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There are 4,000 pieces of art at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, including 900 paintings. It’s a collection estimated to be worth about $25 billion. I was moving through the galleries at a good clip on a cold afternoon in January, trying to take in as much as I could before closing, when the quirky craft in the oil painting shown above caught my eye. “The Studio Boat” (Le Bateau-atelier) was produced in 1876 by French Impressionist Claude Monet, and it’s a depiction of the artist at work aboard his own vessel on the Seine. I’m always interested in a story about how and why a person came to own a particular boat, so I lingered in front of the painting for some time—long enough to enjoy it, and to…
TOP DESIGNERS I found it interesting that Ray Hunt worked with at least four of the people featured in the story 12 Top Boat Designers (January 2024). John Deknatel was his partner at Ray Hunt Design. Bob Dougherty continued designing Boston Whalers long after Hunt moved on. Jack Hargrave drew the lines for some of Dick Bertram’s deep-V hulls, and Ted Hood sailed with Hunt in the early 1950s. Hunt’s influence, when combined, encapsulates nearly 42 percent of the 12 designers you selected. Of course, I’m far too focused on this designer to be objective, as I’m now finishing the book Passion for Performance: The Life and Designs of C. Raymond Hunt. Clearly, I think your list is strong. Growing up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, I’ve known about and spoken with…
If we’re being honest, it’s a miracle that Sally Snowman’s job survived as long as it did. Nearly a quarter century ago, Congress passed the National Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000. It gave the government a way to “dispose” of lighthouses—to transfer their general-care costs and responsibilities and off the federal books. The idea was that the U.S. Coast Guard’s mission should include maintaining only the lights and fog signals as aids to navigation. Other people, such as those running nonprofits, could better handle upkeep and restoration of the lighthouse structures broader historical sites. Some lighthouse lovers took the news better than others. Consternation was particularly loud about Boston Light. Of the 850 or so lighthouses in the United States, Boston Light is the oldest to be continually used and…
Whether it was a schooner crossing the Atlantic or a jet shattering the sound barrier, setting a speed record has long been a way to promote a new product or technology. So, it’s no surprise that as electric marine propulsion advances there has been growing interest in setting a top speed mark for a boat fueled by batteries. What is surprising is that when that record fell in late 2023, it was Princeton Electric Speedboating (PES), a club of Princeton University students, rather than a major manufacturer, that raised the bar. In October the tiger-striped PES hydroplane Big Bird howled over Lake Townsend outside Greensboro, North Carolina, to set a new Union Internationale Motonautique (UIM) Circuit Outright Electric Class record speed of 114.2 mph, besting the previous record by more…
When it comes to West Coast sailboat construction, images of California’s fiberglass hey-day or the deep, cold waters of Puget Sound come to mind. But near the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette rivers—tucked away on Portland, Oregon’s Hayden Island, on quiet Canoe Bay—sits a boatyard many have heard of but few ever visit. Schooner Creek Boat Works is a boat-builder, a full-service yard and a boat dealer that non-boating locals may not know about. But thanks to new ownership and a team that includes a French commercial fisherman, the company is thriving. In addition to being a pillar of the regional boating community as a go-to yard, Schooner Creek is a leading builder of large sailing catamarans. Their latest build, a 65-footer, is nearing her maiden voyage. “Building a…
Finland has the highest per-capita boat ownership in the world. The Finns build tough, seaworthy boats that can handle the turbulent conditions of the Baltic, Norwegian and North Seas, which can be very similar to the Gulf of Maine, especially in winter. So, when East Coast Yacht Sales (ECYC) President and Owner Ben Knowles asked if someone from Soundings wanted to come out in December to test a Finnish-built Targa 32 in Maine, I jumped at the chance. The Targa 32 is not a new design—it’s been around since 2011 and over 320 of them have been built thus far—but Knowles recently added Targa to his company’s lineup and a new 32 had just arrived at his dealership from Finland. ECYC is the exclusive dealer for the Targa brand on…
