Agreed with the above - a very nice example of a very nice model. And Dan, I've long thought about the same market issue with respect to vintage canoes generally. I think this one was undervalued in the same vein that you described. But at the same time I was surprised because we see so many canoes going for far less than they should. There seems to have been a big slump in the market lately but there has always been some of this phenomenon around. Apples and oranges with respect to this lovely Rushton, but a pristine antique Old Town sells for far less than a comparable new canoe today.
And this Rushton - it had only a single bidder. No competition. Most of the items in that auction (at least as the day wore on past 5PM) were not receiving bids until the starting price was lowered multiple times, and still many items went unsold (no bids). Of the ones that had activity, most sold well under the bottom of the estimate range. This canoe got one bid right out of the gate, only one bid, and that bid was at the top of the estimate range. Who knows how low it would have sold it had gone through the same process as the other items. On the other hand, who knows how high it might have gone in a well-advertised auction in a more readily accessible location.
The market is what it is, but it seems a little sad somehow for those of us who love and appreciate the historical ones. But then again, in well-advertised auctions there are still some nice prices realized - the recent 4' Old Town made money for its former owner, the Rushton lapstrake exhibit boat from a few years ago, and more examples say that the market is still good for the higher-end, visible stuff. One thing I know for sure: at least one registered bidder all the way down in Florida was watching the Rushton auction in real time, wondering how to justify the time and expense of a trip all the way to Nantucket! But tomorrow I'll be on the tractor at the ranch, not in the truck headed north...
