Miss Maple was manufactured in Ontario Canada in 1981 by Mastercraft of USA (see flyer). Manufacturing in Canada was short lived with production returning to the USA in the early 80's. This exact model boat was used to pull the 1979 16th World Water Ski Championships in Toronto Canada where Canadian Joel McClintock won the men’s overall world title aged just 19. Our own Mike Hazelwood winning the jump.
As we understand it (its history is rather vague), the boat was imported to the UK new in 1981 and after three years with its first owner then remained in sole ownership until 2015 when it was part exchanged at Wake and Ski Mastercraft Dealer. This is a very rare boat due to its Canadian origin and to the best of our knowledge the only one of its kind in the UK (USA ones of the same era were Stars & Stripes). We acquired the boat from Wake and Ski in 2015 as a working project as the boat and trailer needed a fair bit of tlc.
Although it had clearly done a lot of hours the engine ran sweetly then as it does now (see videos) and since then has only needed routine servicing and a carb rebuild. Various other minor mechanical repairs were needed such as a new steering cable, speedo tube, bilge blower, bilge pump, core plugs and battery. The biggest cost was having a new trailer axle, brakes and hitch fitted to bring the trailer up to UK spec and replace the USA spec hydraulic brake set up which is illegal in the UK (and didn't work anyway). Body wise the boat appears to have had the topsides painted at some point in the past and needed some decals replacing. The interior is very basic, the carpet and seats were a bit worn but serviceable and have not been reupholstered.
We have since used it at Classic Motor Boat Association events and as a family ski boat at Stewartby Water Ski Club in Bedford. The boat has always been maintained in running order (and still is today - see video page) but has not been used on water since summer 2025 when we retired her in favour of using a newer Mastercraft more suited for higher speed slalom course work. This is an old classic boat still on its original engine and like most classics is always a work a progress. Whilst its days of thrashing up and down a slalom course at 36mph are long gone, it can, in the right hands, with the right care, still provide a usable family ski and recreational boat.
