The war became an instant reality to the young seaman when his convoy, sailing from Galveston to the oil refineries of Aruba – an island country just north of Venezuela – was attacked by German U-boats, and two ships were sunk. Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point, New York, for a commission as a Midshipman. That same year, as World War II raged, he applied to the U.S. In 1942, the year Luzier graduated from Sarasota High School, he became a founding member of the newly formed Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Sarasota’s oldest sailing club which continues to thrive on City Island. The skilled cabinetmakers and woodworkers taught the teenager about the different kinds of woods and which pieces were better suited for a given job. Luzier took a job at a local lumberyard and mill after school to help support his family. Many of Luzier’s boats still sail the waters from Florida to Maine and points beyond.ĭuring the Depression years, life was as hard in Sarasota as elsewhere. The lines always blend well, and there is a strength of character in the appearance that makes it easy to identify a Luzier boat.” “Luzier boats have a certain look and a distinctive character that sets them apart from any other boat I’ve seen. The late Sarasota marine surveyor Stan Lowe said in a 1985 article in Wooden Boat magazine, He earned the coveted Wooden Boat Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award. His boats long have been recognized and appreciated for their strength, simplicity, beauty and flawless craftsmanship – the Swiss watch of boats. ![]() ![]() This was the beginning of a long and distinguished career for the self-taught craftsman.īy the time Luzier retired in 2017 at the age of 93, he had built more than 250 wooden boats, ranging from 6 feet to 50 feet, but only in wood, an irony given that the area is home to some of the country’s largest manufacturers of fiberglass boats. It had a bamboo mast that frequently broke and which he conveniently replaced from bamboo stands around town. Having learned to sail on Sarasota Bay in the 1920s and ’30s, Luzier’s first boat was a little Moth-class design, planked out of cypress. The craftsman and nautical legend died at his Sarasota home on Aug. When then 12-year-old Sarasota native son George Luzier started building boats in the backyard of his Sarasota home, it is unlikely he knew he would become a legend in the world of wooden boat design and craftsmanship.
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