A Doug Hylan Design 

If you come all the way down to Brooklin, and all the way down the long dirt road to the Benjamin River, you'll find our shop. Frank Day Jr., his father Frank and brother Arno used to build lobsterboats here, designed from hand carved half hull models. Half of the DNH shop used to belong to Junior Day. I call it Junior's shop just like everyone else, even though I never met the man. If you're looking for Doug you probably won't find him here. You've got to go all the way down the path to the office perched out over Hawkins' Cove. Inside you'll find a panoramic view of the Benjamin River and Doug at his "drawing board". He might be a hundred feet from the shop, but don't be fooled, he has a hand on nearly every piece of wood.

It is hard to over emphasize the impact of Doug Hylan's design work on our construction and restoration work here at D.N. Hylan & Associates. Every piece of the back bone, floor timbers, bulkheads, deck beams, raised panel doors, drawers, trim and fiddles begins on his "drawing board". Of course the drawings and patterns are only as good as the boat builder who brings them to life. Without exceptional craftsmen in the shop all that drafting would be best put to use in the wood stove every morning. But the volumes of shop drawings and patterns he provides for every project in the shop help to ensure the high standard of precision and quality that is the foundation of every boat we launch.

In the midst of the day to day drafting that keeps the shop humming, Doug has somehow managed to accumulate a significant portfolio of complete and original designs (most of which have been built here in the shop). And he is just beginning to hit his stride. This year (so far) Doug has finished four new designs. They are: OONAGH an 11' pram, POINT COMFORT SKIFF an 18' outboard skiff, D'ANNA a 30' composite Beal's Island lobsterboat, and CALIDRIS a 32' 'marriage of tradition' powerboat. They represent an impressive range of size, style, propulsion and construction method. What they share is the same careful proportions, knowledgeable engineering and attention to detail as the shop drawings we rely on every day.

Below I will discuss three powerboat designs of Doug's that together represent a spectrum of influence, if you will. On one end of the spectrum, representing fairly strict adherence to the style and performance of a specific traditional type is the 30' power boat D'ANNA. In the middle is POSTHASTE IV, a 34' power boat with lobsterboat roots but a style and detailing that make her a bit too elegant for that category. And on the other end, fresh from the "drawing board" is the 32' CALIDRIS, representing an innovative coalescence of traditional features. All three are medium sized powerboats designed primarily for day use but with a range of accommodations corresponding to their size.

D'ANNA is a direct descendant of a 1952 Beal's Island Lobsterboat called DIANA. DIANA was designed and built by Alvin Beal in 1952. In 2001 lines were taken, DIANA was restored to new condition for use as a pleasure boat, and Doug put together a set of plans to document Alvin Beal's original work. She is a fine example of a highly evolved work boat type native to the Jonesport - Beal's Island region of Downeast Maine. There are many features of the type that make great sense for a pleasure boat. The skeg construction native to Downeast Maine is faster (both to build, and on the water)  as compared to the built down construction typical of lobster boats up the coast. This type of construction also lends itself to modern composite construction quite well. The small house and large cockpit layout make perfect sense for a spacious day boat with simple overnight accommodations. A cockpit shelter that was traditionally open on one side for operating the pot hauler makes for an airy helm and cockpit area that can be easily protected in foul weather with a canvas curtain. The high flaring bow (for sea keeping) and the low freeboard aft (for hauling pots) make for a distinctive sheer. The curved transom and diamond shaped port light are purely aesthetic elements, I believe, but iconic features of the type as well.

Using DIANA's lines DOUG drew a 30' version called D'ANNA. Aesthetically she could pass for a 1950's Beals boat, but is more structurally up to date. Although considerably larger in terms of length, beam, and space, D'ANNA has the same displacement as DIANA. The weight savings, which is due to the cold molded construction that Doug specifies, allows for good speeds with even less horsepower than her sisters. A 75 hp inboard will push D'ANNA up to 14 kts. Of course more horsepower will increase the top speed, but with gas prices pushing $5/ gal at gas docks this fall, 14 kts might be plenty fast!

Other differences in D'ANNA include slightly more freeboard to allow for more comfort down below and a self bailing cockpit, more accommodations including space for a single burner stove top as well as a sink, head, v-birth and storage.

Outwardly she is an authentic example of a distinctive work boat type...yet her accommodations are worthy of any classic yacht, with raised panel joinery, varnished cherry trim, bronze hardware and custom upholstery. Her seaworthy hull shape and handsome superstructure are the result of generations of refinement by fisherman/ builders ...YET she is put together with modern techniques and materials to save weight, decrease maintenance and improve her fuel efficiency.

The two Beal's Island boat we have built and restored so far have been very well received. BRENDA KAY (a bit more than a foot shorter than D'ANNA, but also cold molded) won "Best Professionally Built Powerboat" at the 2010 WoodenBoat show in Mystic Ct. But I have to say, more flattering than that is the reception these boats receive out on the water, up and down the coast, from fishermen who know a damn good boat when they see one.

Posthaste IV

POSTHASTE IV was inspired by a one-off pleasure boat called MEADOWS. MEADOWS is a distinctive and elegant launch with lobsterboat roots designed and built in 1955 by renowned Brooklin builder Arno Day. MEADOWS at 30' LOA and an 8' beam, with her plumb stem, subtle sheer, teak decks and varnished transom was a yacht through and through.  A customer who admired MEADOWS came to Doug to inquire about designing and building a slightly larger version with more overnight accommodations.  

Meadows on launch day 1955

In the course of researching MEADOWS Doug discovered that although she had been an open launch for as long as anyone could remember, she was originally launched with a round fronted house and rectangular port lights. Doug enlarged meadows lines to 34' and a proportionally wider beam of 10' 3" and rendered a trunk cabin reminiscent of the original but incorporating a windshield and standing shelter. The new boat is be powered by a Yanmar 240hp diesel, and at a cruising speed of 15 kts she burns about 7 gallons/hr. Like MEADOWS, POSTHASTE IV's main occupation is day cruises, but she is at the ready for extended adventures with ample cruising accommodations for two.

Stroller

A while back I stumbled across a photo of STROLLER in Maynard Bray's Herreshoff of Bristol. She was a 46' powerboat designed by Sidney Herreshoff and built at HMCo in 1929. While she is a much larger boat than POSTHASTE IV, her plumb bow, trunk cabin with rectangular ports and raised panels, dark hull and elegant detailing all made me think instantly of POSTHASTE IV. The influence of a particular design, type or feature is not always immediate or even traceable. Doug has spent a good part of his life noticing, remembering and studying quality watercraft design and construction. Inspiration might be born on a fall cruise in the Chesapeake among buy boats and deadrise skiffs, or in the pages of a book on N.G. Herreshoff. It might linger for years as a note, a sketch, or just a memory before finding its way into his latest design.

Down below the presence of a Herreshoff influence is quite tangible. Off white raised panel doors and v-matched bulkheads lighten the space and contrast the rich varnished mahogany cabin sides and trim. A compact galley including an oven, an enclosed head, electric ice box, a large hanging locker and a roomy V-birth make for a comfortable space to spend a night, or a few. In the cockpit the varnished mahogany dash, engine box and coamings along with the teak sole and button stern seat cushion round out the theme of simple elegant comfort.

Posthaste IV interior

POSTHASTE IV is a wonderful example of the depth and variety of reference which Doug is likely to call upon in the course of drawing a boat. Ostensibly she references MEADOWS, but her true elegance is born out of a long studied and intimate knowledge of classic features, appealing proportions and pleasing details.