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I tow my 1976 - 15' Sport to Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada every year. Over 35 plus years of going to Canada I've only seen a handful of Whalers on the water. There were 5 of us on the trip the year of the big storm. My son and brother-inlaw were in my boat and a workmate and his son in the other boat, a Larson 18' aluminum V - Hull. We were 30 miles west of camp fishing walleye reefs. There was blue sky and few clouds overhead. We rounded the point of an island and to the west was a low anvil cloud covering the horizon that looked nasty. You could tell from the looks of it that we were in for strong winds and rain.
I told my buddy - we have to head for camp now and try to outrun the storm. We got about half way back when it caught up to us. The waves really started to roll and the rain was pouring down. I knew the Whaler could handle the rough water and I also knew we were in for a ride and going to get wet. I was in the lead when the other boat started having problems from taking on so much water. His bilge pump couldn't stay ahead of the rain and waves and the back of the boat was low in the water. We transfered my son to his boat and both the boys crawled under the bow as far forward as they could to add weight to the front. That worked and the boat leveled better that it had been. I stayed in front and broke waves with the Whaler. As we crossed the top end of Whitefish Bay the waves and wind were even worse. I saw a family in 2 Lund boats with 20HP Merc's and they were scared to death. The mother and young son were in the first boat with the father and a teenage boy and 2 other younger teens were in the other boat. I waved to them and pointed for them to get behind me. The Whaler broke through the worst of the waves and made their ride alittle easier. We finally got to the narrows where islands and land protected us some and were close to camp. They really thanked us for the help and went on their way. We pulled both boats into the dock and secured them well and headed for the camp office. There were trees down all over camp and no power because of 60 mph winds.
We still laugh about that story to this day and still go to the same camp. It's amazing the trust you can have in a Whaler when you couldn't have that trust in alot of other boats!!!
"Combat Proven", the 1976 Sport 15 won't let you down, that hull actually performs "Better" in conditions that are a little "Rough". It's almost as if it "likes" it ! Ever roll up on an "Accident" or "Trouble" while in a Boston Whaler ? The 1st thing the other boats do is point, and say "Ask that Whaler for help".
