Evolution Of A Lobster Yacht -- These simple utilitarian vessels exhibit modern refinements with a nod to their workboat heritage

Soundings Magazine, January 2004 -- By Steve Knauth
Reprinted with permission from Soundings Publications LLC

Stark Thompson has been waiting for summer. A little more than three years ago, he and Maine boatbuilder Chuck Rooney started putting together some ideas for a midsized boat that he and his wife, Sandy, could retire on.

"I knew I wanted a powerboat, and I knew that I'd be keeping it in Maine," says Thompson, 59, of Chadds Ford, Pa., who summers on Maine's Casco Bay. "The idea was to have a boat we could day trip with and occasionally go for an overnight, maybe with another couple. But mostly we wanted just to pack a lunch, go out to an island, drop the anchor and enjoy the Maine summer. I could spend the rest of my life doing that."

A number of powerboats would fit the bill. But Thompson had another parameter: character, a certain pedigree, a look and feel inspired by Maine's rocky, island-dotted waters.

What better vessel than a lobster yacht? For more than 60 years these pleasure versions of the round-bilge, full-keel, cove-running Maine lobster boat have drawn a crowd that prizes utility and simplicity, with a style that entices. "The production boats I looked at just weren't distinctive enough," Thompson says. "For me, it's about the way the boat looks. For cruising in Maine, I wanted the lobster-boat flavor."

Designer Geoff Dickes, a lobster yacht specialist, drew up plans for a 32-footer with the high, gently spooned bow, long, even sheer and large cockpit of its commercial brethren. The Martha's Vineyard, Mass., naval architect created a sweptback cabin top that hints at the cruising comforts suited to a couple below - V-berth, galley, enclosed head and shower, with auxiliary berths for the occasional guest. Named for a 19th century shipping line run by a Thompson ancestor, the prototype Black Horse 32 was built and launched two years ago.

Thompson, however, has managed only a few hours on board during the last couple of years, awaiting retirement. Rooney has been running the boat on Casco Bay to keep her in form. The 350-hp Yanmar diesel delivers the desired 25-mph cruising speed, with a little left over. And the creature comforts seem all that could be desired, Thompson says. "The boat's done nothing but whet my appetite for more," he says. "It seems like the perfect boat, and it's my turn to use it."

In fact, Rooney and Thompson liked the Black Horse so much, they decided to offer it as a semicustom boat. The first one was launched in May.

Born gain
While the lobster yacht is hardly new, there's little doubt that workboatbased recreational craft in general are enjoying a revival. They're springing from design boards and boatyards not only in Maine, but throughout New England, the Chesapeake, the Pacific Northwest and as far away as Australia. Many are custom and semicustom creations, but similar vessels such as Mainship's 30-foot Rum Runner and the Pearson True North 38 (see accompanying story) are making waves in production building circles.

Prices for the 29- to 40-footers run from a little under $100,000 to more than $400,000. Used as dayboats, overnighters or sunset cruisers, and powered by single and twin diesels, the new lobster yachts, including the Black Horse 32, Hinckley's Talaria 40, C.W. Hood's Katama 30 and the Fitzgerald 36, are capturing an everwidening audience of older boaters, former sailors and recent retirees such as Thompson.

"I think what we're seeing is a revival of the practical boat," says Mark Fitzgerald of C.W. Paine Yacht Design in Camden, Maine, creator of the Fitzgerald 36. "Their owners are looking not for the biggest boat, but the boat that suits them. They want to run the boat themselves, and they want something that looks good to their eye. I think that's true all through the boating world today."

Rooney agrees, based on the response he's gotten to the Black Horse. "The true lobster yacht with that open side and a top is evolving, taking on a new identity," he says. "The people who've been around are coming back to what they really want, which is simple enjoyment."

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