GW Invader lookalike

[chuck2blades]

Couple years ago I talked with a guy (I think in Minnesota) who bought moulds and is building GW Invader lookalike 10 footers. I lost the info - anybody know of him? Thanks in advance.

[bayman]

I think that would be Joe Jenison of Keys Boat but I don't know if he is still building boats. His company is still around but I think he concentrates on boat rentals and fishing charters nowdays: http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/m...il.aspx?id=GWI

[chuck2blades]

That doesn't sound right. This was a fairly young guy and he had only been building for a few years. He was just getting a pretty decent start on promoting them. He was near the western state line somewhere.

[bayman]

Are you sure he bought the molds from GW Invader? Could it be a different company?

[chuck2blades]

Bayman:Sorry it took me 6 months to get back to you - I lost the address, etc - for this site - yes - the guy did buy a mold from G-W. I am from the Indiana county where Gray & Wooldridge first built the boat (in garage in Sharpsville, IN) and had one of the very early 10 footers - anyhow - I stumbled across this guy (2 years ago) who builds lookalikes and was not in a position to do anything about getting one - now that I am - I cannot locate the guy or his little operation or the literature he sent me. Thought I would try this site to see if some one might know of him or his company.Long answer to your question.Thanks for any input.

[chuck2blades]

I messed up - he did not buy the mold from G-W - but from whomever held the current rights to the mold (not sure who) but it is definitely a G-W mold. That is what I meant to say. Sorry

[gw invader's grandkid]

Actually, Joe Jenison of Key Boats out of Florida bought the GW Invader company. Before that, Roger Harmon had owned GW Invader boat company in Sharpsville and Tipton, Indiana. Originally, GW Invader Boat Company was started in the 1950's by Arne Gray (the G in GW) and George Wooldridge (the W in GW). It was located on Meridian Street in Sharpsville, Indiana. Arne sold his half of the business and moved to Tampa Florida, where he died in 1997. Arne was my grandpa. Recently, I have become interested in buying one of my grandpa's boats...maybe one of his 10 footers. Anyone have one they want to get rid of?

[10 FOOT INVADER]

Just sold mine. Original invader sweet boat. Put it on craigs list and sold it that day. Im in ga the buyer came from michigan. The invaders in good shape are hard to come by. Google 10 foot invader boats and a few for sale will pop up. They are easy to rebuild and sweet to drive. My kids cried when ours went. Just could not justify keeping it with the new boat. Never saw another like it on any lake we operated it on. And yes I am regretting selling it.

[roger harmon]

gw invader grandkid, i just found this sight and was surprised at the interest in the boats. i sold the company in 1995 to an investment group out of Muncie indiana. they kept the company for about 3 years and liquidated it. I brought the 10 footer back out in 1988. I used the old molds left over from your grandpa and George's era. I made new molds from them. I kept the boats as exact as i could. i had emblems steering and interior to match original boats. i did change the lamination and got rid of the troublesome balsa core that caused the death of many of the early GWs. This guy in florida you talk about did not buy the company. If he was making the 10 footer he probably did like so many and copied the boat illegally. i still have the last 10 footer made before George died. i was 14 and built it myself. it has been stored and sits in a climate controlled building now. the boat is just like it was the day i pulled it from the mold. I hope you find you a boat they are and american ikon of sorts.

[FootinFool]

Roger, If you wouldn't mind, please help us Invader fans understand the history. As I understand it, the GW Invader Boat Company was founded in 1964 by Arne Gray and George Wooldridge (who I also understand built some pretty slick hydroplanes before starting the Invader company). The company was located in Sharpsville, Indiana. Arne sold his half of the business to George (when?). George sold the business to you (in 1985?). You said you built the last 10 footer from the George era. Did you work for Arne and George as a teenager? (pretty cool summer job). And what's the deal with Keys Boats? I've seen them mentioned by others as well. There are many GW Invader fans out there. From all of us, thank you for your part in the history. I'd thank Arne and George too, if I could.

