News from Brooklin Boat Yard
Construction Begins on Custom 91-foot Sloop
Brooklin Boat Yard has begun construction of a custom 91-foot cold-molded, flush-deck sloop for a repeat customer. The design is by Bruce Johnson and the Brooklin Boat Yard design office. The boat will take 18 months to build and will be delivered in the spring of 2018.
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You Can’t Get There From Here
In early August when Sailing Anarchy’s editor tried to journey to Brooklin, Maine, from San Diego, he had flight delay issues that wouldn’t allow him to make the event. The plan was to race AURORA in the famed Eggemoggin Reach Regatta and its two feeders. Here’s how the weekend went.
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Botin Flip
In the last week of March 2016, we flipped the hull of the new Botin 22m sloop under construction. The hull-turning went well and the Botin is back in the shop on her bottom. While we had her in the slings we had the opportunity to put her on the scales. We’re happy to report we’ve come under her projected weight. Construction will continue through spring and summer.... read more
Taylor 49 Racer/Cruiser
Brooklin Boat Yard is teaming once again with designer Jim Taylor of Marblehead, MA. This 49-foot racer/cruiser is a variation of Jim’s very successful design DREADNOUGHT, launched by BBY in June of 2014. The owner is an experienced New England yachtsman with a keen interest in racing.
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APHRODITE Refit
We’re really excited to welcome back APHRODITE to Brooklin Boat Yard. A 72-foot Purdy-built commuter, APHRODITE was originally launched in 1937. She was completely restored at Brooklin Boat Yard in 2005. Now in 2015, her owner has brought her back for a ten-year service call.
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Botin 22m Sloop
Brooklin Boat Yard is constructing a new 22-meter yacht designed by Spanish firm Botin Partners. In hull shape and sail plan the Botin 22 will be very similar to many of today’s modern racing boats.
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Brooklin Boat Yard Builds 28′ Naval Cutter Replica
Not every project here at Brooklin Boat yard is “cutting edge” or “pushing the envelope “. We equally enjoy restoration and replication projects, especially when the boats that we are working on have some historical significance. Along these lines Brooklin Boat Yard has been contracted to construct a replica of a 28’ Naval Cutter which will be presented to Culver Military Academy not only as a memorial to the former cadets and faculty of the Culver Military Academy who played an heroic and lifesaving role in the Great Easter Flood of 1913 but also as a symbol to current and future cadets of the expectations and responsibilities of cadets and graduates of the Academy. Below is a description of the events that took place and the heroic efforts of the Culver Military Academies cadets and faculty. It was one hundred and one years ago that the flood-swollen Eel and Wabash rivers converging in Logansport, Indiana, would ravage the city and threaten the lives of thousands. Converging with that natural disaster was a courageous group of Culver Military Academy cadets and faculty who answered a call for help and ended up saving nearly fifteen hundred men, women, and children. The story of the dramatic rescue began in March of 1913 when early spring rains hit the Ohio Valley, falling in such quantities that virtually every river in Indiana and Ohio reached flood stage. On the evening of March 26, Culver Superintendent Lieutenant Colonel Leigh Gignilliat received a frantic phone call from David Fickle the mayor of Logansport located about 40 miles to the south of Culver Military Academy .... read more
Make it Faster!
Brooklin Boat Yard has now built three boats for the owner of VA PENSIERO II (launched in 2004) with the newest of these three being DREADNOUGHT, the Jim Taylor designed 49’ Spirit of Tradition Racing Sloop launched this past (2014) spring. This owner was so impressed with the performance and handling of his new Jim Taylor designed boat that he asked Jim to take a stab at a redesign of VA PENSIERO II’s underwater profile (modified full-keel w/ skeg-hung rudder) with an eye towards achieving more in the way of sailing performance and over-all handling characteristics. After much thought, design work and number crunching Jim Taylor was able to provide VA PENSIERO II with a new underwater profile that would incorporate a new more modern fin-bulb type keel and a detached, balanced spade rudder arrangement that would greatly improve her performance. This new configuration for VA PENSIERO II would have about 10% less wetted area giving her a big boost in light air performance on all points of sail. Her displacement would also be about 2,100 lbs. lighter, which would allow her to accelerate more quickly. She would float only slightly higher but due to the buoyancy lost in the cut away deadwood, she would maintain her effective sailing length and top end speed. The reduced deadwood volume would raise her center of buoyancy allowing for greater stability with a lighter keel weight. The new keel would about 15” deeper with a much higher aspect ratio than the original keel shape and so the new keel would dramatically reduce induced drag upwind, and improve her pointing ability. The new separated spade rudder... read more
DREADNOUGHT Launches
Brooklin Boat Yard launched DREADNOUGHT, a 49-foot cold-molded custom sailboat, on Monday, June 9. Designed by Jim Taylor, the yacht is a lightweight, performance-oriented sloop with a traditional aesthetic above the waterline and a modern underbody below. A repeat customer of Brooklin Boat Yard commissioned the yacht and now plans to sail and race her throughout northern New England. The new yacht is 49 feet overall with a waterline length of 35.1 feet and an 11.6-foot beam. Above the waterline DREADNOUGHT has long overhangs that increase the boat’s effective sailing length and stability with heel. Below the waterline she has a canoe body shape with a fin keel and spade rudder. During initial sea trials immediately after her launch, DREADNOUGHT performed very well in a moderate breeze and maneuvered turns with speed and grace. DREADNOUGHT’s preliminary PHRF rating is 51. “I’m really pleased with the finished yacht,” said Steve White, president of Brooklin Boat Yard. “DREADNOUGHT’s owner worked attentively with both Jim Taylor and me throughout the entire construction. The process was a true collaboration and a shared vision. DREADNOUGHT’s performance and unique details are a testament to team work.” DREADNOUGHT’s bright, airy interior is one of her most unique characteristics. Her sole is built of Wenge wood with a deep umber finish, which is a stark contrast to her bright, varnished Curly Maple wood table, stairs, and countertops. The interior incorporates honeycomb-cored panels to save weight, and the bulkheads are a bright white finish. The yacht sleeps up to six people with a forward master cabin, quarter berth and salon, all of which feature pale sage upholstery.... read more
Update from BEQUIA
16.48 North, 62.01 West To: Steve White and the Boys of the Brooklin Boat Yard. Some seven years ago, [we] commissioned the Brooklin Boat Yard to build a 91′ yawl. In the early summer of 2009 Bequia was lowered into the waters of Center Harbor, and as a wooden boat, joined the fleet of wooden boats built under the direction of the White family. We were deeply honored. There was something sincerely satisfying to be part of a sailing yacht that shares a connection with boats like Grace, Vortex, and the beautiful Wild Horses. So many boats of “sculptural composition and curved lines” paying homage to the artistry of boat building and the universal beauty of a sailing vessel, have called Center Harbor home. To her owners’ eyes, Bequia was a magnificent realization of a dream, and we felt deeply indebted to the craftsman that built her, and the family of boats she joined. The boys of BBY labored to build a “safe, strong, and seaworthy boat”. A yacht that could take a family safely anywhere in the world. And a boat whose beauty and warmth — lined with cedar, ash, and teak — would provide physical comfort and visual joy to those that sailed on her. We thank again, Brian, Eric, and the rest of the crew that built Bequia. Steve once wrote, wishfully, that Bequia “would have her own history and place in the world.” I hope we have made a first step in the foundation of such a history. Bequia has sailed into the bay of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. She has traveled south to the San... read more
SONNY’s Launch
On September 3, 2013, the 70-foot Dieter Empacher-designed SONNY launched at Brooklin Boat... read more