April 2014 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 5. Boatbuilder's Hall of Fame Inductees: Duffy and Hewson RICHARD DUFFY Many lobstermen spent their winters
repairing gear, but some built boats. Some- times these men gained quite a reputation as boatbuilders, and two of them were Ralph Duffy and his son, Richard. Richard spent over three decades in the business and de- veloped and marketed an incredible line of boats that were sold all around the United States.
They built their fi rst lobster boat in 1975, a 34 footer, which they designed to be more seaworthy and faster. They follow- ing year they built two of these 34 footers, selling one and keeping the other for them- selves. Soon other fi shermen were asking if they could buy one. Richard, his father, with the help of one other man put up a shop and built a mould for the 34. When the fi rst one hit the water they quickly found themselves with ten orders. This ended their career as fi shermen and began their boatbuilding company, Duffy & Duffy. This boat was in production for seven years.
In 1979 they introduced the Duffy 50, which was aimed at the commercial fi shing market, however, some where made into yachts. Also this year found them introduc- ing the Duffy 41. Fiberglass technology was advancing
and Duffy made sure they were producing boats using the most updated products. Another change in the industry was the in- creased horsepower of diesel engines. They began by putting in 135-200 hp engines and when he left the business some of the engines were producing over 700 hp. The Duffys were looking to better their 34 and turned to designer Spencer Lincoln, who had designed their 50. From this was born their most popular model the Duffy 35, which was designed not only for the commercial fi shermen, but also the pleasure boater. The fi rst was built as a demonstrator with a 3208T Caterpillar diesel and with about 15 people on board competed and won at the Stonington lobster boat races. The
pleasure boaters wanted more room and the 35 High Sheer was introduced. The Duffy 30 was brought out in 1984; and the following year the 42, which re- placed their 41 footer.
The market was changing and more and more of the customers were looking for plea- sure boats. At some points they were selling approximately 40 boats a year which are going all over the coast of Maine, southern New England, the Carolinas, Florida, and even Alaska.
Over the years, Duffy & Duffy offered a buyer a number of different models, which included the 26, 30, 31, 35, 35 high shear, 41, 42, 50 and 56.
There is no question the over the nearly 30 years that Richard Duffy operated the company it was one of the most successful boat companies in Maine.
ROGER HEWSON
Roger Hewson turned a hobby into a business in 1970 by forming Sabre Yachts in South Casco. He then went on to design and build fi fteen hundred oceangoing sailing yachts from 28 to 42 feet in length, and Sa- bre’s fi rst fi fty 34 and 36 foot motoryachts, before retiring.
His love for boatbuilding began as a youngster on a lake north of Montreal, where he built the fi rst small boat to his own design at age fourteen. He received his civil engi- neering degree from McGill University and followed that with fi fteen years of industrial building construction, including four pavil- ions at Expo 67, Montreal’s World’s Fair. He continued to design and build boats as a sideline throughout his construction career, and fi nally he decided to take it on full time. He then sold his construction company and chose Maine as the ideal spot for his new boatbuilding enterprise. His wife Charlotte had family roots there, and they had often vacationed in Maine. The business concept was to produce the smallest ocean sailing yacht with full standing headroom, built
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with quality construction standards. The resulting Sabre 28 was an instant hit, with almost 600 built, and it was later chosen for the American Sailboat Hall of Fame. Next came the Sabre 34, which was chosen for a Boat of the Year award, and later nine other models from 30 to 42 feet in length. With the growing interest in trawler-style moto- ryachts, the fi rst 36 foot “Fast Trawler” was introduced by Sabre in 1988. Sailboat racing was Roger’s true pas- sion. He has a shelf of trophies from his early days racing International 14 dinghies in Montreal, and later racing many differ- ent Sabre models in Maine. In addition he crewed in the Newport-Bermuda race, the Annapolis-Newport race, the Marble- head-Halifax race, and the Southern Ocean
Racing Circuit.
He was very active in boating industry associations, serving as chairman of the National Sailing Industry Association, a director of the National Marine Manufac- turers Association, and a director of the Maine Marine Trades Association. In 1985 he received the Small Business Person of the Year award for Maine by the Small Business Association (SBA). Sabre Yachts continues to thrive, and has grown multifold since an investor group led by Ed Miller and Daniel Zilkha bought the company in the 1990’s. Its present mod- els feature elegant motoryachts and express cruisers from 38 to 54 ft in length in addition to sailboat models.
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