Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

Except for Lyman Morse and Hogdon there are no builders of large powerboats in Maine..

In the powerboat market Hinckley's biggest boat (Talaria 55) is a small boat. The same goes for Sabre since their biggest powerboat is a 54. Many builders have lines of boats that start around 50'. Examples are Fleming and Marlow, which are mid-size boat builders that don't compete in the big boat market. Big powerboats start at around 100'. Maine also doesn't have a single volume builder. Every builder in Maine is a custom or semi-custom builder that builds a low volume of boats.

You are absolutely right that cold molded boats are VERY pricey. They take a lot of labor compared to glass or even carvel planking. The problem with wood, including glass sheathed cold molded boats, it that many people have a very negative view of wooden boats in any form. All wooden boats are hard to sell.

For some reason there seems to be a significant market for new power boats. Many power boaters are more like car buyers than sailboat buyers. For example I know several power boaters with nearly new boats who are shopping for new boats. One guy has a 2012 boat that is in perfect condition, but he wants a new boat.

I suspect Hinckley may continue building the Morris M-series boats as long as there is a market. I think the Morris Ocean series boats are dead.

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