The last of her kind. And one of a kind. The Ann Rita.
It is our belief that the Ann Rita is the only 1940 24’ Gar Wood Over-nighter still in existence. Originally located in Sand Point Idaho by Mahogany Bay, Ann Rita was a wonderful original example of a Gar Wood, but she had not been touched since her original construction. The restoration needs were extensive – and our customer wanted a finished product that would last for generations. Dry rot had taken over a significant portion of the original wood, so the restoration took careful planning. 
To begin, we removed her cabin roof and her bottom. Then using the original boards as patterns, we carefully went through, board by board, and repaired what could be saved and refashioned what could not. In the end we fitted her with all new frames, keel, chines and stringers. On the sides we were able to keep quite a few of the original planks but still needed to replace almost half of the planks. A new foredeck, gunwales and aft deck were recreated and installed. The roof was also rebuilt as well as re-canvased and re-trimmed. The instrumentation was upgraded from the original 6 volt to 12 volt, completely rebuilt and re-configured to “talk” to the modern electronic senders in the new powerplant. New spotlights, new custom upholstery of the original pattern, but dyed in the customers’ choice of color and a handsome dark blue hull with a red water line completed the restoration. 
At the customer’s request, we designed and engineered a custom convertible top using modern materials in colors and design to look original. The Ann Rita was re-powered with a 330 horse, 5.7 liter fuel-injected Crusader V-8. In order to accommodate her newer, larger engine, we needed to build a larger engine box - fashioned after the original. The result is a truly beautiful boat - in performance as well as style and proportion.
Ann Rita has a small cabin forward, with her helm midship, behind the cabin midship bulkhead. 
She has particularly beautiful proportions with the size of the cabin and the look of the boat. As you walk down into the cabin there is a small sink area with custom-designed hand-hammered copper sink and counter and V-berth outfitted with custom mattresses. There is a small head with porthole style windows that open for ventilation. The bulkhead door has a hinged panel and is screened, as is the porthole for the foredeck in front of the windshield.
The Gar Wood Boat Co. was founded by the famous American sportsman Garfield Arthur Wood – a man with Minnesota roots who defended the Harmsworth Gold Cup races for the United States and won in those venues for over 20 years.
Gar Wood is probably one of the most un-sung American sportsmen of our time. Through our restoration work we hope that we can help bring to light not only his great accomplishments, but also to celebrate some of the finest runabouts built under the Gar Wood banner.
