Larry Lauterbach, a renowned boatbuilder and highly decorated powerboat racer, recently published his autobiography, “Larry Lauterbach Legacy: A life in Hydroplane Building, Racing, Restoring.” We have featured Larry several times in PropTalk and always love hearing about the latest in his shop, so we recently caught up with him to discuss his new book.
PropTalk: How long have you been working on your book?
Larry: It was a lot of work; took a little over a year to write, and it never would have happened without the help of Paul Comfort (a former member of the Board of County Commissioners for Queen Anne’s County) and my wife, Margaret. We all worked on it very hard. And thankfully everyone says they love it.
What was the process like?
I had been thinking about it for a while because once or twice a year it seems I would just start telling stories and people would say, “You need to write a book.” And they started bugging me, so I said, “Why? Do you think I’m gonna die? I’m not dying yet!” But they said you’ve got to get these stories down and Paul, whose written a few books, told me he would help me with it.
Where can people find your book?
I did a signing at Cult Classic Brewery about three weeks ago. If you want to get one unsigned you can find them on Amazon. Margaret got me these book plates I can sign and you can stick those in the book. We are scheduling book signings in the near future, and I have books in stock at the shop. Call or text to purchase: (410) 490-0159.
Have you been to any powerboat events recently?
I was at the Lauterbach Homecoming event in Portsmouth, VA. All the Lauterbach boats were originally built in Portsmouth. So years ago, a friend of mine said, ‘We should have a Lauterbach homecoming race; if you don’t have a Lauterbach inboard, you can’t come.’ At this event we had eight or nine boats; at the last minute a few people had issues and couldn’t make it. But we had people from all over—Michigan, South Carolina… Thunder on the Choptank is coming up next.
What have you got going on in the shop right now?
I’ve had a boat hanging from the ceiling for about six years, and I’m finally working on it. It’s a 1947 225 class Ventnor from Ventnor, NJ; they were popular boats back in the 1950s. I had an uncle that used to work for Ventnor, and as I’m working on this boat I’m thinking, ‘I can see some of his crazy ideas at work.’
Is there a lesson or a takeaway you hope readers get from reading your book?
Paul, who really helped me with this book, has a book titled “Find Your X Factor” about finding your purpose. In my book I touch on the X Factor a little bit. When I was six years old my parents divorced and both remarried and I had to move from Portsmouth to Richmond. I loved my mother, but I wanted to be back with my dad. I told the judge, ‘I know what I want to do with my life: I want to be a boatbuilder and a racer.’ I found my X Factor at age six. Maybe if someone else picks up the book, my hope is it’ll help them find theirs.