Kerrie Ann
Vessel numberHV000458
Vessel Registration NumberBS6N
Builder
Sports Craft
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 4.27 m x 1.52 m (14 ft x 5 ft)
DescriptionKERRIE ANN was built by Sports Craft, from Ryde NSW. They built a range of small craft and supplied them on trailers with outboards. Images and information about a similar hull called SKYLARK indicate that SKYLARK's first engine was a second hand 27 kw (35 HP) Evinrude 'Lark', hence the name SKYLARK, but this was later replaced by a new Mercury, and Sportscraft were agnets for Mercury engines. KERRIE ANN has a Mercury which is still on the boat, along with its original trailer. Like SKYLARK it was probably used as a family skiboat around Sydney or other regional waterways.
The plywood single-chine hull was typical for this era, it gave builders a semi mass-production method of building craft from templated panels, and the bottom was likely to have been designed with conical development allowing a flat sheet to easily bend up around the stem. This created a simple, light and well built hull that could be marketed at an affordable price. Builders in the early 1960s were still able to compete with the newer fibreglass production hulls that were just beginning their eventual domination of the market. The painted wings over the stern sections are an interesting design feature that reflected the American automotive styles of the 50s and 60s. The hulls were built from coachwood and sappeli mahogany plywood, with oregon framing and silver ash trim.
Keith Lambert was an apprentice then tradesman at Sportscarft from 1955 to 1961, and in May 2012 Afloat magazine offered the following comments.
" during these years we built many craft such as these. Each took 3-6 weeks or so to build, and 4-5 were under construction at any one time.... The boats were built in the workshop in the rear of the showroom."
The engine is a Kiekhafer Corporation Mercury four cylinder 40 kW (50 hp) petrol outboard, an early imported example of a maker that now commands a huge portion of the outboard market. The hardwood framed trailer with leaf springs and standard car wheels is a classic example of the early boat trailers, before light weight aluminum framed models were introduced.
KERRIE ANN represents a stage in recreational boating where local builders had to allow for influences from outside of Australia that were changing and expanding the market for recreational boating, and the builder Sports Craft was one of the small businesses that were largely gone by the 1980s and 1990s when fibreglass manufacturers took control of the market.
SignificanceKERRIE ANN is a plywood, single chine runabout from the late 1950s. It is an example of the styling and construction of this period when production fibreglass craft were introduced to the booming market for recreational power boating. KERRIE ANN is in original condition, complete with an early imported Mercury outboard engine and hardwood trailer.
N and W Shevill
