1929 Chris Craft 26 Foot Triple Cockpit with Upswept Decks

“On November 10, 1981 I bought a 1929, 26 foot Chris Craft from George Johnson in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire for $14,000. I wanted a good Chris Craft and heard about this boat from a Chris Craft dealer at Buckeye Lake. The boat was originally owned by Harold Hochschild whose property on Eagle Lake New York near Lake Placid in the Adirondack Mountains was called Eagles Nest and the boat was named Eagle. Eagle Lake is connected to Blue Mountain Lake and the boat was used to pull canoes back to the dock when storms threatened. After Harold Hochschild died his caretaker, Albert Blanchard, sold the boat to George Johnson. In 1992 I started restoring it. The original motor, a Chris Craft 120A V-8, had been replaced in 1956 by  Chrysler 361 cubic inch V-8. I took off the bottom, installed a new keel and transom and put the bottom back on with new canvas in between it and the inner bottom (all Chris Craft boats have two bottoms). There are about 12 or 13 of these boats still in existence.”

Rud DeArmon, “Memoirs of Rutherford McGregor DeArmon Jr.” November 2001

This boat was a show winner at multiple antique and classic boat events in the 1990s. Recently, I took it to the 2022 Portage Lake Antique and Classic Boat Show, where it won 1st place in the antique boat category. It’s still a winner!