Stephens Waring Yacht Design

Spirit of Tradition Yachts Designed In Maine

Hood 57 – An Exciting Work of Innovative Design

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Construction, Design, Spirit of Tradition

Stephens Waring Yacht Design, in collaboration with C.W. Hood Yachts and Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, brings to life this contemporary, one-of-a-kind reinterpretation of the classic Downeast style, a Spirit of Tradition design for weekend cruising and entertaining family and friends. The lucky few that can embark on the adventure of a custom yacht build usually have specific goals that bring them to our shop. The owners of the Hood 57 are no different. With many well-appointed power-yachts available on today’s market, why go custom with CW Hood Yachts?  The owner worked with C.W. Hood because he had owned smaller Hood-built boats previously […]

Ship Shape Recommended Reading

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Design, Marine Engineering

With all the craziness surrounding us during this time, we love to think about distractions when it comes to boats and design challenges.  Many of you know there’s tons of reading in the marine section of bookstores, but we thought we’d curate a few notable titles for you if you’re thinking what to read next.  Some of these books have been helpful either personally or in our process; others have been laughable and entertaining.  Either way, if you think about supporting your local bookstore, please use the publishing information below to help you place your orders   Here’s looking towards […]

The Cal “4040”

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Marine Engineering, Spirit of Tradition

Listen up, all you Cal 40 owners and racers: We have nothing but deep love and true respect for all you do, and what you represent. But, we have two serious marine design words for you all: “It’s time.” Over the past several months, we have been tinkering with several questions for cruisers/racers for the California, Oregon and Washington coasts. Not everyone realizes how a fertile the waters of the western U.S. have been for yacht innovation. But everything from America’s Cup boats to Bill Lee’s ultra-light TransPac racing sleds have flourished in these open waters that are lucky enough […]

A Rock. And a Hard Place: Lessons Learned Going Aground in Hoi An

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Construction, Marine Engineering

Here’s what happened: It was a normal Maine summer day. Half work, half play. Paul and I were out of the office, moving Hoi An from her mooring in Blue Hill to Camden. Her owners had kindly loaned the yacht to us for racing in the Camden Classics Cup to act as sponsor’s boat. The morning fog had cleared and a cracking breeze had come up; we were closing Camden fast, beam-reaching at over eight knots. I was navigating using the older, below-decks-mounted chartplotter occasionally, confirming with dead-reckoning, sighting islands, buoys, and landmarks. These weren’t my home-waters, but I had […]

What is the Cost to Own An All-Electric Boat, Anyway?

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Cross Platform Propulsion

It’s frustrating, but true: Nobody seems yet to know exactly what it costs to own an all-electric boat. So, if you’re considering purchasing something like Hinckley’s nifty new all-electric Dasher — or joining our other clients and commissioning a custom boat from us — you will have to feel your own way to estimates on what that boat will cost to own. Here is the bottom line on electrons: Electric propulsion is simply too early stage for meaningful wide ranging cost estimates. Let’s start with Electric Cars. It seems nutty, but the automotive world is the place to start for […]

Dasher: The Un-revolution in Electric Boats.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Construction, Design, Marine Engineering

When it comes to boats, the revolutions seem to happen when they’re not that revolutionary. Take all-electric runabouts. Our shop has spent nearly 10 years exploring electric propulsion in smaller craft. And earlier this year, the once impossible quietly happened: A major, high-quality American production boat builder began shipping an all-electric powerboat. Branded as the “world’s first all electric luxury yacht,” the svelte 28-foot Hinckley Dasher features twin 80hp inboard Torqeedo all-electric motors, BMW’s i3 waterproof lithium-ion batteries, and high capacity, dual 50-amp charging cables that can repower this boat in less than 4 hours. We’re sure that electrical pioneers, […]

On Powering Anna

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Construction, Design, Spirit of Tradition

Sailboats are just that: Boats that move because they have sails. So while we spend lots of our time figuring how out how slick mechanical systems operate winches and cool the air below, at the end of the day a boat like our new 66-footer Anna, just finishing up at Lyman Morse Boatbuilding, is a sailboat: Her central role is to provide her owners and crew the delightful experience of cajoling the wind into pushing or pulling all through the water — in more or less the direction the crew wants to go. Since Anna’s chief propulsive force is the […]

Paul Pounds Sails: Why Handicapping Sail Materials Is a Material Mistake.

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Racing

Sailing is not golf. Handicapping a sailboat race is a silly, silly idea: Length, weight, sail area, wetted surface are difficult to compare fairly. Nothing comes close to a simple “three-stroke handicap” that captures the subtle mix of tools that make a boat fast or slow. But, still, we sailors want to have fun, we don’t want confusing rules and penalties that are faulty in basis.  Mostly we want to collect our friends and all our different boats, together at the same party, and race. It’s what we do. Today, we’re going to rant about the especially gnarly problem of […]

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