410 Commander, a Hi Hope

E-mail story submitted to the CCCC webmaster 26 June 2008

Hi Alarik,

I received your e-mail asking about my 1972 410 Commander in January. I had to replace my desktop computer because of a malicious virus. I just discovered your e-mail on my laptop in a back-up file. I have attached a photo of my Commander in jpg format. We were on our way to the 2007 CCC rendezvous in Algonac, MI. Here is a short story about the boat.

The first owner purchased the boat new from Lakeside Yacht Sales in the western basin in Ohio. The owner kept it in a boat house on Catawba Island where he bought it. The boat only went to Put-in-Bay and spent its life hanging in a hoist. When the first owner past away it sat in estate for four years, until the second owner purchased it in 1996. It had about 400 hours on the engines.

My friend worked for Chris Craft and completely remodeled the interior and the aft deck. It took him two seasons and he did a beautiful job. When we saw it hanging in the boat house in February of 1999 my wife said this is the boat for us.

Since then, we have replaced the two heads with Vac-U-Flushes, replaced the salon A/C, updated all the electronics, replaced the Strataglass, all the little things, and did a complete tune-up. Two years ago we had the props re-pitched. Before the re-pitch we clocked her at 28 mph WOT with GPS and RayData. We now cruise at 18-20 mph at 3100 rpm. Car guys brag about their barn finds of classic cars. Us boat guys can brag about our boathouse find of a classic CCC.
 

1972 410 Commander Hi-Hope, owned by Bob Hope, Sandusky

On the way back from the rendezvous we were running with three other Commanders at cruise at the end of the line. When we got into Lake Erie the lake was running 4-6 with a strong wind. We never slowed down. Green water and seaweed rolled over the hardtop, we lost our burgee, but she still rode well. We went to the front of the line. When we returned to our dock at Sandusky Yacht Club everything was on the floor but there was no damage.

In closing, my thirty-six year old Commander looks better, rides better, runs better and gets more comments than all the “new stuff”.

Thanks,

Bob Hope
Hi-Hope
1972 410 CCC