Restored wooden Hacker-Craft to replace Breathless soon
For several months, Breathless had been sitting on a lift at the Yacht Club Resort marina. It was something of a sad sight to see this beautiful classic wooden runabout which used to fly around Crescent Lake literally sleeping its days away. Now she’s gone, but soon a sister ship will come to Walt Disney World, and turn heads much in the same fashion Breathless used to.
According to the Hacker Boat Company, a 1991 26 foot Hacker-Craft wooden powerboat should be arriving sometime soon, if it’s not there already. The company’s history stretches back to the early part of the 20th century, when its founder John Hacker made his name by designing some of the fastest boats around. According to the company’s website, he designed a boat called the “Kitty Hawk” in 1911 which was “the first successful step hydroplane which reached a then-unknown speed of 50 miles per hour.” It sounds to me like it was a great thrill ride.
The company flourished in the 1920’s, building fast and beautiful runabouts for the rich and famous. The current vessels are in the same classic mold, just like Breathless. Rather than building a boat from scratch, Disney has decided to purchase a slightly older vessel and restore her to what has been described to me as “excellent condition”. Before you consider this a cost cutting measure, keep in mind that restoration is as much a part of the legacy of wooden runabouts as building a new one.