45

Fellow member Bill Tomas contributed this piece of information:

"According to the Chris-Craft Essential Guide the 45 Tournament Fisherman hull numbers were FFA-45-001 thru FFA-45-012 (12 boats) and FFB-45-001 thru FFB-45-047 (47 boats). The museum record only go to about 1977 although my copy of a "build sheet" from the museum listing the boats built in late 1977 and 1978.

My boat is 049. The latest 45TF I have found information on is FFB-074, owned by John Adams in California. John bought this boat in Ohio and trucked it to California. It is beautiful and has only about 600 original hours on it. Based on the hull number 0074, Chris craft must have built at least 74 FFB +12 FFA = 86 of these boats. But again, the records at the Mariners Museum only go to 1977.

The 45 Tournament Fisherman became the 45 Commander in 1977 (the 45 flush deck aft cabin Commander was renamed Commander Yacht). Sometimes Chris-Craft referred to this boat as the 45 Commander Model 450. The really late models had "450" decals on the sides of the bridge.

Chris-Craft experimented with Ford turbine power in the 45TF, and the early press releases all mentioned the availability of turbines. My owner's manual (1978) shows the controls and gauges for the turbine option, but I have never found that any of them were sold."

Editors note -- Ex Chris Craft employee Jim Wick informs us that no turbine powered boats were ever sold to the public.
Select data taken from Chris-Craft: The Essential Guide by Jerry Conrad