“What is Spirit-of-Tradition design?” When it comes to designing great boats, we’ve been asking ourselves questions like this for 25 years. Operating in any design idiom, it’s important to recognize a flow of ideas comes from somewhere. A “somewhere” that may be inspired by some historical precedent or a springboard off a unique lineage of elements or forms. Spirit-Of-Tradition design is like any other vernacular: Strong themes and elements merge into a cohesive piece of naval architecture; forming a vernacular where one can identify those integral cues from traditional and classic lineage and recognize how that interpretation is intrinsic within […]
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The DNA of the SoT: Comparative Analysis Of Various Modern-Classic Designs.
What we love about working with the design themes found in Spirit-of-Tradition boats, is the genetics involved. True of any architectural style, one is not allowed to simply pull from thin air when finessing the Spirit-of-Tradition. Features like bow profiles and entries, sheer lines, and transom shapes are all beholden to a kind of vintage/classic DNA. Working in the Spirit-of-Tradition genre demands defining characteristics for each design, and treating them as a kind of naval amino acid. The art to it is organizing these base design proteins into a well-balanced vessel that sifts out the noise from other idioms and […]
Design Brief: The Botin 55.
It’s been an active Spirit-of-Tradition yacht building season here in Maine, with many builders launching many interesting boats. There’s a pair of modern-classic yacht tenders, just launched at Hodgdon’s in Boothbay Harbor, that look like they’ve somehow motored in from Venice’s Grand Canal. And then over at Front Street Shipyard in Belfast, there’s Sindbad, a classic Norwegian Trawler getting a 21st-century refit. But what’s piqued the most interest in some sailing circles, is a controversial new 55-footer, currently coming together at Brooklin Boat Yard, in Brooklin Maine. This daysailer/racer is designed by Botin Partners, who work out of a sea town […]
Marine Engineering 201: Composite Construction for Dummies.
The news is finally out: We’re getting into the construction nitty-gritty on our custom 57-foot Spirit of Tradition powerboat, a collaboration with our friends over at C.W. Hood Yachts. And yet again, we are reminded when it comes to boats, what’s going on inside is as important as what’s going outside. On its outer surface, this 57 Express-Classic design is what the world expects a near-60-foot custom powerboat to be: A luxury vessel filled with all the amenities, range and speed to offer the flexibility and power to steam for distant horizons; yet offering enough comforts to rest elegantly at […]
The Ultimate Spirit-of-Tradition Day Racer: Summer 2019 Edition.
Ah, fall. Cold breezes, falling leaves and the prospect of Halloween ghosts and goblins. What better time to look ahead to the Summer of 2019. And our latest thinking for an enthusiastic client, on the perfect mid-sized, Spirit-of-Tradition sailing sloop. That is, a doodle we began years ago branded as the Signature 38. It’s been about a decade since we sketched up this classy speedster. But we found, after dusting off the drawings this past month, that there’s something about this sleek, swift alternative to mid-thirty-foot dayboats that endures. Probably that’s because when we sat down to draw her, it […]
A Fresh Design! Announcing a 57-foot All-Custom, Composite Express-Cruiser for C.W. Hood Yachts.
BELFAST, MAINE: Stephens Waring Yacht Design reveals an exciting new design for a 57-foot Express-Classic, with C.W. Hood Yachts, of Marblehead, Mass. Construction of major components for this custom motor yacht will begin this fall at Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding, in Thomaston, Maine. The vessel is expected to be finished at C.W. Hood’s construction facility in Marblehead, MA. for a 2020 delivery. “This client originally came to us with a 26-foot repower and refit project,” says Chris Hood, founder C.W. Hood Yachts. “Inspired by the style and performance of our earlier designs, the conversation turned to a larger custom yacht. With a […]
The 2018 Maine Classic and Spirit-of-Tradition Race Report
Camden Classics Cup, July 26-28: It was a good few days for traditional and modern sailboat racing in Penobscot Bay, Maine. The third running of the Camden Classics Cup continued to build on the success of the first two events. We counted 68 yachts on the scratch sheet. Or about double the 30 boats that shaped up to race, year before last. We’re shameless promoters of the Camden Classics. We are sponsors of the regatta. We serve on committees to improve the rules for it. And our boats, and our selves, race in the event. And even discounting for all […]
Classic Lessons Learned For Classic and Spirit-of-Tradition Races
Let’s begin with the disclosures: We didn’t just spend two weeks racing Vintage, Classic and Spirit-of-Tradition yachts. We spent a lot of time during those races thinking about racing: How to organize these modern-classic events more effectively; how to class boats more fairly; how to handicap the yachts more properly and how to make these events more inclusive, rather than more exclusive. This brainwork was part of a reasonably rigorous market survey we are conducting of the Vintage, Classic and Spirit-of-Tradition racing fleets. The full report is due out later this year. But even now, we are finding solid lessons […]