My Precious JS-47
Owner: Geri Prusko
Riding Mechanic: Bill John
Crew Chief: Donnie McLean
E-Mail: gprusko@bookwormcorp.com
Year
Built: Born on February 10, 2005
Hull Design: Bender / Nowack
Power: Chevy 350
Resided In: Gilmanton, NH
For additional pictures click here!
How I Became a Skiff-Head!
By Gerri Prusko
Would you believe that it all started with a boat ride in Bill John’s beloved Obsession? Yes, that’s how my love affair with vintage race boats first began.
Back on Columbus Day weekend, 2003, Bill invited me for a sunset cruise on Lake Winnipesaukee. That was quite a treat. The only problem I had, besides hanging on for dear life, was that I couldn’t hear a word Bill said. Those wonderful Obsession side pipes! Occasionally, Bill slowed down enough for me to ask a question about the boat or the lake.
That fall and winter, all Bill could talk about was the APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit. He especially mentioned the 100th Anniversary of the Detroit Gold Cup and the unique Antique and Classic Boat Museum at Clayton, NY. When I accompanied Bill to the Clayton event, I got my first ride on an APBA vintage race course.
One of our local Lake Winnipesaukee skiff heads, Len Finithy, needed a rider for his event on Sunday morning. I had never been on a race course before and had some trepidation about taking off. Bill encouraged me to take the ride and even offered me his safety helmet and racing jacket. While the jacket was a bit too large (it does have zipper extenders), the helmet fit fine. That was a sign to me that I was good to go.
Len and I got on the race course on a beautiful sunny day. After the first turn, I was hooked!! Len is a very conscientious driver and was well aware of the other boats on the course. Even so, we hit some fast speeds and made some waves. What fun! All you have to do is see the smile on my face to recognize that I was having a great time.
After that ride, I was convinced that I wanted to drive my own boat. At the next event, in Buffalo, NY, Judy Fisk and I walked around and looked at all the vintage boats. Bill and Judy Fisk own the Grand Prix hydroplane, The Irishman. During that walk, I began to conceive of the idea of owning my own vintage race boat. Judy asked me a lot of questions about the type of boat I wanted. That conversation really helped me form the image of driving a boat on the APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit.
During the fall of 2004, Bill John and I continued the conversation that I had started with Judy Fisk. We considered a hydroplane, but hydroplanes are usually single seaters, and I really wanted to share the fun and give boat rides.
While having a vintage wooden boat was very attractive to me, it did seem like an awful lot of work for a boat I just wanted to have fun with. Besides, I kept coming back to the ride I had in Clayton in a Jersey Speed Skiff. When Bill told me that he knew someone, Dave Yeager, who was building skiffs, I got the bug.
Arrangements were made and on February 10, 2005, my Jersey Speed Skiff, My Precious was born. The name was chosen from the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy The Lord of the Rings. My Precious is the name that several of the characters give to the magic ring. Anyone who possessed the ring became obsessed with it, cannot think of anything else, and find it difficult to part with it. I think this boat may be like that for me.
My next step will be to get experience and "seat time" driving the boat. So, I am looking forward to Spring and ice out. I may well be the first driver on the lake this year, so that I can be prepared for the APBA Vintage Race Boat Circuit. Look for me there!