[brichter]

Roger, I am glad to have found your post on this site. I have a boat that you apparently built in april of 1975. It is a 15 foot single seat competition style tunnel. It is in rough condition and I am starting work on the restoration and exhibition of the boat. I would love to know any history about this hull as to who designed it, how many were made, who raced them and what class etc.

[JoLin]

Roger, I am glad to have found your post on this site. I have a boat that you apparently built in april of 1975. It is a 15 foot single seat competition style tunnel. It is in rough condition and I am starting work on the restoration and exhibition of the boat. I would love to know any history about this hull as to who designed it, how many were made, who raced them and what class etc.

The guy posted once over a year and a half ago and never returned. You'd have better luck finding him by Googling his name, than you will here.

Please don't resurrect ancient threads. It's frowned upon. Thanks and good luck.

[Lrider]

Seems to me the resurrection connected two people

Tis more then a lot of these threads do

I'm all for digging up old things, by the way I was able to connect with a guy that posted in 2006

[brichter]

The guy posted once over a year and a half ago and never returned. You'd have better luck finding him by Googling his name, than you will here.

Please don't resurrect ancient threads. It's frowned upon. Thanks and good luck.

Huh? I don't understand why frowned upon.....who did I hurt? If a year and a half ago is ancient, what am I?? I belong to other forums and I have never heard of such a thing.........!

Sorry if I did something that someone would "frown upon". If this was my forum I would be happy that someone took the time to read, utilize patronize. I was excited about possibly finding some valuable information from the man that built my boat.
That was my first post on I boats........Nice welcome

[brichter]

Seems to me the resurrection connected two people

Tis more then a lot of these threads do

I'm all for digging up old things, by the way I was able to connect with a guy that posted in 2006

Sincere thanks for the positive remarks. My feelings exactly. Glad you were able to make the forum work for you.

[scca vette]

I have to say that I am pretty happy this was brought back up. I live real close to where these boats were built and know some of the history of them along with somebody that worked there when they were in business. You can see the buildings where they were built from my fathers house and I often wonder if by chance there is still anything in the building that GW left behind.

I was actually looking for a 20 - 22 foot GW Bravo before I bought the BAJA however they are VERY hard to find and if you do find one they want good money for them and GET IT. These boats are 20 years old and still look like a modern boat. It may sound strange but I had to settle for the Baja instead of getting the GW that I have wanted for years.

[brichter]

GW has a large following and as a GW enthusiast I have a lot of questions.
Hopefully Roger will come back and post again as I think he has by far the most knowledge of the company and the boats. If he does not, there are many other people like GW grandkid that have interesting information about GW invader and I hope some more of them will post here. New or ancient, this topic is quite worthy of "resurrecting".

One of my questions that I hope someone could answer is how does the Delta Pro brand tie in to GW invader????

[JoLin]

Easy, guys- I wasn't coming down on anybody. Just imparting a little of this forums culture to the new posters. I was also relating what the moderators have told numerous people on numerous occasions.

'Roger' has posted to the iboats forum exactly once, in October of 2008. You'd have better luck finding him again by googling his name and seeing where that leads you.

Good luck (again)!

[Tod U]

Hi there,

Im the proud new owner of a gw invader and was wondering if anyone has experience working on them. I bought the boat as a father son project. Solid boat, been stored for years in a barn in dry eastern washington state. I'll be intalling , new steering, throttle and engine, new jellcoat/paint, and hardware.

Do you think I can paint/jellcoat with the rubrail on, or do you think I should replace it in order to get a nice finish?

I think it is installed with rivits, would I just pry those out? Or is there a better way?

Thanks for the help.

Tod

[MacPointMan]

Not the old classic 10 footer but She is my Invader. 1988 181

scca vette: looks like this was one of the boats built right by where you live / lived.

with the exception of the Gelcoat she is in exellent shape.

You can check out my "Adventures in Boating: Me and my Invader" thread for all the goings on and plans for her.

