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116 PROFESSIONAL BOATBUILDER

The Early Years

It would be difficult to understandthe genesis of Sea Craft withoutunderstanding Carl Moesly’s own his-tory. Moesly grew up in the Fort Lauder-dale and Miami of the 1920s and’30s—very different places then fromwhat they are now. His family was ofmodest means; both Moesly’s motherand father were first-generation Swissimmigrants who eloped to the UnitedStates. Moesly’s childhood had muchin common with brothers Bud andSandy Ricks of the film Flipper; that is,a great deal of Moesly’s time wasspent on, around, or in the warmwaters of what was then a sparselypopulated South Florida. “My parents,”says Moesly, “believed in allowing me

The Amazing

Mister Moesly

This is the unfinished story of Carl Moesly, founder of Sea Craft, a small buthighly successful production powerboat company in the 1960s in South

Florida. I say “unfinished” because he’s alive and well in the western mountainsof North Carolina. As a boy, Moesly was fascinated by boats, boatbuilding, andgreat adventures. As a young man, his interest in flying led him into uniformedservice in the dangerous skies of World War II. In the postwar decades, he became,by turns, a commercial aviator, entrepreneur, boat designer/engineer/manufacturer, and three-time circumnavigator (once by air and twice under sail).

Clearly, Carl Moesly has lived under a favored star. How else to explain his surviving an alligator attack, rattlesnake bites, a ride in a B-17 bomber flownbelow the rim of the Grand Canyon at sunset, not to mention more than a thousand hours of combat flight time. He also hitchhiked through South Africaand Rhodesia during a civil war (past armed rebels and military checkpoints),simply because he wanted to see what explorer Dr. David Livingstone had seen in1856: Victoria Falls, one of the world’s natural wonders.

Finally, among his many other accomplishments, there is the estimable recordin offshore powerboat racing in craft of his own design and construction—consumer versions of which are still prized today by saltwater anglers who appreciate an unusually responsive and seakindly hullform.

The saga of Sea Craft—the company and the boat,one of the finest small powerboat hullforms ever

devised—cannot be separated from the trueadventures of the man who created both.

by Steve C. D’Antonio

ALL

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CARL

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2004 117

to learn about life by doing thingsand making mistakes.”

Since Moesly’s family home abuttedFort Lauderdale’s New River, boatbuilding and repair came naturally tohim, occupying much of his timewhen he wasn’t busy with school. Hisinterests and capabilities progressedfrom toy models and tin boats (he builta crude kayak made from hurricane-scrap tin roofing, a material in noshort supply in those parts at thattime), to rowboats, sailboats, and even-tually a 32' (9.7m) inboard. Moesly’sfirst seagoing project was a smallcenterboard sloop built in partner-ship with another boy when hewas just 13. Sixteen feet (4.9m) long,V-bottomed, and made from scroungedmaterials (cypress planking and galva-nized nails), her deck was sheathed infeed sacks set in wet house paint,while the mast was made from an 8" -dia (3.1cm) cypress tree felled at theedge of the Everglades. Sails werewhite duck purchased at the localSears & Roebuck, and sewn togetheron his mother’s sewing machine whileshe was out of town. (Moesly said hismom always wondered why themachine never sewed straight afterthat.)

This project occupied severalmonths and tested Moesly’s powers ofimprovisation. He even fitted the bot-tom with a small pane of windowglass, making it a glass-bottomedboat, a detail that, Moesly recollects,induced seasickness among his crew

while sailing the choppy waters offFort Lauderdale. The centerboardleaked constantly, requiring regularcaulking applications—thereby pro-viding additional practical lessons insmall-craft design and construction.

When Moesly was 16, he told hisfather he wanted to learn how tobuild a larger boat, one bigger thanhis 16-footer, which he had by nowtraded to a friend for an 8' (2.4m)skiff powered by a Sears outboard(referred to as a “Sears and RowBack” by Moesly and his mates).Moesly lamented that his dad seemeduninterested in his wanting to build abigger, more sophisticated boat.

But a few weeks later, atruck arrived at the Moeslyhome with a load of lum-ber. Moesly assumed thiswas for one of his father’sconstruction projects andgave it no further thought.When his father returnedhome from work thatevening, Moesly asked hisdad, “What’s the lumberfor?” His father responded,“Well, you said youwanted a bigger boat.”

Turning that lumberpile into a boat becameMoesly’s obsession for thenext two years: every dayafter school, eveningsuntil nine, and weekends.It wrecked his social life,he recalls with a grin, but

it was well worth it. The entire projectwas completed without benefit of asingle power tool. Each evening,Moesly’s dad would return home,inspect Moesly’s progress, and thenoffer a critique and plan for the nextday’s work.

