Maine Boat Builders Show 2018

Fishermen’s Voice photo

The 31st Maine Boatbuilders Show was held in Portland in late March. There were over 4,000 attendees and another 1,500 builders, exhibitors, and manufacturers at the three-day event. It was the show’s second year at the Portland Sports Complex and managers said it was logistically easier this year. “Not our old buildings at 58 Fore Street, but change is good,” said Joanna Sprague, one of the two owners of the Maine Boatbuilders Show. Sprague was referring to the sprawling complex of mid-19th-century brick industrial buildings on the Portland waterfront where the show was based for 29 years.

There were more sail, power, small and large boats on exhibit than last year. The show included a range of exhibitors from high-tech Icelandic boats, Mudd’s handmade custom knives, engines, high-end sail and power yachts, wood canoes, a restored 19th-century lapstrake dory, custom marine hardware, antique tools and marine artifact dealers.

Saturday featured a competition among high school technology students. Students from several high schools were paired up to solve a function problem with a piece of marine electrical equipment in a fixed amount of time.

The winners of the high school competition were:

1st $5,000 each
Luke Symalla (Windham HS) and Noah Elsmore (South Portland HS)

High school students, grouped in pairs, competing in an event where a technical problem with marine equipment had to be identified and solved. Fishermen’s Voice photo

2nd $2,500 each
Sean Bailey (Scarborough HS) and Nate Nagem (Falmouth HS)

3rd $1,000 each
Matt Pidgeon (Greely HS) and Nick Leong (Portland HS)

4th
Ethan Batchelder (Kennebunk HS) and Ethan Tucker (South Portland HS)

5th
Jacob Cyr and Cameron Fenderson, both from Kennebunk HS.

“We want to thank the American Boat Yard Council, Hamilton Marine, Cottage Road Service Center and Universal Technical Institute for their support,” said Sprague. “As an industry, we are actively engaging our next generation to look to the marine industry for jobs. Every boatyard we talk to is in need of employees.”

In December 2017 the ABYC announced the release of a marine service technology program to help secondary schools implement a standards-based curriculum with an inland or coastal focus. “It is the only standards-based curriculum program in the marine industry and meets the needs of high school teachers,” said Ed Sherman, ABYC’s vice president of education.

Friday night there was a forum (Salty Kids) run by the Waterfront Alliance of Portland. This forum brought together many of Maine’s commercial and recreational businesses to encourage Mainers of all ages to consider careers in Maine’s maritime and coastal economy, ranging from boat building and aquaculture to kayak guides and marina workers. FMI email Erno Bonebakker ebonebak@gmail.com.

Maine Maritime Academy alumna again held a flea market that raised over $14K in Maine Maritime Academy scholarships. They raffled a Salty Boat dinghy and that winner was Ridge White of Marblehead, Mass.