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declined, and a potentially lifesaving government order was produced at the larger
Orillia shop because Gravenhurst was too small. The company succumbed to the Great Depression, folding in April 1932. It reorganized and reopened 9 March 1933 in a smaller plant. The company survived for a few years, but failed again in 1936, and was again reorganized. The company failed for a third and final time in 1938.
27:. At one time the company was the largest boat manufacturer in the lake region. Ditchburn operated from 1871 until approximately the 1930s building wooden rowboats and canoes early in its history, and later gasoline-powered launches. Ditchburn is particularly known for producing high-quality mahogany launches which have become highly prized by collectors in recent years.
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In 1904 the enterprise was run by Henry's nephew, Herb
Ditchburn, who partnered with Tom Greavette to reorganize the firm as the H. Ditchburn Boat Manufacturing Company. The firm built many custom-built gasoline launches along with some stock models, mostly consisting of rear-cockpit configuration
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The company was impacted by the Great
Depression, experiencing its first layoff in July 1930. Slow orders were compounded by the opening of Greavette's boats in 1931, dividing a smaller market between two competitors. That year, two-thirds of the Gravenhurst plant had been laid off as orders
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was a lapstrake boat, but was planked crosswise rather than fore-aft, thereby giving her a number of steps on the bottom of her hull. While the design was challenged, it was eventually allowed and
Greening ran the race, winning on points. However, the victory was overturned when the
103:, developed as Greening's entry into the 1923 Gold Cup was a 25-foot boat powered by a Packard Six engine. While the boat failed to win the race due to a malfunctioning rudder, Greening later set a distance record with it on
72:, in the mid-1920s, increasing employment to 130 men. Ditchburn's reputation for quality craftsmanship grew, opening its market to the United States, where eventually half the company's production was shipped.
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with engine forward. In 1910 the company's line included 26 to 30 foot launches. In the late 1920s
Ditchburn began selling forward-cockpit designs. His was the largest operation on
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built in 1928 was a 38-foot racer powered by two engines developing 1,200 horsepower and won the Lipton Trophy in
Detroit while carrying eight people.
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by Henry
Ditchburn to build wooden pleasure boats and launches. Joined by his brothers, William, John, and Arthur began by building wooden rowboats in
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In 1926 the company build six patrol boats for the
Canadian government for use on the Atlantic coast based on the company's "Viking" model.
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racing boats. Ditchburn met the ever-increasing demand for gasoline-powered launches by opening a second plant in
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model. Both models sported a raised deck over the engine to accommodate the larger engines then coming into use.
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is the popular name for a manufacturer of wooden pleasure craft launches and racing boats located in
64:, employing 30 men in 1921, expanding to 60 by 1923; sales building on the success of the company's
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built between 1928 and 1931. At the same time the company developed a 31-foot line known as the
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Herb
Ditchburn later went to work with Gar Wood during World War II, and died in 1950.
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Ditchburn was known for building a number of internationally known racing boats named
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51:, in 1890. The company began building gasoline launches in 1898 along with rowboats.
146:. This became the model of one of the company's most popular line of launches, the
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In 1927 the company built a 28-foot racer for circus magnate
252:. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press. pp. 9–40.
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178:Ballantyne, Phillip; Duncan, Robert Bruce (2005).
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140:Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
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37:Ditchburn Pleasure Boats Ltd
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250:The Boatbuilders of Muskoka
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39:was established in 1871 on
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352:Companies based in Ontario
181:Classic American Runabouts
248:Duke & Gray (1985).
298:Barry, James P (2002).
212:Barry, James P (2003).
184:. MBI. pp. 58–62.
362:Canadian boat builders
83:Ditchburn racing boats
266:Barry, James (2003).
49:Gravenhurst, Ontario
21:Gravenhurst, Ontario
215:American Powerboats
47:, and moved to in
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225:978-0-7603-1466-1
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321:. Retrieved
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302:Hackercraft
142:fame named
129:Rainbow VII
101:Rainbow III
341:Categories
161:References
120:Rainbow IV
112:Rainbow IV
323:12 August
152:Commodore
116:lapstrake
97:Gold Cup
55:Launches
218:. MBI.
138:of the
118:hulls.
99:races.
93:Rainbow
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23:, on
325:2009
312:ISBN
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35:The
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