Moesly’s father and older brother,who was already an accomplishedseaman, provided the basis for thedesign, with some input from Carl.The on-deck measurement of 32 '(9.7m) was determined by the lengthof the keel timber. Ribs were cypress,planking was juniper, fastenings weregalvanized, and the power plant wasa Buick straight-eight salvaged from awrecked automobile. A standardtransmission, complete with clutch,provided a reverse gear; the exhaustmanifold was a dry stack, which camein handy for heating coffee duringchilly evening fishing expeditions. At28 mph (45 kph), she was one of thefastest small boats in town. Moeslyremembers her as having pleasinglines, and, he says, “Nothing couldtouch her in a seaway.”

When Moesly was just 15, heundertook his first solo offshore pas-sage. In 1936, Moesly set off in a15' 6" (4.7m) Snipe one-design thatbelonged to his sweetheart and wife-to-be, Jeanne. Moesly sailed to theFlorida Keys, anchoring out betweenPumpkin Key and Key Largo, wherehe was feasted on by swarms of sandflies and mosquitoes. Not wishing toendure another night of that, he left theKeys astern and pointed the Snipe’sbow eastward, toward the Bahamas.

Boatbuilding has long been blessed with an abundance of interesting individuals(compared to other industries), but few biographies can top Carl Moesly’s. Not leastof his numerous achievements were world-record offshore racing performances(facing page) in outboard boats of his own design and manufacture, which he alsohelmed. Racing, Moesly came to realize, was the best advertisement for his line ofSea Craft boats, and helped refine their construction. One pioneering developmenthe introduced was a center console in an offshore-capable open boat (above).

Moesly built his first sophisticated powerboat, a 32'(9.7m) inboard, at the age of 16. Fitted with a barelymarinized Buick straight-eight, it was one of thefastest boats for its size in the Fort Lauderdale ofhis youth. Moesly’s father supplied the materials,and his father and older brother provided guidancewith the design. But the project was Carl Moesly’s,start to finish.



With nothing more than a pocketcompass, a few cans of peaches, acouple of peanut butter sandwiches,and $5.50, he and the Snipe struckout for their first foreign landfall.

After a difficult, squall-laden GulfStream passage, a local Bahamianaddressed him as “captain” and askedhis opinion on the impending hostili-ties in Europe. Although he’d justcompleted the first half of a man’svoyage, Moesly was still a mere boy.He had no notion of war and little ofinternational current events—untilthese residents, subjects of a BritishCrown under increasing pressure inEurope, solicited his thoughts on thetopic. Not knowing what to say andafraid of giving the wrong answer, hesaid nothing.

Career Number One:

Aviation

Moesly reached adulthood just intime to take part in that war. Helogged over a thousand hours of com-bat flight time, mostly in multienginecargo aircraft. Following the war,Moesly found employment in civilaviation, working for a charter airlineand air cargo transporter, and finallyfor a firm involved in the conversionof military aircraft to civilian use.

While operating the aircraft conver-sion facility, Moesly became acquaintedwith one of the company’s better cus-tomers, Arthur Vining Davis. Davishad contracted to have an executiveaircraft built to complement hisalready sizable fleet. Davis was one ofthe nation’s wealthiest individuals anda well-known philanthropist. (He’dformed, with Charles Martin Hall,what would later become the giantAlcoa Corporation.) Even though heemployed two pilots, Davis askedMoesly to fly him on the maiden flightof his new aircraft to a board meetingin Pittsburg, and specifically requestedMoesly on several subsequent flights,too. During one of these, he said toMoesly, “If you’re ever without a job,I may have a position for you.”

The relationship with Davis wouldturn out to be fateful. Unable to raisecapital with which to invest in thefast-growing but technically complexbusiness of servicing and convertingjet aircraft, the company Moeslyworked for divested itself of all avia-tion interests, opting for a moresecure but less capital-intensive lineof commerce: real estate.

So Moesly went to work for Davis,as supervisor of his aviation interests.The more Moesly came to knowDavis, the more his respect for theman grew. At the time of Moesly’semployment, Davis owned about 12%of the land in Dade County (whichincludes the greater Miami area),along with some 20 major industrialenterprises, and controlling interest intwo airlines. Davis’ stable of personalaircraft included two executive DC-3s(whose conversions Moesly super-vised), two AeroCommanders, anexecutive PBY amphibian, and twohelicopters.

On the day that Cuban dictatorBatista abdicated his rule to FidelCastro (in 1959), Davis sent Moeslyinto Cuba on a mission to rescue aclose friend of Davis’. Moesly landedat a remote airstrip near the man’sranch, and transported him and hisfamily and only the possessions theycould carry with them. Davis’ friendsaid to Moesly as soon as they’dcleared Cuban airspace, “Yesterday, Iwas a multimillionaire. Today I have$150 in my pocket.”

