The more open design of the Utility has it's problems though.

When I was in highschool I even built a model Chris Craft Utility, and varnished it up, and I thought it looked great. I always thought the utility boats had potential for the same attractiveness as the more conventional mahogany runabout designs, but they rarely seem to have the same level of finish. I enjoy going out on a runabout partialy for the chance at human interaction in an entertaining environment. With the exception of some of the largest runabouts, each row of seating was seperated, limiting movement around the boat, and more importantly, limiting interactions with other people on the boat. Boats like the Chris Craft utility boats.While the double and triple cockpit runabouts looked alluring, I have always had a problem with them. I prefered, the boats next to the big mahogany runabouts. However, these were not the boats that attracted me the most. It was the large relatively flat surfaces that make a mahogany runabout so shiny and attractive. Of course, with enough varnish, time, and careful brush work, any boat could have that kind of varnish. It was like a layer of glass had been poured over the boats, giving them an indescribable amount of depth. I remember when they used to all get together at the Center for Wooden Boats in Seattle every year for the Wooden Boat Festival, and the docks would be lined with people starring through the massively thick coating of varnish at the beutiful mahogany underneath. The big mahogany runabouts of yesteryear are some of the nicest pieces of eye candy on the water. I’m sure most of the other competitors in this competition feel the same way. When I first saw WoodenBoat Magazine’s boat design competition to design a modern wooden runabout, I was very excited.

New wooden runabout boats for sale