Devil May Care

Norm Dickinson's 1964 Custom Craft Devil Ray brings back the true rebel spirit of boating.

November 1, 2005

'I really felt sorry for it,' says Norm Dickinson. 'It was sitting out in a field, and every time we went by it, it just seemed to move farther away from the road. One day we finally stopped and asked about it, and the next thing I knew it was ours.'

Norm and Sharon Dickinson had found the sad remains of a 1964 Custom Craft Devil Ray 18-foot runabout. The name on the side of the boat brought back fond memories of the Custom Crafts once owned by Norm's father. The first was a 1960 Manta Ray, the result of trading a well-used wood lapstrake runabout for something fresh and new. The over-the-edge styling and low-maintenance promise of fiberglass was just too alluring to pass up.

Norm's family wasn't the only one moving to low-maintenance boating. The entire marine industry was undergoing a major shakeup with fiberglass rapidly taking over as the material of choice for powerboats across the nation. For Custom Craft, building boats of fiberglass was still relatively new in 1960.

Custom Craft grew out of a business started by H. Donald Canazzi in 1932. Marine Mart, located in Buffalo, New York, began when Canazzi parlayed his boat-building hobby into a profitable business. After the war, the young veteran changed the focus of his business toward boat kits and began selling worldwide through mail order, advertising in the back of sports and DIY magazines.

In early 1958, he began to develop a series of complex hull designs made possible through the use of fiberglass. These new fiberglass boats soon evolved into high-speed catamarans with unique styling that set them apart from others on the market. With deeply sculpted hull sides and features like molded-in docking lights, there was no mistaking these boats for anything but Custom Crafts.

The focus at Custom Craft soon changed to finished boats rather than the kits that had brought the company to its solid position in the market. Within a year, Canazzi's fiberglass payroll had grown from 14 to 40 employees.

Rapid expansion and the need to keep pace with the market eventually led to the downfall of this innovative company. A public stock offering in 1960 combined with a down market resulted in a slow demise, ending in 1965 with the physical assets sold and moved to Union City, Pennsylvania, home of the Molded Fiberglass Body Co. All across the country, boat manufacturers were falling by the wayside.

Norm Dickinson's fond memories with Custom Craft boats made the decision to buy the boat easy. Once they got the boat home, however, the hard work began.

'The Devil Ray was pretty water-logged when we found it,' says Sharon. 'Norm removed the deck and stripped the boat down to a bare shell and then built it back up from there. The motor well was completely missing, so he had to construct a new one.'

'I ended up doing all the work myself,' says Norm. 'After the deck was off I replaced the stringers, floor and the transom. The hardware was there, but the interior was completely shot. The vinyl was so brittle that it would crack when you touched it.'

The Devil Ray has a smooth feel, winding through turns and cutting through waves without shifting or jerking. 'At the marina, I get the opportunity to drive all types of boats,' Norm says. 'With their wraparound windshields and deep padded seats I find them kind of boring. I don't feel that way with the Custom Craft. The wind, the spray in your face, that's what makes a boat ride exciting! I'll never tire of that.'