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Resort Boat Shop's Jefe Wins Lake Geneva Show

Last month’s cover boat for Northwest Yachting Magazine (photo right) has just won the top prize at the Antique Classic Boat Society’s annual show held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

Jefe, a 34-foot Coeur d’Alene Custom luxury runabout built by The Resort Boat Shop, won with a perfect first place score in its class at the 36th International ACBS Boat Show held at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, with 160 boats in attendance.

Resort Boat Shop’s “Jefe” wins Lake Geneva show

(Coeur d’Alene, ID) – The exacting judges at the Antique and Classic Boat Society’s annual show never award a perfect score – but in this case, they did.

“Jefe,” a 34-foot Coeur d’Alene Custom luxury runabout built by The Resort Boat Shop, recently won a perfect first place in its class at the 36th International ACBS Boat Show held at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, with 160 boats in attendance.

Owners Donna and Jerry Gilbreath of Coeur d’Alene were thrilled when the boat won top honor out of 66 boats in the contemporary classic division, for boats built since 1968. The award was based on a number of strict criteria, including workmanship, design, fit and finish.

Short Sail

An owner of a lakefront vacation home in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, recently sought to purchase a small boat that he could use to teach his children how to sail. He soon discovered the diminutive PocketShip, a roughly 15-foot-long kit boat that is light enough to be pulled up on the beach and easily trailered, yet has cabin space that sleeps an adult and two children comfortably. But the kit, which is offered by Maryland’s Chesapeake Light Craft, did not meet his fit-and-finish requirements, so he enlisted his local boat shop to execute the build to the standards of a custom yacht.

Custom Detail and Muscle

Jefe oozes attitude. Owner and designer Jerry Gilbreath, a nine-time world offshore champion, would not have wanted it any other way.

A Wooden Wonder

Assuming that fast boats have been an integral part of your life since you were a preteen, you might wonder what kind of boat you’d want to own when you’re an adult. If you’re like Jerry Gilbreath of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, that answer came in the form of an incredible wooden masterpiece of design, craftsmanship, and perfection.

Gentlemen Racer

Jerry Gilbreath made a career out of designing, building, and racing speedboats that were faster than some supercars. By the time he retired from racing five years ago, the powerboat pilot had notched more than 25 speed records and nine world championships in a span of four decades. So even in retirement, Gilbreath would seem an unlikely candidate to commission a vintage-style vessel designed for casual lake cruising. But Jefe—Gilbreath’s version of a gentleman’s runabout—is less leisurely than it might first appear.

GMT - The Passion for Wood

After a long career as an offshore pilot in the U.S., Jerry Gilbreath was finally able to realize the dream of his life by creating his own boat. In fact, the idea came while Jerry was in a villa on Lake Como. He was immediately dazzled by the passage of Riva. Then he decided to be inspired to create perfection on the water. Jefe, which means head in Spanish, is a small work of art. Designed primarily for navigating on inland waters, it was built by a shipyard specializing in the manufacture of wood boats located near Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Strengthened by a framework of three layers of mahogany laid over cedar Jefe gets its rigidity and shine through the application of fifteen layers of Awlgrip 545 epoxy and four coats of Epifanes varnish. It is a unique boat, either at its gas controls, the hull form or layout of the cockpit. The cockpit includes custom hand dials made specifically by Livorsi, with a windshield realized by Latham Marine, two vendors recognized in the offshore environment. The cockpit is well protected from the wind, has a leather sofa, a bar and a small removable table. The engine room is occupied by two 400 hp Mercruiser engines each connected to a Bravo 1 outdrive. Jefe traces its wake up in 56 knots speed. To enjoy this little jewel, it will cost you U.S. $845,000 excluding transport costs, the price of beauty and exclusivity.

His and Hers - When Muscle and Soul Collide

At the helm is Jerry Gilbreath, a legend in the world of boats. Typically, with this guy at the controls, one might want to hang on tight. After all, in his career as a champion offshore powerboat racer, he was known as one of the fastest throttlemen in the business. But today the ride is silky smooth. And when he punches the throttle, it just gets smoother. Where a typical boat’s bow would rise up unwieldy into the field of vision, the sweet lines of this mahogany craft stay fixed right on the horizon as the boat rockets forward. “It’s one of the things my wife, Donna, made me promise she would have in this boat,” he says.

Mountaintop Thoroughbred

In a distant corner of North America, in Kootenai County, Idaho, is a clear glacial lake, wedged between mountain ranges of ponderosa time and the western sky and home to one of the most sophisticated performance daysailers ever built. Just launched, the Tony Castro-designed Sizzler is a 60-foot, flush-deck speedster, a blend of cold-molded carbon fiber construction, with the finest hardware, rig, sails and engineering.

Sizzler Daysailer

Daysailers are popular today and if you live on a nice lake it makes sense to have a boat with the focus on daysailing comfort and not overnight accommodations. In this case the lake happens to be Lake Coeur d’Alene, so it made sense to build the boat in his own shop .I imagine trucking a boat this size to the lake would have been a problem. The boat was built by the Hagadone Marine Group and the Resort Boat Shop in wood/carbon composite with epoxy.

Lone Wolf

A lifelong Coeur d’Alene resident builds a one-of-a-kind sailboat for his favorite lake. EVERY SUMMER evening, just after the sun sets over Coeur d’Alene Lake in northern Idaho, the Wolf Lodge Express gathers steam in an eastern bay and hurtles west across the 50-square-mile body of water. The express – a land breeze that forms when the hills around Wolf Lodge Valley cool faster than the lake’s surface – is as powerful as it is punctual, routinely blowing at 12 to 15 knots. On many evenings, the breeze catches the massive carbon-fiber sails of a yacht that was custom-built to ride the local phenomenon.

Sizzler: The Idaho Hot Rod

In a distant corner of North America, in Kootenai County, Idaho, is a clear glacial lake, wedged between mountain ranges of ponderosa pine and the western sky. Lake Coeur d’Alene, at 700m elevation, is rimmed by massive trees and rock. It’s hundreds of miles from the Pacific. And its home to one of the most sophisticated performance daysailers ever built. Just launched, this 60ft flush-deck speedster – all cold-moulded wood and carbon fibre construction, the best hardware, right, sails and custom engineering – is a one-off special from designer Tony Castro.

Sizzler

Could there be a better way to escape the pressures of day-to-day business than to set sail in search of a breeze on a 60 ft yacht? Likely not, especially when you can be alone, away from the dock, and under full sail in a matter of minutes – literally at the push of a few buttons. Media mogul Duane Hagadone came up with the idea of a custom daysailer during his circumnavigation of the globe on celebrated 205 ft Oceanco Lady Lola. “Ever port we’d go into, I’d go looking for an automated daysailer. And I never saw one,” says the keen mariner, who now finds time as often as possible to escape the office on his sleek, purpose-built daysailer Sizzler on picturesque Lake Coeur d’Alene – where he grew up and still spends much of the year.

Ship of Dreams

Show-Stealer The Coeur d’Alene Wooden Boat Festival brings a wealth of intriguing craft to Lake Coeur d’Alene every summer, from antique beauties to modern builds. Boat lovers stroll the docks admiring their favorites, appreciating the look and feel of well-crafted wood.