Rockport Marine has launched a blog that is chronicling the restoration of several yachts throughout 2012. The blog, entitled "No Greater Passion for the Craft," is online at www.rockportmarine.blogspot.com and is authored by yacht design and construction management staff on site. The technical content is provided in layman's terms so boating enthusiasts worldwide can learn how the most advanced marine construction techniques are being incorporated into the restoration of classic yachts.

Among the current blog posts is a step-by-step illustration of the design and production of blocks for an 83' gaff schooner using CNC...

Welcome to the first edition of Rockport Marine's newsletter. We're excited to keep you up to date about the new and ongoing projects we're undertaking. Please share this newsletter with your friends, and let us know if there's something you'd like to see featured here next month! 

A Salute to Bill Brengle

We feel lucky at Rockport Marine to have such great projects, and we keep getting that work because of the talented people who work here. One of those people is Bill Brengle, who was celebrated at this year’s Christmas party for his 30 years of...



I was hired to photograph the restoration of Trade Wind at Rockport Marine. Three years later, it was launch day for Trade Wind on May 18. The 62' Alden Motor-Sailer was originally built in 1938. These photos were taken by me and Jane, my assistant. (It's nice having extra cameras on the job!) After a few more photo shoots on the water this summer, Jane and I will be designing a coffee table book for the owners as well as a multimedia piece. We'll share the results when we wrap up the projects.

"Doted over by Maine craftsmen and devoted owners during a 20-month refit, the Sparkman & Stephens-designed yawl Bolero is savoring her new vitality. From "Yachtsyle" in our December 2010 issue"

She has been bringing wooden boat enthusiasts to their knees for sixty years. She is internationally celebrated for her beauty and speed. She is considered one of Olin Stephens's finest designs. Her name is Bolero.

"This very unusual concept boat introduces a new team to the field of yacht design. It is a true collaboration between Rockport Marine’s two professional designers, Brendan Riordan and Sam Chamberlin. At the same time, the design is an announcement that there is now another boatyard here in Maine that specializes in both custom design and construction in wood."

"This fascinating DVD presents the ultimate historical reenactment: learn the history of the Godspeed and the fates of those who sailed her while witnessing its meticulously accurate recreation in Maine. Combining the best of the "how-to" genre with the peerless documentaries made famous by THE HISTORY CHANNEL®, this is a perfect hands-on examination of a touchstone moment in our American past. Boat-builder and host Steve Thomas (This Old House) gets his hands dirty and talks with the experts as the remarkable museum-quality reproduction - precisely authentic down to the cotton caulk hammered between her planks - materializes from raw lumber."

"Like so many seaside villages on the midcoast, Rockport is cut into a hillside. Off Central Street, a narrow lane plunges down to the harbor and a sprawling complex of red buildings that house Rockport Marine."

"For many boating enthusiasts there is simply no substitute for the look, feel, and performance of a wooden boat. And the craftsmen who build those boats couldn't agree more. Since Rockport Marine was founded in 1962, it has remained committed to constructing and restoring wooden boats."

"Few among us will ever own a large classic yacht from the golden age of yachting. We may never be able to fully identify with their owners, either, but it is simple to feel empathy for their builders and their design- ers. Nowhere is this more clear than in a capable boat- yard. Tired timber keels that lie exposed were once bright, smelling of fresh shavings and oil, the product of skill and pride that any boatbuilder today can readily recog- nize. With garboards, sheerstrakes, and covering boards off, the hull's underlying structure is clearly evident, and we can poke...

"Where in the whole world could you find a boatyard that could simultaneously build a heavy-timbered, traditionally framed replica ship in one bay, while right next door construct an 85', cold-molded, somewhat experimental, wood-epoxy greyhound? In Rockport, Maine."

"Think bermudan rig started in the 1920s? Think again. This August Spirit of Bermuda, a new boat inspired by a painting dated 1831, took to the water. Robin Lloyd was on board, and here he tells the story of how a boat imitated art to teach school kids about the maritime pride of their island nation."