Production

Boat Building

Due to his failing health, Davis’doctors advised him not to fly any-more. This left Moesly potentially outof a job. Davis, though, had plans forMoesly. Davis asked him to attend ameeting in Miami in the penthousesuite of the DuPont Plaza Building,overlooking Biscayne Bay, in June1960, with Davis and Dennis Kendall,

the president of American Marc, acompany owned by Davis.

The ambitious plan set forth thatafternoon called for American Marc toproduce 6,000 recreational boats in 12months, utilizing a plant yet to beconstructed somewhere east of theMississippi. Davis asked Moesly,whom he knew had boatbuildingexperience in addition to aircraftmaintenance and conversion, if hewould take charge of setting up aboat plant in Miami. Moesly, with lit-tle to do in the way of aviation workfor Davis, readily agreed. WhatMoesly did not reveal was just howlittle knowledge he had of productionboatbuilding, particularly with therelatively new medium of fiberglass.But lack of experience did not deterMoesly. (It hadn’t deterred him as ayoung Army Air Corps lieutenant,either, when he sat behind the con-trols of a P-51 Mustang fighter for thefirst time. The difference now wasthat production fiberglass boat build-ing offered no flight manual to studybefore takeoff.)

American Marc, headquartered inCalifornia, had for years specializedin manufacturing diesel-powered irri-gation pumps and generators. Thecompany also made a 10-hp diesel(7.5-kW) outboard (a short-lived ven-ture), in addition to fiberglass boats,which were outsourced.

At the request of Davis andKendall, Moesly visited the homeoffice and production facilities inCalifornia. Moesly was unimpressedby what he saw: the operation

With the onset of World War II, Moesly’s interest shifted from boats to planes. Hewas an aviator throughout the war, piloting multiengine aircraft for the most part,and ultimately accruing a thousand hours of combat flight time. After the war heworked in commercial aviation, both as a private pilot and as an expert in therepair and conversion of military aircraft for civilian applications. So-called executive planes like this amphibian were one of his specialties.



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appeared to be grossly inefficient; theboat models being produced were anodd collection of designs bearing littlefamily resemblance; and quality con-trol was mediocre at best. Moesly’soverall assessment was that while thedesigns might be well-suited to smalllakes, they were certainly not up tothe task of satisfying Florida and otherEast Coast customers, especially salt-water anglers, who often used theirboats in less-than-ideal weather andsea conditions.

Nevertheless, American Marc’sCalifornia factory managementinsisted on sending existing modelsand molds to Florida, to establish aFort Lauderdale-based sales groupand dealership network. Moesly sur-veyed these boats as they wereunloaded from railroad cars in FortLauderdale, and quickly confirmed hisoriginal opinion: the boats werewholly unsuitable for Florida and EastCoast clientele.

The factory insisted on a test, thistime under way, and Moesly obliged.He decided that the test should berigorous and realistic. He entered oneof the American Marc models, pow-ered by a single 75-hp (56-kW)Johnson outboard, in the 1960 Miami-to-Nassau Offshore Race. After experi-encing just a few minutes of lightchop during a test run immediatelyprior to the race, the glass fell out ofthe windshield, the deck separatedfrom the hull, bulkheadtabbing failed, and thetransom developed somelong, ominous cracks.

Once again, Moeslyreported the inadequacy ofthe design, explaining thathe ran the boat no differ-ently than a fishermanmight on a rough day. Andonce again, the homeoffice was not pleased withhis report. What AmericanMarc did do, though, wasdrastically downsize theinitial projection of 6,000boats in the first year ofoperation. Adding to thesedifficulties, consider thatfiberglass boat buildingwas still in its infancy, andtherefore skilled labor tostaff the new factory wasvirtually impossible tofind. Each new employeehad to be trained in the

most basic techniques of single-skinconstruction.

Several additional business factorscoincided in 1961 to further dimAmerican Marc’s plans. A.V. Davis’health continued to decline, and theCalifornia operation, with its new96,000-sq-ft (8,919-m2) boat factory,now presented a financial drag on theorganization. Moreover, a reliable andmarketable diesel outboard remainedan unobtainable goal, and AmericanMarc’s pump division sales slumped.Davis’ management team advised sell-ing the company to an investor, who,in turn, opted to sell off the individualdivisions piecemeal.

