You'll be excused if you thought the mahogany speedboat pictured here is a classic runabout from America's golden age of the 1920s. This is, in fact, a blank-slate modern design that takes inspiration from the speedboats of that bygone era but blends the coveted vintage look with modern technology.
This gorgeous watercraft, baptized Miss Moonshine as a nod to the Prohibition era when mahogany speedboats and racing were at the peak of their popularity, was designed by Kevin Fitzke of Minnesota-based Fitzke Boatworks.
Back in the twenties and thirties, the wooden runabout was a fixture in the boating industry. It was an affordable entry into the world of boating and gained huge popularity as a family boat. Though a few decades later, the rise of fiberglass models, which offered better performance and required less maintenance, led to their decline, mahogany runabouts have not faded completely.
The boating world has changed considerably in the meantime, but the sleek styling and natural beauty of mahogany runabouts prevailed. The new Miss Moonshine is the living proof. Kevin Fitzke, its designer, is a master craftsman who started out restoring vintage Riva boats. He learned the fundamentals of hull design, hydrodynamics, and specialized CAD design under the mentorship of renowned naval architect Michel Berryer and then decided to design his own masterpiece.
Miss Moonshine is a classic and timeless runabout through and through, but it is built with more modern techniques. It measures 23 feet in length and has a beam of 6 feet 1 inch and a running surface of 19.5 feet. Its sleek styling is influenced by the work of Americans John Hacker and George Crouch, who were considered the best naval engineers of the 1920s and 1930s.
Photo: Fitzke Boatworks
The speedboat features a handmade hull crafted from cold-molded laminated African mahogany, while the sides and decks are double planked cold-molded Honduran mahogany. The bottom of the boat is built with triple planked cold-molded African mahogany.
It offers seating for four people but is ideal for two adults. The cockpit is handcrafted, as well, and boats tuck and roll upholstery, a large wood-rimmed steering wheel, and a dashboard fitted with custom gauges inspired by mechanical watches. According to Fitzke, its overall design is inspired by pre-WWII Grand Prix cars.
In terms of power, the boat is equipped with a modified GM 350 cu-in V8 mounted amidships. It outputs 320 hp and sends it back through a single centrally-mounted propeller with a rubber mounted aft. It also has a bow thruster for easy docking, which is quite unusual for a boat of this size.
Fitzke Boatworks is now taking orders for the Miss Moonshine model, with delivery scheduled for the summer of 2024. The boat you see in the gallery is a 1:4 scale model of Miss Moonshine that has been used for testing and final prototyping.
Kevin Fitzke is currently hard at work producing the first full-scale version of the mahogany runabout. And as the maker himself puts it, "The result will be one very special craft… and singular experience. A moving piece of handmade artwork that will move like virtually nothing else on the water."
After spending a few years as a copy editor, Ancuta decided to put down the eraser and pick up the writer's pencil. Her favorites subjects are unusual car designs, travel trailers and everything related to the great outdoors. Full profile
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