The owner of the Hessel grocery store purchased the boat to deliver groceries to summer residents on the surrounding islands, naming her Calli Sue after his granddaughter. Wooden Nickols, a 22-foot Deluxe Utility was shipped from Algonac to Hessel, Michigan in June 1940. After almost 40 years of drydock, Leading Lady won 'Best in Class' in the prestigious 'Keels & Wheels' boat show in Texas in May 2023.ġ940 Chris Craft Delux Sportsman - 'Wooden Nickols' Like many restorations, this boat was found in a barn in Peoria, Illinois in November 1998 after a 4 year search and has been in restoration ever since. They were the precursor of the SUVs and pickup trucks that are so popular today. Without a rear seat, 'Utility' class boats with engines under wooden 'boxes' were used to deliver mail during the Great Lakes summer months and to haul supplies/groceries to island dwellers. Additionally the Sportsman model offered a live bait well under the front seat utilizing a water 'pickup' and 'discharge' tube to aerate the live bait. Other specifications: Length 24'0', Beam 92',Weight 4585 lbs, Fuel 60 gal, Speed 34 mph, Price $3090.

The Hercules motors were used by Chris Craft from the 1930s to about 1957 when the first V8 was offered. Information from the 1937 Chris Craft factory specifications sheet tell us that Leading Lady is a Model 716 Utility Boat sporting two 85hp Chris Craft 'K' engines made by Hercules Motors. Leading Lady might just have been delivered by the young Chris Smith in the Spring of 1937. The late Christopher Smith (grandson of the founder Christopher Smith) stated that as a young boy, his job was to water test the boats prior to shipping out by rail and to deliver boats by water to buyers in the local Detroit area. Leading Lady was a special order boat and was delivered by water from Algonac, Michigan to its new owner in Detroit, Michigan. Boats were usually delivered to dealers by rail and sold locally, but these large 'Utilities' were many times a special order item for the well-to-do families in America. At the time Chris Craft was the only builder that had a national dealer network. At this time, we are only aware of 3 surviving prewar twins. Leading Lady is boat number 2 of the remaining 11 and was the first one out the factory door on March 7, 1937.

Of these 12, one was delivered to London in the summer of 1938 and may have been destroyed during WWII. Only 12 were built with twin engines and they were all 24ft long. 1937 Chris Craft Sportsman - 'Leading Lady'Ĭhris Craft built 101 Prewar Sportsman Utility boats of 24ft and 25ft length from 1936-1941.

1936 chris craft runabout