuff. The Tahoe rises onto the plane at barely a quarter throttle, and by the time the rev counter is nudging 3,600 rpm, she’s doing about 36 knots. The noise is muted, though we could make perfectly good conversation. The steering is gentle and neutral, the stern slipping around, the moderate V and deadrise holding the bow into the turns, the wake smoother than a 40-knot speedboat has any right to make."
Power in this boat was a 350CI Mercruiser V8 for a top speed of close to 50MPH depending on load.
Hornsby reports that at their booth in the recent Southampton Boat Show (one of the largest boat shows in the world), their TAHOE on display garnered countless comments of praise among (as one show visitor put it) "...a boring sea of Clorox bottles masquerading as boats". So if you’re the sort of person who might build a fine piece of furniture such as a grandfather’s clock, and who is more interested in craftsmanship than "slap-dash" woodworking, this (or any of our other models) makes an ideal do-it-yourself project. The result is a boat better than any classic you can buy, even if restored to "original" condition, and a stand-out in any fleet of boats.
[Built by Williams Marine, Chalgrove, Oxon, United Kingdom.]
Bill Fleming's TAHOE 23 is ready for planking in Alabama. Frame contours, transom, and stem are taken from FULL SIZE PATTERNS that elimimate the task of lofting hull lines.
TAHOE 23 by Bill Fleming after righting the finished hull. Although Bill had lots of helpers available for the "righting party", you can get by with a lot less since hull weight is not all that much at this stage.