Irwin takes 91-year-old wooden boat out for a spin

LACONIA — When Bill Irwin was a boy, his mother would go out on The Weirs boardwalk with a bull horn and invite people to take a thrill ride on the Miss Winnipesaukee speedboat for $1.

“I was usually in the ticket office on a stool so she knew where I was and wouldn’t get in trouble,” said Irwin, vice president of sales and marketing for Irwin Marine. “I do remember being able to hop on and take a ride if there was an extra seat.”

The rides were a way of acquainting the public with the lake and getting people interested in boating. They began with Irwin’s grandfather, Jim, who started the business 101 years ago. The rides finally ended in the 1970s.

Over the years, all but one of these boats have gone away. A 1929, 26-foot Chris-Craft runabout is all that remains.

Once a year, Irwin puts the wooden boat on the water for a couple weeks.

The throttle and horn are on the steering wheel. Its windshield opens up.

The Miss Winni, as it is affectionately known, slices through the water smartly with its 327-cubic-inch V8 engine.

There are three rows of seating, two toward the front and one in the rear behind the engine compartment. The inside is immaculate, including Philippine mahogany woodwork with multiple coats of varnish and seats that are in pristine condition.

It has a smoother ride than some new boats.

“It’s a special boat,” Irwin said. “Wood boats basically have a lot more weight and you really don’t take the pounding that you would with a fiberglass boat. It cuts through the water.”

The boat is different in other ways.

“You have to adjust for the wind,” he said. “You have to go real slow when you come into the dock. It goes toward the left. A lot of people can’t drive these.”

But Irwin enjoys the craft immensely and it transports him back to a simpler time.

“It’s a stress downer, it puts everything at ease just being here,” he said.

He still runs into people who drove the speedboats for Irwin Marine tours years ago.

“It was a great job for college kids to come home and to be a driver for the summer,” he said. “It was one of the best jobs you could have. And they remember it vividly.”

He looks forward to putting the boat back in the water every August.

“It’s a great experience, just getting it in the water and enjoying the lake.”

Nostalgia is part of the experience at Irwin Marine, which was started by Jim Irwin after he served in the U.S. Navy during World War I.

He came to The Weirs in 1914 with a suitcase and a trumpet, which he played to earn a living before branching out and beginning his boat sales business and becoming a dealer for Chris-Craft boats.