1947 Chris Craft 25ft Sportsman

Chris Craft made 208 25ft Sportsman’s from 1946 to 1950. This particular boat, hull number S-25-113, was manufactured and shipped from Chris Craft on December 5, 1947, to Tahoe Boat Company. The Chris Craft hull card shows the boat was shipped without an engine or propeller. From oral history provided by Tahoe old-timers, at Tahoe Boat Company, Tahoe’s famed Dick Clark installed the Scripps Model 302 V-12 engine. It is extremely rare for a Chris Craft to have a Scripps V-12 as its original power.

The first owner of this 1947 Chris Craft 25ft Sportsman was Rudolph Zimmerman of Tahoe’s west shore and Tahoe Yacht Club commodore (1951-1952). Rudolph and wife Ruth combined the beginning of their last name with the first two letters of their first names to give the boat the name ZIM-A-RU.

The boat’s second owner was Zimmerman’s friend, Howard Bloom. Howard named the boat HoBo, which was the combination of the first two letters of his name (Ho) with the first two letters of the name Bob (Bo), as in Bob Scherman, who was Howard’s brother-in-law. Beginning in the 50’s, Bloom kept the boat on Tahoe’s north shore and towed countless youthful and daring water skiers of Tahoe’s Lake Forest neighborhood, including the seller’s older brother, cousins, and friends. Memories of HoBo have spawned legends of regattas and water skiing, passing through succeeding generations. In 1976, the boat was sold and taken to Tahoe’s south shore for continued enjoyment.

In June of 2004, HoBo arrived back on Tahoe’s north shore at Sierra Boat Company for disposition. Purchased in October of that year by the current seller’s, David and Nancy West, the Sportsman remained warehoused until preservation / restoration began in the fall of 2005. Upon the completion of the restoration and rebuilding of the Scripps V-12 engine, HoBo was renamed West Winds, the name of David’s California childhood home built by his father.

West Winds re-entered the water in June 2009, just in time for the 2009 Lake Tahoe Concours d’Elegance.  Since then, West Winds has been exhibited numerous times at the Tahoe Concours as well as at the 2016 ACBS International show, when it was given a Gold Award.

Since 2009, West Winds has been enjoyed out of a berth at Sierra Boat Co. each season.

 https://www.chriscraft.com/our-story/timeline/

https://www.woodyboater.com/classic-boats/flagship/

• ID: WEST WINDS
• Year: 1947
• Builder: Chris Craft
• Model: Sportsman
• Length: 25ft
• Engine: Scripps V-12, 894 cu. in. or 14.75 liters
• Trailer: None
• Price: $225,000.00