Footloose and Fancy Free

Recommissioning at the Antique Boat Museum

If you have visited the Antique Boat Museum in the past several years and toured The National Motor Boat Show exhibit located in the Cleveland E. Dodge Memorial Launch Building you have no doubt noticed Footloose and Fancy Free, our unique 1937 25’ triple cockpit runabout. As a one-of-a-kind custom boat, Footloose and Fancy Free is one of the great treasures of the Museum's permanent collection. She represents the genius of legendary boat designer John Hacker and the extraordinary craftsmanship of one of the finest custom builders of the early 20th century, the Fitzgerald & Lee Motor Boat Company of Alexandria Bay, New York.

Footloose is one of Fitzgerald & Lee’s best-known runabouts of the period. She was a custom design by John Hacker with rounded covering boards, extreme barreling at the transom, mahogany windshield brackets and barreling of the bow. She was completed in 1937 and donated to the Antique Boat Museum in 1987.

Originally named Messenger, she passed through several owners before eventually winding up in the coastal waters of Florida. Her varnish color is unusual in that it is lighter than most, likely due to the strong sun of the tropic waters. Her craftsmanship is second to none and she remains one of the most popular boats in the museum collection.

After careful consideration the Museum designated Footloose and Fancy Free as a Special Project boat in 2020 and began a conservative recommissioning process for limited in-water educational use. One large part of this project was repowering the boat with what would have been her original engine, a Scripps 302 V-12.

1937

28' Hacker designed, Fitzgerald & Lee Triple Cockpit Powered by: Scripps 302 V12 Donor: Patrick F. Taylor

RESTORED ANTIQUE RUNABOUT

Click the link below to explore some of this wonderful boat's journey with Museum staff and 4th Coast Fours of Waddington, NY.