NEB - One stop shopping

02/09/09
02/09/09 Portsmouth Rhode Island. New England Boatworks is a household name in boat building circles around the world for a good reason. Owners Tom Rich, Steve Casella, and David MacBain have built boats and done work for personalities from Dennis Conner to Billy Joel, power and sail up to 90′. What you would be surprised to know is that they will also bottom paint your 1990 Catalina 30 or build you a composite monument. These guys do it all.

It was freezing cold so we only took a quick 30 minute tour of the heated buildings. Bob doesn’t leave the office without his camera because one of his responsibilities is documenting what’s happening in the sheds. This must keep him pretty busy because there is a lot happening in those sheds. We checked out 4 major projects and this is only about 60% of what’s going on there.

Click for slideshow - 10 images.

In shed 5 they are building a 35 foot - C Raymond Hunt sport fish / cruiser out of aluminum. It’s for a gentleman who is tired of weaving in and out of lobster pots in Maine. When this boat is done he’ll have the option of just driving over them over if he feels like it because there will be no running gear. The boat will have an English made UltraJet drive and joystick powered by a 480hp Cummins diesel. NEB also builds the hulls for Naiad Newport’s commercial aluminum RIB’s in this space. Naiad then goes about finishing them off. NEB honed these skills building aluminum 12 Metres back in the day. They fix Aluminum boats too.

In shed 10 (Quonset hut) they are building a Nelson/Marek designed 55′ daysailer. The custom Nantucket 55 is being built in prepreg carbon fiber with a Nomex core and will sport a lifting keel. This shed also doubles as their climate control room for curing hulls. They just close it off when they need a big oven. Being able to single or short hand the day sailor is a design feature that’s important to the owner. So NEB is making sure the cockpit is perfect by mocking it up in the carpentry shop first.

Building / shed #4 is where most of the painting goes on. Today, Bella Mente (IRC 69 from Reichel/Pugh design) is in there getting paint. She was built by NEB last year and returned for performance enhancements. The composite team removed the aft 3rd of the hull skin and replaced it with a redesigned piece that does not include a chine. The original mould was modified and used to make the new piece.

The big project is happening in building 11. That’s where Titan XV, (the red boat) is well underway. Titan is a 75′ IRC Maxi racer that’s been commissioned by American owner Tom Hill. You can’t really tell by the images but NEB is throwing huge man power at this project. There were probably 6-8 guys down below working and another 10-12 on deck. Titan is scheduled to begin sail trials in March! The AWLGRIP paint job fades from Bright Red to Super Jet Black. Titan is another Reichel/Pugh design and was almost built with a chine but the plans were changed at the last minute. The boat has an incredibly flat run aft. She should fly down wind!

I saw what these guys can do in a half hour and that’s just in the heated sheds. NEB operates a really well protected 335 slip marina with 3 travel lifts and a 30 ton crane. There’s a restaurant (Melville Grill) and The Ships Store. NEB’s 22 acre facility is also home to DePaul Diesel, Custom Navigation, Naiad Inflatables and East Coast Yacht Sales. The swimming pool is warm (in the summer) and some of their customers love the place so much they live there year round on their boats.

Look for a follow up on the Titan project when she is out of the shed.

Titan XV

New England Boatworks

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