Have you ever wondered when you were out on the lake just how we got the modern motor boat? Whether you like to spend your days fishing or pulling water skiers, chances are you haven’t given much thought to it. Nowadays, as long as the boat is gasses up, we can keep it running, and the boat insurance is current, we’re more likely to just enjoy ourselves on the water with nary a thought regarding how our favorite hobby came to be.

When we refer to motor boats, we’re referring to a boat with an internal combustion engine, of course. There were steam ships far back into the 1800s, dating back to before the Civil War, but most of us don’t think about steam engines when we talk about boating.

Take me back to Lake Canstatt

The first time a gasoline engine was used to propel a boat was way back in 1886, on Canstatt Lake. Eleven people took part on the maiden voyage. One of them was the engine’s designer, none other than Gottlieb Daimler, who also designed the first practical gasoline engine for automobiles.

The first powered boat had only one cylinder, but it didn’t take long for Mr. Daimler to put a V type engine to work propelling watercraft. He first used a 2 cylinder V engine in 1887, and showed it to the world at the Paris Exhibition of 1889.

Electrify the ignition

By the turn of the century, it had been discovered that electric ignition was more reliable, predictable, and safer for combustion engines, and it didn’t take long before this was adopted in most powered watercraft. Of course, motor boats were still very much a novelty at the time.

By 1903, boating enthusiasts had hit upon the idea of racing motor boats. While they could have no idea how fast powerboats would eventually go, at the time the whopping 18 knots must have seemed almost like flying.

The first hacker

One of the early pioneers of motorboat design was John Hacker. An American, he developed the V-hull and the hydroplane early in the 20^th century. The V hull continues to be the basic design of most powerboats today, and his early Kitty Hawk hydroplanes were already reaching over 50 miles per hour before 1910. We’re not sure, but we’d guess his insurance agent wasn’t crazy about the unthinkably high speed (for that day). Wonder what his boat insurance cost? We do, too.

Photo via scazon