MacPointMan

Pics are the day I got her home

[JakeEddie]

Not sure if this was the company somebody was looking for but they do make the GW Invader lookalike.

http://www.wranglerboats.com/

[carbineone]

I know this is a old post that has been going on for around two years now but I have a little knowledge about these little 10 footers as I own one and have for about close to 20 years..Anyone has any questions I may be able to help...

[roger harmon]

Brichter, i cant believe this boat is still around i built this boat for the bi centinial. i helped build the pattern and molds for this boat. your boat was the first one out of the new molds. i started bulding this on a friday night and finished it on a sunday. it was gelcoated white with red stars going done the deck and the cockpit was blue flake with silver stars. i rigged it with a 150 merc inline and it ran in the mid 80s. it is a good rough water boat and turns great with the angled sides. i sold it to a friend and he blew it over and then sold it to another friend of mine who ran it for 4 or 5 years. he sold it and i lost track of it. be carefull it will blow if you dont know what you are doing. roger

Roger, I am glad to have found your post on this site. I have a boat that you apparently built in april of 1975. It is a 15 foot single seat competition style tunnel. It is in rough condition and I am starting work on the restoration and exhibition of the boat. I would love to know any history about this hull as to who designed it, how many were made, who raced them and what class etc.

[roger harmon]

FootinFool, sorry for the delay, i lost track of this site. Arne and George did not build any race boats until after forming gw. they were actually sponsored by Mercury in the late 60s. They sold the company in the early 70s to a chemical company out of new your called Todd Chemical. They renamed the company GX Invader. i believe that is when Arne and George went their seperate ways. Arne went on to form his hatch business and later sold out to Bomar. George ended up getting the old GW plant back around 1972 or 73. Todd Chemical did not last long. they were out of New York and did not fit into the Sharpsville crowd. i met Geoge during the time George was trying to get the company back. I worked for him in a small barn closed to the old plant. he was working on a race boat he was going to make a mold off of. i was 15. by the time i was 16 Geoge got the plant back and i was helping him set up a new company called Delta Marine, making bass boats. I worked there all through high school and weekends in college. Geoge was like a father to me. i helped do alot of design,pattern work, mold building and boat building. i went to work for GM in a near by town and still helped out at GW when i could. I bought land off of Geoge and lived across the street from him. he died suddenly at the plant and i rode with his wife to the hospital when we found out he died. i bought the remains of the boat factory several years later. I quit my job at GM and sold my house and made a small apartment in the factory. this all took place in 1985. I reincorportated under the name GW Invader and introduced my first boat in 1986 the Bravo 20'. the next hing i new i had a monster on my hands i could not build enough boats. the company grew crazy even through the fuel crunch and recessions. i moved to a larger plant in Tipton in 1993. i sold in 1995 to a group similar to the Todd Chemical company back in the early 70s. it was like gw had made a big circle. they liquidated it in 1998. i hope this helps i will try to keep an eye on this site. thanks roger

Roger, If you wouldn't mind, please help us Invader fans understand the history. As I understand it, the GW Invader Boat Company was founded in 1964 by Arne Gray and George Wooldridge (who I also understand built some pretty slick hydroplanes before starting the Invader company). The company was located in Sharpsville, Indiana. Arne sold his half of the business to George (when?). George sold the business to you (in 1985?). You said you built the last 10 footer from the George era. Did you work for Arne and George as a teenager? (pretty cool summer job). And what's the deal with Keys Boats? I've seen them mentioned by others as well. There are many GW Invader fans out there. From all of us, thank you for your part in the history. I'd thank Arne and George too, if I could.

[Marlee]

Hi there folks, I just nought a 68 gw invader off craigslist for 1200 bucks with a 70 hp merc and trailer,( I think I did good!!!!!) I love this boat but would like it a lot better if the motor had trim, any options available? I just got the tele flex rotary steering system and am installing it now I'm glad I found this thread