The World's Biggest Skiff

This article has been reproduced with the permission of David Speer.  Photos provided by Dick Sass. 

A Jersey Speed Skiff might be aptly described as "an East Coast fishing boat that became a race boat."  And, yes, they are loads of fun to watch on any given Sunday.  But another chapter in the story is the tale of Stubby VI, a virtually unknown Unlimited hydroplane/Speed Skiff.  She was, all 28' x 8' of her, distinctly a New Jersey product.

A veteran of outboard and skiff competition, drawn relentlessly to the racing exploits of Guy Lombardo, Ed Davis of Red Bank, NJ asked a local builder to construct a new Gold Cupper in the winter of 1947-48.  They scaled up Davis' successful Stubby V (which took class honors at the popular once-around Manhattan 1947 Harwood Trophy race).

"Heck we were running a small skiff with a small motor, so a bigger Allison should run in a big skiff," reasoned his son Jim.  "My dad wanted to give them a run."

Joe Clayton laid the keel and built the G-68 right side up.  Not needing lots of freeboard, the sheer was cut down; oak stringers ran bow to transom, oak ribs and the lapstreaks were copper riveted.  The 4,000-pound hull was painted the basic colors of Middletown Township High School with flashy yellow flames trimming the cowl.

Vimalert, a marine-engine conversion manufacturer, supplied the Allison Model F for $600, crate an all - a bargain.  The stock V-12 ran turned a Columbia Equipoise 3-blade propeller through a 12-degree shaft.  "Oh boy, the unbelievable torque of that thing," Jim recalls.  "In fact, I believe that was one of our major problems."

Stubby VI was launched just in time for the 1948 National Sweepstakes race in Red Bank, NJ.  The debut was hampered by a poor ride, a trait that would mar Stubby VI's abbreviated U-boat career.  "It had a sensation of power," Jim says.  "The lift was incredible with a prop-trying to get into a horizontal position.  On our first run we did 95 to 97 mph."  Cantankerous ride aside, a clogged fuel pump ended the trails for that year.

While preparing for the next season, Jim Davis "kicked it" while testing north of Red Bank.  "I really kicked it and got that unstable feeling."  More brave the confident, Jim nudged the throttle some more.  "And then -- blam!  Just like that -- blam!  All spray and water."  Stubby had nosed in and tripped hoosegow over apple cart.  The bow was gone.  Nobody was injured.

Stubby VI was rebuilt six months later with a new Allison installed backward to accommodate a water-cooled, crankcase oiled V-drive.  Tested just the day before the 1950 Sweepstakes, the shaft and prop gave way, damaging the hull again.  Jim Davis watched Lombardo's Tempo VI win the race.

Forgotten but forgiven Stubby VI never made it to another race.  There wasn't enough time, money or luck to complete the dream.  The engine was sold to Lombardo, the truck-trailer ended up hauling around another some other dreamboat from Long Island.  Boat builder Joe Clayton, who'd made his name crafting smaller clinker-built skiffs, reshaped Stubby VI into an odd cabin boat, half raceboat and half fishing hack.  But the name stayed, now remembered only by family and historians, who today look for the ghost of Stubby VI jouncing Red Bank's banner bound and 'round the Navesink River.