BOATS & GEAR
AROUND THE YARDS
NORTHEAST
50-footers are a big seller for one Maine boatbuilder; lobster-boat races end with tugs tearing down the lane
Wesmac Custom Boats launched the Sarah B, a 46-foot tuna boat, at the end of August.
here’s no shortage of boats being built at Wesmac Custom Boats in Surry, Maine. “We have many, many to build,” says Steve Wessel, owner of the yard, adding that Wesmac is booked through next summer. One of those is the Sarah B, a 46' 3" x 14' 7" tuna boat launched the afternoon of Aug. 26 for Gavin Boucher out of Harwinton, Conn. She has a 55-gallon bait hold, a fish hold, and “everything up forward,” says Wessel, referring to bunks, a shower, galley and head. The Sarah B is powered with a 1,000-hp Cat C12.9. “We are selling a lot of 50s,” Wessel says, referring to the Wesmac 50 and the Wesmac 54. Both have a 17-foot 6-inch beam and 6 feet of draft. One of the 50s is a lobster boat for Matt Huntley of Machiasport, Maine. The hull was being laid up at the end of August and should be completed in late fall. Another Wesmac 50 with a 1,600hp Caterpillar C32 will be trucked to the West Coast and launched as a commercial tuna boat and a sportfishing boat for Robert Pedigo, probably in the fall of 2022.
Among the mix of 50-footers are several 40-footers. That includes two tuna boats, one at 42' x 14' 6" and the other at 46' x 14' 6". Both should be launched next June and will be powered by 1,150hp Scania diesels. Wessel says it’s a new model Scania — D116304M. “I brought the first two into this country.” The 42-footer is for Chris Peterson in Freeport, Maine, whose previous boat was the Mojo. This will be the Mojo 2. The 46-footer is going to Cedric and Tricia Vohden in Oceanport, N.J. Both
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38 National Fisherman \ November 2021
Jon Johansen
Wesmac Custom Boats
By Michael Crowley
boats will have a fish hold and bait tank. Up forward will be bunks, a galley, shower and head. Among the boats being built, the only one under 40 feet was a 38-foot passenger boat for the Coast Guard that will be based out of Laurel Hollow, N.Y., but operate out of Montauk. “We don’t do small boats very often,” noted Wessel. Due to be launched in December is a Coast Guard-certified 54' x 17' 6" clam dredger going to Bridgeport, Conn. For power there’s a 1,000-hp Caterpillar main engine, while a Nanni 4.5 will power the dredge pump. All the above-mentioned boats have Northern Lights generators — 9, 15, 16 or 20 kW. The weekend before the Sarah B was launched and about 100 miles to the southwest, Maine’s lobster boat racing season ended with races at Long Island on Saturday and Portland on Sunday. At the conclusion of the Portland races, 645 boats had traveled to the 11 races that began June 19 in Boothbay. This year’s numbers would have been higher if the Friendship and Harpswell races hadn’t been hit with heavy rain and choppy racing conditions, and if the weatherman hadn’t announced, “Hurricane’s coming!” for the Portland race, says Jon Johansen, president of Maine Lobster Boat Racing. Still, the 2021 total number is a big improvement over the 379 boats that Continued on page 41
They weren’t the fastest boats at the Long Island races, but Lynn Marie and Hook & Ladder put on a good show in the Diesel class-A race.
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