Hand-Made Masterpieces: Building Wooden Boats
Article & Photos by Holly Leitner (AT THE LAKE MAGAZINE) at atthelakemagazine.com published on May 24, 2022
With its alluring, nearly seven-mile-long stretch of deep, fresh water, Geneva Lake has been a mecca for wooden speedboat enthusiasts since these boats became widely available in the 1920s. Today, people’s love and appreciation for these artisan-made boats has only intensified, and three prestigious craft boat builders call the area home: Streblow Custom Boats is celebrating its 72nd year in business.
STREBLOW CUSTOM BOATS
The local industry as we know it today really all started with one namesake boat builder many years ago: Larry Streblow, founder of Streblow Custom Boats. Founded in the 1950s, Streblow is one of the oldest continuously operating wooden sport boat makers in the United States. In 1987, Larry Streblow and his son Randy moved their small boat building operation from Kenosha to the Lake Geneva area in order to be closer to their customer base. Randy went on to become a leader in the local wooden boat building community here, and mentored many of today’s current builders.
The signature Streblow design had first emerged in the early 1960s and remains nearly unchanged today. It features a V-drive with a wraparound interior configuration, a straight drive with the engine in the center, double-plank hull construction and a trademark white stripe on the side. The popular runabout has become an icon of Lake Geneva. Today, more than 100 Streblows grace Geneva Lake’s waters, and there are more than 500 Streblows on waters nationwide.
Randy Streblow passed away in 2011, but his legacy survives. In fact, the Streblow community has joined together in two “Wake the Lake” events, where Streblow owners gathered in their boats at sunrise on the west end of Geneva Lake and paraded toward Lake Geneva in Randy Streblow’s memory.
In 2020, Edward Cox took over ownership of the Lake Geneva business, keeping the local Streblow wooden boat building tradition alive. Several longtime Streblow craftsmen continue to restore vintage versions of the boat and build new Streblows. Cox says that each detail of both a new or restored Streblow custom boat is an artisan-crafted labor of love, carrying on the Streblow standard of perfection.