Moesly was given an opportunity tobid on the assets and the Miamiinventory, including 80 completedboats along with those still in process.Being intimately familiar with theoperation, Moesly found his offeraccepted, enabling him to set a boat-building plan of his own in motion.By February 1961 Moesly was runningthe company under his name, primar-ily to establish a viable productionline. Given just 30 days to vacate theexisting factory, he moved to a muchsmaller facility in south Miami—andquickly sold off all product on handat fire-sale prices.

Sea Craft Is Born

Absent a stable of better designs,though, Moesly was left with no

Moesley’s postwar aviation career enabled him—byfits and turns, as discussed in the main text—toreturn to boats and boatbuilding in his native SouthFlorida. Fiberglass construction was then new to theregion; Moesly had to master the medium himselfbefore he could train a reliable workforce. Once upand running, the Sea Craft plant in Miami was sell-ing product at a brisk pace. Right—Moesly’s briefbut eloquent broadside describes the virtues andrationale of his patented hullform, a silhouetted section of which served as the Sea Craft logo.



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choice at first but to continue to buildthe 15 American Marc models. Heknew this was a losing proposition,but he had to buy time. Moesly even-tually took the molds to a vacant lotin Miami (there were still vacant lots inthose days) and set them ablaze.The fire was hot and fast, Moeslyremembers, giving him firsthandappreciation for how furiously thenew boatbuilding material burned.

Until he could decide what to buildin their place, Moesly laid off nearlyall his employees. Based on his expe-rience in the aviation industry, Moeslyknew that the best way to develop asuccessful product is to test it underadverse conditions. With this in mind,Moesly and Sea Craft—the name hegave his new business—got into off-shore powerboat racing.

To start with, Moesly campaigned abeefed-up American Marc catamaranin local races with support fromMercury Marine. As a result, a friend-ship formed with Mercury founderCarl Kiekhaefer. Kiekhaefer offeredSea Craft the use of Mercury’s Floridatesting facility at Lake X; Moesly, forhis part, allowed Mercury to use SeaCraft boats for racing and for demon-strating Mercury outboards and stern-drives.

With little money or desire to payprofessional drivers, Moesly opted topilot his own entries in offshore races,

and in doing so, began to make aname for himself as a hot driver.Racing a recreational catamaranagainst professional Mercury Marinedrivers, Moesly won a nine-hourendurance race in the outboard divi-sion, and finished second overallagainst inboards—the best an out-board had ever placed to date.

An Original Design

Moesly knew all too well that hehad to come up with an originaldesign with which to set Sea Craftapart from the competition. AmericanMarc’s models, for the reasonsdescribed above, simply weren’t up tothe requirements of racing or hardrecreational use.

The early Ray Hunt-designedBertram hulls, particularly the firstfiberglass Moppie with its deep-V bot-tom, were of great interest to Moesly.He looked this hull over carefully atits inaugural launching and liked whathe saw—with a few caveats. Moeslybelieved that, while the design hadmuch merit, excessive back-pressurewas exerted on the lifting strakes.Although the strakes reduced parasiticdrag, Moesly thought they were notideal for rough water, which is wherehe wanted Sea Crafts to venture, foroffshore racing and fishing. Lots oflift, he knew from experience, madefor a hard ride. Further, the highdeadrise of a deep-V limited its load-carrying ability and diminished the

Moesly’s early racing successesoccurred in a beefed-up powercat thathe “inherited” from American Marc, aboat company he’d bought so as totransform its assets into what wouldbecome Sea Craft. Mercury Marine’sCarl Kiekhaefer liked Moesly’s spunkand ingenuity; thereafter, Moesly’sboats wore Mercs, and he was givenaccess to Mercury’s fabled Lake X test bed.

With twin 120-hp (89-kW) MerCruiserI/Os, a Sea Craft 21-footer (6.4m)could do 43 mph (69 kmh). Shortlyafter its introduction, an outboard-powered 21 won its division in theMiami–Nassau, Around Nassau, andMiami–Bimini–Miami races two years ina row, and was overall winner in theVirgin Islands–Puerto Rico Race. The overnighter model featured a windshield, convertible top, 7' (2.1m)bunks, a head, an icebox, and a large cockpit.


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boat’s lateral stability. He also soughtmore speed from his hull for a givenhorsepower. These factors wereimportant to Moesly, since he wantedSea Crafts to be able to carry a heavierload than competitive boats of similardimensions.

Distilling all of these notions into asingle design demanded some timeand research, but they formed thebasis for Moesly’s innovative longitu-dinally stepped hull that featured highdeadrise along the centerline for com-fort and control at high speeds, lessdeadrise outboard for stability atlow speeds, and greater payloadcapacity overall. And, the design pro-vided good stability—better, he felt,than the constant deadrise of otherV-bottomed hulls.

