15m 8sLength

I went down to the Tahoe Keys Marina for the 5th annual South Lake Tahoe classic wooden boat show, and I got to see a bunch of great antique boats and classic boat reproductions; and got to talk to the passionate people who restore and care for these amazing boats. I got to talk to John Walti, the vice-commodore of the vintage division of the California Speedboat Association, who showed me the FT Barron perpetual trophy with every race winner since the club was founded in 1934. I also got to talk to the owners of the 1924 gold-cup racer the "Baby Skipalong", which was widely considered to be the fastest boat on Lake Tahoe in the late 1920s. I got to talk to the owner of a reproduction 1938 Ventnor Gold-cup boat that was originally designed to carry a 500Lbs bomb in it's bow; as well as the builder of of a reproduction B-Racing Runabout from the early 1950s. By far the most famous boat I saw there was George Whittell Jr's famous 60ft wooden Yacht "The Thunderbird". Launched in 1940, by a man so rich he owned pretty much the entire east shore of Lake Tahoe, the Thunderbird represents the absolute hight of art deco wooden boat design.