Timeless Classics – May/June 2023

CHRIS-CRAFT 42 TOURNAMENT: ONE FROM THE ORIGINATOR

If you’re reading this magazine, you had a mentor. Your father or mother, family member, friend of the family or some random individual who said, “Let’s go fishing.” Whoever that was instilled a lasting memory that compelled you to spend more time with the sea and embrace it as more than a hobby. It was my father who taught me responsibility by showing me how to run a boat and fish; we grew up on Chris-Crafts.

My father’s first boat, when he met my mother in 1954, was the Traveller, a 30-foot, wooden Chris-Craft sedan. As the family grew, the boat in the early 1960s was a 36-foot sedan. He had Chatfield’s Boat Yard in Freeport, New York, craft a flybridge on the then SandShell (named for my parents, Shelly and Sandy). Basically, Little League was an option for my friends, not me. Clearly my father’s message was weekends were for fishing, boating and family. Don’t know how parents these days juggle all that travel league stuff times 10.

His last Chris-Craft was a 1969 40-foot Corinthian, one of if not the last of the wood boats Chris-Craft built. The boat was built at the company’s Maryland yard and like the Chrisovitch, it had some heritage to the famous Rybovitch Boat Builders. It was the talk of the town when they pulled in from the Maryland yard on her maiden voyage.

It had a lap-strake plywood bottom and a soft, round chine at the transom. It was a wide boat, near 15 feet, and had a teak aft bulkhead comprised of multiple sections that opened the entire saloon to the cockpit. A pair of big-block gas engines produced top speeds of 30 miles per hour, pretty heady stuff for the day, according to antiqueboatamerica.com.

As fiberglass became a thing and the likes of Hatteras and Bertram jumped into the fray, Chris-Craft followed suit with the Tournament Series, which eventually morphed into the Commanders. The 42-footer, built in the mid-1970s, took on all challengers.

“Maybe the fastest 42-footer on the water. With its twin turbo 425-hp diesels the 42 Commander is the fastest production 42-foot we know of. That means extra speed to out run bad weather and to get you where the big ones are,” the Chris-Craft brochure said.

“The hull is also designed for optimum performance, with all-fiberglass stringers for more confidence in the toughest seas. And with a modified, deep-vee configuration — sharp entry forward, to slice through seas, flatter aft for stability, maneuverability and more economical cruising.”

That solid-glass, hull configuration didn’t go unnoticed by companies like Ocean and Post Yachts that had similar low dead-rise designs aft for all the same reasons.

The original Tournaments had V-berths forward, but that changed with the times to a centerline forward berth in the master. The guest stateroom sported an upper and lower bunk-style arrangement in a separate cabin. Early models had two heads; the Commander versions had a single, dual-entry head. The builder provided multiple storage areas in each stateroom.

The galley was positioned down, but Chris-Craft managed to keep the roominess of the saloon and accommodation levels intact by having a breakfast bar, so to speak, overlook the working galley. This also allowed ambient light to penetrate the spaces below. The galley was outfitted with a refrigerator and freezer, two-burner stove top and microwave; pretty current even by today’s standards.

The saloon joinery was quality teakwood and the area was designed to be a relatively wide-open space with a simple L-shape settee and barrel chair. A full, lower helm station was optional. There wasn’t a lot of built-in cabinetry and such in the days before cockpit entry to the engine spaces.

The machinery spaces were accessed by large panels in the saloon sole. While not quite as convenient as opening a cockpit door for entry, it’s a helluva lot easier to service the behemoths below without having to crawl over turbos and exhausts to get outboard of the big diesels.

The 42 and 45 in the Commander Series profiles are certainly distinctive Chris-Craft. The 45-footer is the bigger sister but keeps everything proportionately and aesthetically pleasing. Above the rub-rail, the house is relatively the same; her hull has a few more portlights. The 45 carries the obvious three additional feet of length, 5,000 more pounds, about the same fuel capacity, and both can accommodate the eight-cylinder engines the original 42 Tournament ran with 6-71s.

From my perspective, a longer boat will ride a wave train differently, and 3 feet certainly makes a big difference. That said, the 42 side-by-side with the 45 doesn’t give much up to her bigger sibling and she’s faster, mid-20s versus 18 to 20 knots, respectively.

Of course, these vessels were made for fishing and their popularity is global as they actively chase pelagics in various ports of call. Many of them find their way to the charter boat side of the equation. Standard cockpit amenities to that extent include everything one would expect on today’s rigs, such as in-sole fish boxes, livewell and sink.

A sizeable option list transformed the gentleman fisher/cruiser into a complete battlewagon, with items as a fiberglass hard-top and aluminum tuna tower, plumbed fish boxes, cockpit freezer, tackle center, cockpit control station and additional rod holders. Surprisingly, the 42 was offered with a transom door that was not available on the 45.

“From the command bridge the central console puts all the instrumentation and switches at your fingertips in an arrangement that lets you see everything logically and easily,” was how Chris-Craft described the flybridge.

The 422 Commander flybridge has a sizeable bench seat, twin pedestal seats for captain and mate, stainless steel grab rails and windscreen.

Chris-Craft as a company looks eerily different, and yet the same from the first pleasure/cruising boat Chris Smith built in 1874. The brand that now sports the name is building upscale pleasure boats that, except perhaps for its center console model, will very unlikely ever see fish guts on their decks.

I couldn’t see life without saltwater. For me it’s memories of my father and the way I view my surroundings. It’s a lifestyle that includes people who share the understanding of the oceans. And, in a special way, whether wood, aluminum or fiberglass, Chris-Craft boats. Thanks, Dad.

And P.S., “effe” the windfarms.