Dick Avery, for any readers who may not know, was employed by Chris Craft in the 1960s as a designer. His work was a major influence on many of the finest designs coming out of Chris Craft, and he is responsible for many of those designs. He is also responsible for the design of the Datsun 240Z, which he developed when he worked for Ford Motor Company, but somehow the Japanese got the design and they're the ones who built it. Go figure.
Here is a photo of Dick doing a test run on a plywood prototype "the smallest boat Chris Craft ever sold". That's his wife, Maureen, as the model in the second shot. This is the Chris Craft "Go Boat". This is an 8-foot long plywood prototype Dick Avery designed and built, and obviously test ran too. Chris Craft then transferred this idea to a fiberglass format and sold the boat in 10-foot form. It was the smallest boat ever offered by Chris Craft. The plywood prototype shown here was built in Dearborn, Michigan, in 1960. Does this guy look like he is having fun, and does he look like he loves boating? You bet! And that love of boating is sure to have contributed to the integrity of his great designs at Chris Craft.
Here is a photo I took of Dick (right) and Jack Telnack (left) a couple years ago. What an all-around great guy! (Actually both guys are mighty fine company to be with!) Dick is retired now, but still has that same great smile, and obviously still has the love of boating he always had.
Paul