In the spring of 1961, Sea Craft’sskeleton crew built a 23' (7m) ply-wood prototype, incorporating notonly the sequentially stepped hull butanother Moesly touch as well: reversesheer. The latter feature improved vis-ibility for the helmsman while the hullwas in a bow-high attitude. It alsogave the boat a certain aesthetic, andbecame a Sea Craft trademark untilcopied by other builders.

The prototype was built after hoursat the Sea Craft plant, with Moeslydoing the lofting while a carpentermade the frames. At Lake X, the fin-ished product turned many heads,where it outperformed all officialMercury entries destined to competein the upcoming Miami–to–NassauOffshore Powerboat Race. Fromconcept to prototype, Moesly & Co.had completed the 23' prototype injust five weeks.

The day before the race, Moesly’scodriver suggested taking their SeaCraft, now numbered “21,” to aMercury outboard dealership heowned to have the engines tuned fortop performance. The followingmorning, immediately prior to thestart of the race, during Moesly’scheck run, the “21” performed 5 mphslower than in previous tests. Moeslypressed on nevertheless, puzzled bythe lost power.

During the race, one of the out-boards suffered a carburetor malfunc-tion. Moesly’s codriver took 25 minutesto effect a repair at Cat Cay. Despitethis delay, No. 21 placed fifth overalland exactly 25 minutes behind a1,000-hp (746-kW) inboard competi-tor. Post-race, it was rumored that theMercury dealer Moesly used hadswitched powerheads during the tun-ing session, swapping an old set forMoesly’s new units.

The Sea Craft name, along withthat of owner and chief designer/engineer Carl Moesly, began to attractmedia attention. Sea Craft and Moeslywere upstarts, competing againstlarger and better-funded racing teams.Moesly attributes his early racing suc-cess to the knowledge he’d gainedduring his aviation career, and fromhaving spent so much time designing,building, and running small boats inhis youth.

Under Moesly’s direction, Sea Craftbuilt a 21' (6.4m) fiberglass version ofthe prototype, taking advantage ofthe experience with the “Mark I”model. Changes included modificationof the steps and, thanks to the switchfrom plywood to glass, the additionof compound curves. This new modelwas put into production as Sea Craft’sfirst original in-house design. Withthe introduction of that boat, Moeslysays he was sure he was “on the righttrack with the design,” and attributedits sales popularity to its success inoffshore racing.

R&D and

More Racing

The early 1960s were heady timesfor production boatbuilding, given thetransition from wood (timber andplywood) to fiber-reinforced plastic.The new material opened up manypossibilities for shapes and increasedstrength; however, acceptance by thebuying public remained slow. InSouth Florida, fiberglass was catchingon, but north of Jacksonville, warinessof the newfangled material ran deep.

Sea Craft’s lone salesman at thetime took one of the new models toNew England in an attempt to sign updealers. Much to his chagrin, skepticsthere were convinced that fiberglasswould shatter in cold weather; suchpeople populated many New Englanddealerships. And, they were quite sus-picious of the claim that it didn’trequire topside paint, ever—a claimthat turned out to be an exaggeration,perhaps, but was essentially true forthe first 10 or more years of the prod-uct’s life.

Racing proved to be Sea Craft’s bestmarketing strategy: a single winningrace generated more boat orders thanthousands of dollars’ worth of adver-tisements, with their claims ofstrength, durability, or speed. SeaCraft dominated the 1967 Miami–FortLauderdale–Bimini–Cat Cay–MiamiRace, finishing in the first five out-board positions. In the West PalmBeach–Lucaya–West Palm Beach Raceof the same year, Sea Craft took

A Sea Craft flybridge model, airborne.Moesly’s faith in the seaworthiness—and sturdiness—of his boats wasbased on sound design and engineering,and extensive personal experience offshore.



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places one through seven in the out-board division. For several years SeaCraft ruled outboard ocean racing.Most of those races saw Moesly as thedriver of one of the Sea Craft entries.He was that rare individual who couldwear several hats simultaneously andbe successful at nearly everything hedid—engineering, design, construc-tion, management, and raceboat dri-ving. Granted, he had the assistanceof a talented cadre of craftsmen he’dassembled. And, no less important,there was Jeanne, who ran the com-pany’s front office and found time to

race with him, as well. In Moesly’swords, “Racing was done for researchand development, to support the pro-duction of boats for the public and toprove the efficiency of our design.”Moesly also had a fondness for out-boards, saying that, “Outboards, unlike

inboards, were of equal power andthus enabled an accurate comparisonof hull designs.”

