January 2017 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 15.
Maine Built Boats to Receive 2017 Mariner's Award At the Maine Built Boats’ Conference,
held at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath on 8 December, Amy Lent, Director of the Museum, announced that Maine Built Boats would be receiving the Mariner’s Award for 2017 for the boatbuilders of Maine. “This is a great honour for the boat-
builders of Maine to be recognized for their contribution to the maritime history of the State of Maine,” said Jon Johansen, Presi- dent of the Board of Maine Built Boats. “For more than 400 years Maine has built vessels all along her shoreline. During the 1800s we were known world-wide for our wooden shipbuilding, vessels that would voyage to all the corners of the world. Her shipbuilders had an impressive reputation world-wide and today that reputation is carried on by the boatbuilders.” Wooden sailing ships were no longer
in demand and thus shipbuilding began declining in the 1880s and was virtually gone in the early 1900s. The exception was Bath Iron Works, who began building steel warships for the U. S. Navy in the late 1800s and continues to build the fi nest warships in the world. Some of the shipbuilders transi- tioned to building small commercial vessels, powered by either sail or steam. Local fi sh- ermen began switching from rowing craft such as the peapod to larger craft such as the Friendship Sloop. With the development of the internal combustion engine an evolution began taking place. Builders tried adapting engines to current models, but soon found these designs had limitations. Will Frost ar- rived at Beals Island in the early 1900s and thus was born the powered Maine lobster boat. He experimented with all sorts of de- signs, and as the power increased his designs were adapted to change. These boats were 20 to 35 feet in length depending on where they were fi shed and powered with up to a 200 to 300-hp gasoline engine. Today, the Maine lobster boat has become a massive working platform, some upwards of 50 feet in length and powered with diesel engines that produce more than 1,600-hp.
The late 1800s also saw Maine become
a destination for tourists, many of which were wealthy, and they found yachting as a pleasurable past-time. Some of them raced in local regattas while others cruised the beautiful, rock-bound coast. More and more people began to turn to the boatbuilders of Maine for pleasure boats, even people from other states. Mostly these early yachts were small sailboats, some class designs, while others were custom. There were also a num- ber of small steam and gasoline launches. On another scale, BIW was turning out the mega-yachts of the early 1900s. The phrase “if you have to ask how much it costs you can’t aff ord it,” is attributed to J. P. Morgan’s 343-foot CORSAIR IV, which was launched in 1929. BIW would even construct two America’s Cup racers. DEFIANCE was built for the 1914 challenge, which was not raced until 1920, but by that time she had been scrapped. The other was the J-boat RANGER built for the 1937 challenge, which she easily defended. Following World War II, BIW stopped
building the large yachts and concentrated on work for the U. S. Navy. However, nu- merous other Maine builders all along the coast were building custom yachts, both sail and power, for customers from all over the country. In the 1980s, the Downeast lobster boat hull became popular in the yachting circles for a very comfortable and seaworthy cruiser and it still remains popular. Besides the Downeast cruiser, several yards began using other hull designs or totally custom de- signs. Not only is the Maine lobster boat hull being used for commercial boats or yachts, but the sportfi shing community loves these hulls for off shore fi shing. The same can be said for sailboats, as
there are a number of production moulds, but there are also several builders of custom one-off s. Unfortunately in the last 20 years this market has seen a decline, but there are a few builders who still produce sailboats as
Continued on Page 22.
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rockportmarine.com Photo by Alison Langley.
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