Design
Unparalleled style
For a wonderful long-established name in the discerning Maine boat building community, Lyman-Morse collaborates successfully with some very modern people...
With more than a century of Maine- based commercial and recreational boatbuilding and craftsmanship infused in their culture, Lyman-Morse began in earnest building sailboats and powerboats with souls over 40 years ago. The new LM46 is a perfect blend of these characteristics, where modern design meets traditional materials, combining uniquely to evoke the soul of modern sailing. In those days the industry was rapidly evolving from one-off wood construction towards series-built production, and by embracing these innovations the yard grew quickly in size, talent and capabilities. Now Lyman-Morse has expanded to become not only the premier builder of choice on the Down East coast, but to also to service a long list of clients with a diverse variety of skill sets to become a premier brokerage and service operation as well. What put Lyman-Morse on the map in the late 1970s was when Cabot Lyman picked up the contract to finish converting Jarvis Newman 46 traditional lobster boat designs into private power yachts. Some of the customers for these boats were also sailors, and convinced Cabot that there was a growing market for high quality sailboats in this same size range, a market that was going to help build well-known brands such as Hinckley, Cambria, Little Harbor and Alden.
With Bob and Roberta Schmidt as enthusiastic, supportive first clients, and help from Mitch Neff and Rod Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens, Lyman-Morse became part of this trend when the Sequin 44 class was born with the launch of Hob Nob in 1981. Eventually 15 Sequin 44s were built, along with five Sequin 40s and three Ted Hood-designed Sequin 49s, one of which circumnavigated
72 SEAHORSE
over 1987-1991 with Cabot and Heidi Lyman and their three sons aboard, and then went on a second world cruise via the South Pacific over 1999-2006. Meanwhile Lyman-Morse expanded their Thomaston campus with additional buildings and in 2003 acquired a 1500 square metre building in Rockland to take all metal fabrications in-house at Lyman- Morse Fabrication. Here craftsmen and engineers with expertise in stainless, aluminium, bronze, steel, titanium, and plastics not only assist in the construction of ocean-going yachts and marine components, but also provide their design and fabrication talents for municipalities, homeowners, architects, businesses, industrial manufacturers, and more. Lyman-Morse also entered the modern composites field with the 2006 launch of the innovative Reichel/Pugh 62 Baraka, a fully- furnished yet lightweight cruiser/racer with a lifting keel, built with carbon- SCRIMP epoxy/Corecell laminates. This choice of laminate was made to have both strength and flexibility when pounding upwind for extended periods and thus reduce the risk of de-lamination. Sophisticated hydraulic systems on board were designed to allow for easy short- handed racing and cruising with just the owner and/or a small crew. Amidst the construction of many innovative designs in power and sail, another interesting project was the 63-foot Farr-designed Kiwi Spirit built for Stanley Paris to realise his dream of breaking Dodge Morgan’s record of 150 days for a circumnavigation in a cruising sailboat. This Lyman-Morse project also had a lifting keel, water ballast and other systems set up not only for speed but sea-kindliness, safety and ease of handling. Hull
Above: hull number one of the new LM46 cruiser- racer in build at Lyman- Morse’s yard in Camden, Maine. This thoroughly modern hull shape is built in traditional materials: douglas fir tongue-and- groove strip planks
sheathed in four diagonal plies of west- ern red cedar veneer, all set in epoxy and vacuum- bagged on the outside. The structural frames are laminated fir and there’s a final outer layer of
unidirectional fibreglass. A laminated fir inner keel runs the full length of the boat
construction was in epoxy infused carbon, E-glass and Kevlar with a thermo-formed core.
Lyman-Morse has also worked with Morrelli & Melvin to build Mala Conducta, a 60ft cat designed for high speed yet comfortable family cruising. Her construction was also in carbon, Kevlar and E-glass in both pre-preg and SCRIMP infusion to optimise strength and weight. Lyman-Morse’s demonstrated proficiency in building high-quality offshore-capable custom and semi- custom yachts is well-established with these and other successful builds, and with client interest this has also segued them to take on building fast and beautiful daysailers. One is the elegant 48ft Aileen, with classic lines and beautiful wood trim cleverly married with modern and sophisticated push-button controls for shorthanded sailing. They have even ventured into hi-tech carbon construction with the 2012 build of Vlad Murnikov’s 8.5m SpeedDream, where a slender, wave-piercing hull with a canting keel and stabilising hydrofoil creates extra righting moment and offsets displacement to produce thrilling multihull speeds on a monohull. All this heritage in both traditional and cutting-edge construction has led them to now, where there is a new wave of interest in the marketplace for simplicity with sensible comfort and traditional styling, but also high-quality construction and outright speed. Decades ago it was common for boats you saw in marinas and on moorings in harbours to have an identity beyond just their name, design type, and hull colour. There was, often at just a glance, an immediate impression, which on closer inspection revealed an even
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110
