BOATBUILDERS SHOW 2016 MAINE Presented by Portland Yacht Services 58 Fore Street, Portland, Maine 18, 19 and 20 March


T is boat was built by Otto Backman and launched at Kittery Point in 1943 when Otto was working at the Naval Shipyard. She is being rebuilt by Dan Backman of Winter Harbor. Hall of Fame Inductee: John “Jock” Williams Over the years the Maine Boatbuild-


er’s Show has honored the best of the best Maine Boatbuilders, by placing them in the Boatbuilder’s Hall of Fame. This year the honour goes to someone who began by building a reputation in building commercial boats for lobster fi shermen, John “Jock” Williams of the John M. Williams Company of Hall Quarry. He then took his models to another level by fi nishing them off as very fi nely appointed lobster yachts. The boats they have produced over the years, as well as their service work, have earned him and his company one of the fi ne reputations on the coast.


John M. Williams John Williams, owner and founder of the


John M. Williams Company, began sailing during his summer vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, MA. At fi fteen he purchased his fi rst boat. He also began working in the


marine business, at the Martha’s Vineyard Shipyard in Vineyard Haven, which was run by Bob Love at the time and later by Tom Hale. He worked in the marine store, pumped fuel, learned to work around the yard, and run the launch service. His love for sailing grew and he began to compete not only in the local regattas, but also long distance races. This sailing included a lot of local ocean races such as the Newport Bermuda Race, the Vineyard race and the New York Yacht Club cruises. John also did two transatlantic crossings. Some of this sailing was done on very notable boats of that time, such as Huey Long’s ONDINE, and Bob Swenson’s TOSCANA. John graduated from Colby College of


Waterville and then entered the U. S. Navy. After Naval Offi cer Candidate School he was assigned to a U. S. Coast and Geodetic survey vessel, which at the time was cre- ating charts of the South China Sea due to our involvement in the Vietnam Confl ict. His next assignment was at the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD as their varsity sailing coach, but to accept this position he had to add another year of active duty. After leaving the Navy in 1967, John


headed to Paul Molich’s boat yard in Den- mark for a year apprenticeship. Here he learned all aspects of wooden boatbuilding. After working there for a little more than a year, John came back to the United States and went to work for the Henry R. Hinckley & Company in Manset. Williams said, “I really couldn’t get anywhere with Hinckley,


I was going to take over the production man- agement when one of the employees retired. I took over the fi berglass department and worked there for a year or so and gradually took over production. I worked there four years.”


Even before Williams left Hinckley he


had been negotiating on a piece of property on the water in Hall Quarry. Once he quit he really began pushing to buy the piece of land and set up his own yard. However, for almost a year, John worked out of his house building Herreshoff lapstrake dinghies. Once the property came through, he began building the boat yard. One tie that helped launch John in the


boatbuilding industry was his association with Lyford Stanley of Bass Harbor. He explained, “This goes back quite a ways. Lyford had been building in Bass Harbor for quite some time. He probably had built over 20 boats. They were smaller, 20 to 26 footers, and then he started building a bunch of these 36 footers. They were nice boats, with a good shape and the fi shermen liked them. His wife was working for me at the Hinckley Co. helping me build decks. She suggested that I see Lyford and maybe we could do something in fi berglass. At this time there was not a tremendous desire to have a glass boat, but I went over and talked to Lyford and later we made a mould.” This mould was done the following


summer after John had left the Hinckley Company. “Lyford had a boat he was building in his shop in Bass Harbor,” added


Williams. “We took that boat, laid her over on her side and made that 36 foot mould. That was in 1972. We name the boats after Lyford, after all it was his design.” Once the 36 was complete and in pro-


duction, Lyford and John combined eff orts to do a 44 footer. Before they even had the mould fi nished they had 11 boats sold. “The thing was that we happen to be just at the right time,” said John. Besides the 36 and 44, they also off er


a Somes Sound 26; Stanley 28, Stanley 38, Stanley 39 and Stanley 42. At the beginning most of the boats were


built for the commercial industry, however, during the mid-1980s this began to sway towards the pleasure boat market. Williams said that in the last fi ve years he has only


Continued on Page 3. CONTENTS


Lecture Schedule Exhibitor Location Floor Plan


Exhibitor List News from the Yards


3-4 5


6-7 8-15 16-18


Boatbuilder’s Hall of Fame 17 Rebuilding ERNESTINA 19


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