The company also prides itself on its fit and finish. The boats are notable for the variations seen in its shearlines, which can be straight, broken, or cambered. The builder offers a line of five models, plus full-custom jobs. A fourth generation is coming up in the business as well. The company has remained within the family, with new boats now built by the third generation. This 90-year-old brand was founded in 1933 by W. There’s no comparison between the two materials when you want the softest ride possible.”įrom out west comes Idaho’s StanCraft. “You come off a wave and wood absorbs the shock, whereas fiberglass transfers it. “The strength of a tree is in its ability to bend with the wind,” says Chip King, Shearline’s president. Using wood instead of fiberglass is a no brainer. But the firm stands out among sportfish builders in that it’s still building in wood. The builder is not uncommon amongst its peers in that it only turns out one or two boats a year. Shearline is one of the cluster of custom sportfish builders centered around North Carolina’s famously rough Oregon Inlet. Our main focus is to maintain the timelessness of the boat, but at the same time we have the ability to do custom designs.” For a builder with timelessness in mind, Hacker also has an eye on the future with its fully electric 27 Sport, which has a run time of up to three hours and a 30-knot top end. “We build on a jig so anything is possible. “The build method lends itself to customization,” says Erin Badcock, Hacker Craft’s COO. The builder does series of boats such as its Sport, Sterling, and Racer models and also takes on full-custom jobs. Even her sails are made of recyclable materials.įounded in 1908, HackerCraft is one of the most prominent names in the wooden-boat world. Her eco-conscious owner mandated systems like the first-of-its-kind electric propulsion by Torqeedo-a 100 kw motor fed by BMW lithium-ion battery banks, which recharge while Geist is sailing-while her Rhoades Young interior elevates wood to its maximum potential, showing off sustainably sourced sipo mahogany, teak and walnut in a series of continuously flowing curves. But Geist is much more than a giant sloop. The 111-foot Geist, launched in 2021 by Spirit, is the largest single-masted wooden sailing yacht built in the UK since the 1930s, when the America’s Cup yacht Shamrock V ruled the seas. Equipped with twin 380 hp Ilmor gas engines, the 860 can hit 48 mph. The runabout’s meticulous craftsmanship disguises a beast of a machine designed for precise handling, tow sports and speed. Propulsion choices include modern options such as twin 150 kw electric engines for quiet, emissions-free operation or more conventional gas or diesel engines. Boesch’s 28-foot 860 has a classically styled mahogany hull with up to 11 layers of wood laid at right angles, sealed with six layers of epoxy and finished with six layers of varnish. Jakob Boesch built his first boat in the 1890s, and more than a century later, his family continues to merge new technologies with old-world Swiss craftsmanship. “A wooden boat is a way to demonstrate that.” “The common denominator among our customers is that they want something that sets them apart from their neighbors without being gaudy or ostentatious,” says Gallagher. The Wisconsin builder is currently focusing on two different models, the Burnham 26 runabout (opening image) and Winchester 36 commuter (pictured above). “Our boats are few and far between, so the people who look at our boats often say they resemble a piece of art,” says Patrick Gallagher, president and CEO of Grand Craft Boats. Here are 9 of our favorite wooden boatbuilders. When you catch a glimpse of the beautiful brightwork and gleaming mahogany from the dock, you’ll find they clearly have a point. They will also say that the prestige of owning one of these boats is all but unmatched in the world of boating-wooden boats have long been a favorite of kings and movie stars. These builders will tell you that their material of choice offers the softest ride available, thanks to its natural properties. Some build classic-inspired designs from the 1920s through the 1960s, while others focus on contemporary hulls, but with wood instead of fiberglass. There is something almost primal about being on board a boat built from the first material humans fashioned roughshod canoes with.įortunately, there are multiple yards around the world that are still building wooden boats-but with modern hulls and systems that eliminate the hassles of owning a vintage yacht. There are few more classic sights in boating than a small mahogany runabout splitting the serene waters of a lake in some picturesque locale-be it northern Italy, Lake Tahoe, or a pristine stretch of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
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