With each race course victory,interest in Sea Craft grew. Indeed, thecompany captured the attention ofmore than just the boating public and

The start of an offshore powerboat racein south Florida in the 1960s. Moeslywas self-taught on the race course, buthis fortunes there, he felt, were inseparable from Sea Craft’s as a company. At one point, Sea Craft boatsracked up either first, second, or thirdplaces in some 60 starts. “We race fordesign, engineering, and performance,”Moesly said. “And for informationgained.”

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Moesly’s registered drawings for the Sea Craft hull. He once described it as a “modified V with a stepped-panel design. Givesexcellent rough-water handling and ride. Plus exceptional stability at rest or trolling.” Its unique hydrodynamics were analyzedby naval architect Dick Akers as part of an IBEX seminar not long ago on “unconventional hullforms.”


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race fans. A secretive U.S. governmentagency also began to show interest inSea Craft and in Moesly’s ideas aboutsmall boats. (Even after 40-plus years,Moesly remains reluctant to discussdetails of this chapter in his life.) Arepresentative of the agency con-tacted Moesly in 1962, requesting atest and sea trial of the Sea Craft 21.The agency representative explainedto Moesly that his boat would becompeting against entries from othermanufacturers and the winner would,in all likelihood, receive a lucrativecontract from the government to pro-duce a number of hulls.

Moesly agreed to the terms of thetest, which took place early one win-ter day on Biscayne Bay. At the direc-tion of the agency man, Moesly filledhis Sea Craft 21 with nine people sup-plied by the agency, and several hun-dred pounds of sandbags. (Moesly’srecollection is that the men wereHispanic-looking paratroopers. Signifi-cantly, these tests occurred during theperiod of the Bay of Pigs invasion andthe Cuban missile crisis.) With thisload on board, the Sea Craft 21 and

two other boats from competing man-ufacturers were, as part of the trials,to race across a choppy Biscayne Bay.

The competitors’ vessels wereunable to get on plane, but the SeaCraft did so with seeming ease.Moesly, in a bit of showmanship andto clinch the deal, pulled alongsidehis hapless competitors and took fromeach of them a few sandbags and apassenger. Even with the reducedload, his competition failed to get upon plane. But the Sea Craft did—again, without any perceptible diffi-culty. Moesly then proceeded to takethe agency man and his contingent ona tour not only of Biscayne Bay, butout into open ocean as well.

The stellar performance of the 21that day won Moesly and Sea Craft“sole supplier” status. (As a sole sup-plier, Moesly had to agree to a gov-ernment audit to ensure that the pricehe was charging was fair.) A third-party “corporation” purchased boatsfrom Sea Craft, some with specifica-tions incorporating so-called hardpoints, presumably for weaponmounts. The agency rep with whom

Moesly had been working told Moeslyone day, “We like doing business withyou because you’re the designer,engineer, builder, and proprietor, andcan’t pass the buck when somethinggoes wrong.”

The success of the Sea Craft 21 in“clandestine operations” led to furtherorders, one of which called for an air-transportable 27' (8.2m) version. Butsomeone in the government chal-lenged Moesly’s claims about what hisboats could do, and made an effort todiscredit him. So the 21 and 27 weretested at the David Taylor ModelBasin (Bethesda, Maryland) and atStevens Institute of Technology(Hoboken, New Jersey), in addition toextensive sea trialing on ChesapeakeBay—confirming the stated perfor-mance figures for the Sea Craft hulls,and vindicating Moesly and hisdesigns.

While the government contract pro-vided necessary revenue for Moeslyand a diversion from conventionalsales, it was not enough to carry theday. Knowing that Sea Craft’s highquality and winning record are what



rang true with the boating consumer,Moesly continued to develop andimprove the Sea Craft line.

Sitting at a launch ramp in Miamione day, Moesly conceived of an ideafor a radically different design featurein small powerboats. He noticed howdifficult it was for folks, particularlycouples, to dock a small boat becauseof poor access to the bow. The wifewas usually sent forward on a slip-pery deck with a line, while the hus-band worked the shift and throttle,generally making for an awkwardshowing at the ramp.

After watching this for a few hours,

Moesly went back to his shop anddrew up what he thought would be asolution to the problem, and withJeanne’s help coined a name for it:bowrider. The initial design includeda walk-through windshield, molded-inseats, and—most important to Moeslyas an offshore racer—a self-bailingcockpit. The idea harkened back to

Moesly’s childhood, when he remem-bered seeing 1930s-era commuteryachts tied up at docks along FortLauderdale’s waterways, some ofwhich were equipped with forwardcockpits.

Moesly didn’t like the bowridername then and still doesn’t, butJeanne did. He deferred to her better

A promotional shot of a Sea Craftbowrider. Jeanne Moesly—Carl’s wife,Sea Craft’s front-office manager, and aracer herself—coined the term. Carlcame up with the since much-copiedconcept, including the split windshield,after watching one couple after anotherstruggle with foredecks, bow lines, andtrailers at a public launch ramp inMiami.

