New Solution in Boatbuilding at
Bass Harbor

Richard Stanley Building the First Wood Hull
with an All-Fiberglass Top

Richard Stanley, foreground, lofting lines for a new fishing boat incorporating his new concept in boat design and construction. Stanley is combing the best properties of wood and fiberglass construction while eliminating the less desirable of both building methods.

Tremont, Me—Richard Stanley Custom Boats has designed a new 38’ powerboat for a Maine-based customer, combining the classic comfort of a wooden hull with the low maintenance and great protection a fiberglass top offers. The boat will be used for tuna fishing, as a six-pack party fishing boat, and for lobster fishing out of Portland.

“This is going to be a big help not just for the fishermen using the boats,” observes Richard’s father and Maine’s Boatbuilder Laureate, Ralph Stanley, “but also for the wooden boatbuilding industry. The way I’ve always thought about it, the most important part of the tradition of boatbuilding is the constant striving to improve – the design, the materials, the means of construction. So in my view, Richard isn’t going against tradition as much as he is exemplifying the best it has to offer.”

Wooden hulls have been finished off with tops built of oak, cedar, and plywood, and then covered over with fiberglass, for many years. Richard intends to forgo the wood framing entirely and use cored fiberglass panels, or the molded top of the customer’s choice.

The benefits in making this change, said Stanley, include lighter weight, less construction time and lower cost, and reduced maintenance over time. While wooden hulls, in contrast, offer the following benefits. They move more easily through the water with less pounding. They transmit less engine vibration and every hull’s design can be customized to suit the individual owner’s needs.

Richard Stanley began working in his father Ralph’s shop full time, after graduating from The Boat School in Eastport in 1982. He eventually became part owner and ran the boatbuilding shop from 1988–2008, when he bought the business outright and moved to a new facility in Bass Harbor. Today Richard and his crew offer custom design and new construction as well as rebuilds and repairs large and small.