Boating News
Boat biz catches new wind
Maria Garriga, [email protected]
NORTH HAVEN--One of the state's boat building companies is in an unlikely place, an 11,000-square-foot industrial warehouse on Universal Drive.
Blue Water Marine LLC is working on its second craft, a 48-foot powerboat. Under the sleek sheath, which sits under a wooden mold, the boat conceals the latest technology and materials in powerboat design with names like vinylester, epoxy vacuum construction, and carbon fiber.
"We've been building racing sailboats," said Brendan Dobroth, boat designer and principal. "A lot of sailboats are made out of this, but never a powerboat."
Although Connecticut was long known as a major shipbuilding state, for nearly a year Blue Water Marine was the only shipbuilder in the state, said William Gash, executive director of the Connecticut Maritime Coalition. Recently, another shipbuilder set up shop in southwestern Connecticut, but its focus is on larger ships such as ferries and mega-yachts.
Dobroth's designs appeal to the individual sailor.
The aluminum honeycomb planks that shape the boat's body give it more strength than plywood without the weight. Most 42-foot boats weigh 30,000 to 40,000 pounds, Dobroth said
Dobroth's boat should weigh 20,000 pounds while able to race 40 knots, about twice the top speed of its heavier rivals.
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