April 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 5. John 'Jock' Williams Honoured at Boatbuilder's Show Over the years the Maine Boatbuilder’s


Show has honored the best of the best Maine Boatbuilder, by placing them in the Boat- builder’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 Mar- tha’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 Ber-


muda 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


Lobster Boat Racing Continued from Page 1.


Those that have been chosen to date are: 2012: Gus Alley; Benny Beal; Isaac


Beal; Merle Beal; Richard Duff y; Jerry Farrin; Will Frost; Corliss Holland; Ernest Libby, Jr.; and the Young Brothers (Arvin and Arvid). 2013: Andrew Gove; Fred Lenfesty;


Brian Robbins; Lewis Stewart; and David Taylor.


2014: Calvin Beal, Jr.; Jim Preston; and


Sid Eaton. 2015: Osmond Beal; Bill Hallinan; and Glenn Holland.


* * * * * There are a number of rumours fl oating


around about new boats and old ones that have been repowered. Last season we were hoping to see Tom Clemon’s new Northern Bay 36 powered with a C18 Caterpillar, but unfortunately it could not be fi nished before lobster season got into full swing. She will be done this year and it is expected she will do in the mid-50s. After the last race last season Glenn


Crawford continued to work on fi nding more speed in WILD, WILD WEST. She is said to be going 55 mph and this could mean some


great competition in the top diesel class (Class L, 900 hp and over). Marshall Spear has a new boat and she


will be out to race. It is thought she will be in the low 40s. Another rumour is the MARGARET


E., was purchased by Patrick Faulkingham and will be out racing. She is getting a FPT engine, similar to the one that was in WHIS- KEY-TANGO-FOXTROT. Roger Kennedy of Kennedy Marine Engineering in Steuben will be putting the engine in and get her ready for racing. In the Gasoline Classes, the rumour


is that Galen Alley has taken out the big Ford engine and will instead go to a smaller engine and compete in Gasoline Class D. Glenn Holland’s RED BARON has been worked on over the winter. The hull has been faired and will be repainted. They have also removed the platform and the old top and both will be replaced new, which should lighten up the boat some. As for power they are hoping to use the 1,100-hp Chief engine. With all that has gone on since the fi nal


race last year, this year’s racing should be exciting and if you are a fan you will want to be at all ten races.


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


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