Alan Furth: A Man & His Boats

Lemme Go First! is one of the important Lake Tahoe boats that Alan Furth helped to save.

Originally named Hey There III, Lemme Go First! arrived in Lake Tahoe in 1929. Edwin Letts Oliver ordered her delivered to the lake straight from Gar Wood’s Michigan factory. Oliver was the first Commodore of the Tahoe Power Boat Club (later known as the Tahoe Yacht Club). Oliver and his cohorts founded the Power Boat Club to organize races, and he wasted no time before entering his new Baby Gar in the Tahoe regattas. He raced Hey There III until 1938 when Henry J. Kaiser Sr. purchased her, renamed her Lemme Go First!, and continued racing the Baby Gar.

During Kaiser’s racing campaigns, she received new power in the form of a Scripps Model 302 V-12 engine. When finished racing, Lemme Go First! was heavily modified and did service as a work boat and fire boat at Lake Tahoe.

Alan Furth purchased the famous Tahoe boat, but he never got around to doing the restoration work. In 1991, Lou and Martin Smith purchased Lemme Go First!. The Smiths researched and did a complete restoration project in the mid 1990s. In December 2001, Lou, Lee and Martin Smith assured that Lemme Go First! would remain part of the lake by donating her to the Tahoe Maritime Museum. Lemme Go First! was repowered with a Scripps Model 202 6 cylinder marine engine, the same type of engine that powered this craft when she left the Gar Wood factory in Marysville, Michigan.

Today Lemme Go First! is a highly valued part of the museum's collection. She has served as the museum ride boat, and in 2011 she was featured in the exhibit, Gar Wood's Tahoe Legacy.

1938 Tahoe Yacht Club Regatta Results featuring Lemme Go First!