Just Launched: Watch Hill 15

Particulars: The Watch Hill 15: a modern variation on the 1922 variation on the 1898 E-Boat, more commonly known as the Buzzards Bay 15. This new boat was built rather conventionally but using the West System approach. It is single-planked and the appearance inside is that of a carvel-planked wood boat. The exterior is epoxied in such a way as to minimize maintenance. Builder Alec Brainerd worked with the owner, an architect from Vermont and Nantucket, to customize the vessel somewhat. The front bulkhead was moved forward one frame-bay; that allowed a better doorway into the forward compartment, as well as a more commodious cockpit. Evidence indicates the boat will benefit from weight moving forward in order to depress the bows a little. There are airtight compartments both forward and aft, making for an unsinkable boat. That’s a great thing for a light, (only 2,200 lbs) somewhat tender, lively boat with a non-self-bailing cockpit. To read more about this boat, see Art Paine's "Off the Drawing Board" column in Issue 101 (Boat Show Issue) of Maine Boats, Homes, & Harbors magazine; on newsstands and in the mail the week of July 21, 2008.
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