Stephens Waring Yacht Design

Spirit of Tradition Yachts Designed In Maine

A Stern Lesson: Or How to End The Perfect Boat.

and filed under Construction, Design, Spirit of Tradition

Boatbuilding is an alluring kind of democracy: Design a specific yacht for a specific person, and that single soul is king and sovereign. Create the same boat for two people, maybe a married couple, and there’s voting, and committees, and deals cut in smoke-filled boat yards.  Take our 66-foot Anna, currently under construction at Lyman Morse Boatbuilding, in Thomaston, ME. The sloop is our client-couple’s chance to breathe life into their long-held dream of melding a classic yacht a la turn-of-the-century genius William Fife III above the waterline, with sleek, modern shapes below and 21st-century luxury within. To accommodate the […]

Waterworld Comes to J/World

and filed under Construction, Design

American production boats got heavy this month. Newport, Rhode Island-based J/Boat announced the J-121. (Say “Jay One, two, one.” and you’ll be all the rage.) This 40-footer appears to be another step in a long line of powered-up, day and weekend racers from this serious production boat yard. Save for one tiny — seriously heavy — feature. Water ballast. For the first time, as far as we are aware, a major boat maker is placing a potential 400 kilograms (or about 820 pounds) of pump-able water weight in tanks near the sides of the boat. We will be digging deeper […]

Cuomo’s Steampunk Picnic Boat.

and filed under Cross Platform Propulsion, Design

Even governors, it seems, have electric tug boat dreams. Two years ago, we began work on an early-stage, cross-platform electric propulsion project for the Maine State fishing fleet. Details are still hush-hush. We can’t spill the beans on our electric lobster boat just yet. But our discretion has not stopped us from tracking alternative powerplants in other boats since. One of the most intriguing — and frustrating — is the 2014 electric repowering of this classic 1928 canal tug, pictured above, by New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority. Cuomo […]

The Zumwalt Class Lobster Boat

and filed under Boat Nerd Tech, Design

An interesting early look at a new “transmission-less” propulsion option crept out of Europe earlier this year. Netherlands-based Hybrid Power Systems announced a variable-speed, saltwater-cooled diesel generator that might open new powering options to smaller craft. The full specs are hazy. But from what we can see, this one motor could power not only batteries, but all the power systems on a small boat. Meaning, that pesky central prop shaft, that runs from the back of the engine through the hull, and to the propeller would be gone. Instead, a quiet, all-electric coil would drive the boat. And that’s a […]

World’s Best Engineered Kaiser Roll

and filed under Design, Marine Engineering

“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.” — Jesse Owens Mizzen masts are not born. They’re made. And not wasting a lot of time — and money — in making these small spars ready for the job of civilizing a big, powerful modern sailing yacht takes major boat-nerd TaiChi. In fact, the mizzen engineering ‘round here can get cut so fine that the results earn nicknames — like this “Kaiser Roll,” fabricated stainless mizzen mast collar for the 90-foot sailing yawl Bequia. This […]

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