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judgment in things of this sort, and soit stuck. Moesly took the prototype,literally under wraps, to the 1963Miami Boat Show—and it was a hit.Others copied the idea quickly butunbeknownst to them, Moesly hadincorporated additional lift into hisbow sections in order to compensatefor the added weight of passengersforward. Thus, many of Sea Craft’scompetitors’ bowriders handledpoorly when loaded, giving passen-gers a wet ride.

Another innovation introduced bySea Craft was the unitized grid arrange-ment, or grillage, for the stringer-and-transverse-frame system. This designsupported the boat’s bottom, the sole,cockpit, fuel tank, etc. Set and tabbedin place, it dispersed structural loadsvia interlinking support, much like anaircraft fuselage. Popular Mechanicsmagazine has called the idea “aclassic”; it is used to this day in theconstruction of nearly every productionfiberglass hull.

Other clever design ideas continuedto spring forth at Sea Craft. Thecompany had built a 19' (5.8m) open

boat for a Bahamian boatdealer in Abaco. He was anold friend of Moesly’s fromhis flying days, and was veryspecific about what hewanted: a custom open boatfor hauling cargo, with a con-sole set off to one side. Thisrequest piqued Moesly’sinterest, similar to the boat-ramp episode. Moesly built aprototype, except he cen-tered the console. Initially,there wasn’t much demandfor Sea Craft’s center-consoleversion, but orders for itgradually rolled in. Unlikeother undecked boats, this centerconsole was built for the roughwaters of the Atlantic Ocean, and thusthe “offshore center console” was

born. At about this time, late 1963,Sea Craft moved into a new, largerfacility near the Miami airport. Thanksto the Sea Craft 21, the bowrider, and

The one-piece grillage—astructural grid system integrat-ing transverse frames and lon-gitudinal stringers—is anotheridea Moesly claims to haveintroduced to the industry.



now the offshore center console, SeaCraft doubled its production capacityin just three months.

[Note: Boston Whaler was the firstbuilder to come up with the concept ofa center console. Whaler, then locatedin Massachusetts, introduced a 16-footer (4.9m) featuring a plywoodcontrol console on the boat’s center-line, in 1961—Ed.]

Many builders of the day wereusing foam to provide flotation.

Moesly was dissatisfied with thisapproach, as it tended to absorbwater over time (some things neverchange), and occasionally granulatedwith heavy use. Characteristically,Moesly approached the problem froma different angle. Instead of foam, hedesigned a full interior liner (a strat-egy praised today by many manu-facturers but cursed by service andrepair yards) that ran all the way upto the gunwale, essentially forming a

double hull that trapped air in theevent of a capsize or swamping. As apromotional exercise, Moesly ran oneunder its own power—that is, lineralone, no hull. The press loved it andphotos of the demo were printed innewspapers nationwide. One head-line read, “You don’t need a hull tohave a boat.”

Meanwhile, Sea Craft continued torack up impressive race results.Racing demanded physical endurancefrom the drivers and crew. In the1960s, though, the technical aspectsof offshore racing were primitive bycontemporary standards. For example,when a lower unit blew in one race,Moesly’s mechanic and codriver dis-connected the steering linkage and, to

He may or may not have invented thefull liner, but Moesly most certainlypopularized it. This photo, of a SeaCraft liner moving smartly along withoutits mating hull, received a lot ofnational press. The liner concept added structure and flotation in one fell swoop.


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and he was prepared to do whateverit took to keep them on Sea Craft’spayroll.

One Voyage Ends

After eight hectic years, Carl andJeanne decided the time was right to

sell Sea Craft. The work hours hadbeen long, the work load heavy, andMoesly was getting drawn deeper intoan aspect of the business he didn’tcare for: sales.

To the best of Moesly’s recollection,Sea Craft endured longer than any

other production boatbuilder inDade County (there weredozens at the time) under thesame ownership and manage-ment. The company waspoised for more growth;Moesly began to extend feelersfor a potential buyer.

Sea Craft’s market reputationand racing success lured abuyer soon enough. In the salecontract, Moesly agreed to stayon for two years as chairmanand head of R&D, along with aminority one-fourth ownership.Unfortunately, Moesly disagreedregularly with the new owner’smanagement style, and theyclashed over technical andoperating issues alike. The newowner’s son was now runningSea Craft, and he said to

Moesly one day, “You’ve made aname for yourself in the boat busi-ness. Now it’s my turn.” He was thirty-something.

The new owner and managersstruggled with the business; the per-share price of Sea Craft stock dropped

Outboard and inboard versions of a Sea Craft 23 (7m), circa 1980. The same hull delivered good performance in both modes, attesting to Sea Craft’s reputation for balancing well with variable loads. Gary Hilliard, who for many years headed up new construction at Rybovich (West Palm Beach, Florida), owned and fished a 23 inboard—and loved it. The 23 was also available as an I/O. There was reportedly no significant sacrifice of performance with any of the three types of power.

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from $5,000 at the time of sale to apenny by the time Moesly was able todepart. In the two years after Moeslyleft , the company went throughseveral comptrollers and productionmanagers. Manufacturing costs rose,and, as a result, product was beingsold below cost. Further difficultiesensued over patent rights and the saleof company stock. While Moeslyretained rights to the stepped-hullpatent, he did make its use exclusive

by the new owner, as part of thedeal—an arrangement later tested bythat owner. A protracted legal battlebegan, and today, in hindsight,Moesly regrets not having hired amore “tenacious” attorney.

All told it was an inauspicious endto Moesly’s involvement with anincredibly successful venture repletewith innovative ideas, specifically:the longitudinally stepped hull, thebowriding cockpit, the application of

reverse sheer, the offshore center con-sole, the structural grid system, andthe full hull liner. It’s a shame, too,that Moesly’s creativity was not betterutilized by the new ownership. Onecan only wonder what he might haveaccomplished had the multiple bur-dens of management, sales, and com-pany ownership been shed.

Moesly says he doesn’t regret get-ting out of the business when he did.Later, having heard that some of hisformer offshore-racing rivals hadturned to drug smuggling, he knewthat both the sport and the businessesbehind it had changed forever, andthat there could no longer be any sat-isfaction or pleasure in it for him.

Another

Voyage Begins

Once the end of Moesly’s involve-ment in Sea Craft was within sight,Jeanne proposed a vacation. After all,they hadn’t taken one longer than aweekend in nearly 10 years. Thevacation Moesly had in mind was acircumnavigation aboard a boatJeanne found for sale in SouthFlorida, a 38' (11.6m) cold-moldeddouble-ender, built to a WilliamAtkins design. After three months ofmodifications and preparation, thevoyage got under way in 1970, takingthe couple on a west-about passage.

The ketch that took the Moeslys ontheir second global circumnavigationafter they’d sold Sea Craft Inc. Carldesigned it; the Salthouse yard inAuckland, New Zealand, built it. Carlhad come full circle in more ways thanone: sail, not power, is where he beganhis lifelong involvement with boats.



They completed that trip in fouryears’ time, returning to the U.S. coin-cident with the first oil embargo andother political turmoil of the day. So,after a short respite, they decided toset off once again. For their secondvoyage, with invaluable cruisingexperience to draw on, they returnedto New Zealand, where they builttheir next boat, a 50' (15.2m) ketch toMoesly’s design. After one-and-a-halfcircumnavigations, both Carl andJeanne had developed some very def-inite ideas regarding an improvedcruiser. Moesly lofted and SalthouseBrothers (Auckland) built the newvessel, and Carl and Jeanne then com-pleted their second circumnavigationby way of New Guinea, the SpiceIslands, Bali, the Indian Ocean, andSouth Africa. Moesly was finally ableto keep a vow he’d made to himselfthree decades previous, while flying aC-54 over the South Pacific: to sailthese islands with the blonde pony-tailed girl he would marry. It was alsoon this passage that Moesly made hisrisky trek through war-torn Rhodesiato see Victoria Falls.

____✦____

Carl and Jeanne Moesly haveremained active in “retirement,” build-ing and living in a series of residencesranging from the Virgin Islandsto Florida to the Carolinas. Their

Salthouse-built ketch—described byone sailing magazine editor as “theultimate bluewater cruiser”—was soldin 1988.

The Moeslys have owned otherboats since, including a well-knownbrand of trawler-yacht. After pilotingthe powerboat a few times, Moeslyproclaimed its rudder inadequate andproceeded to design a new one. Oncebuilt and installed, the steering prob-lem was solved. This episode is

emblematic of Moesly’s life: seesomething—be it an aircraft, raceboat,or cruiser; envision a better way; andthen act upon that vision.

About the Author: Steve D’Antoniomanages Zimmerman Marine, a full-service yard in Cardinal, Virginia,and is a member of the advisory com-mittee for the Marine Systems programat The Landing School of Boatbuildingand Design (Kennebunkport, Maine).

A recent photo of Jeanne and CarlMoesly (and their pooch, Dingo), in“active retirement” in western NorthCarolina.

PBB

STEVE D

’AN

TO

NIO


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