A Quiet Revolution -Trawler and Pilot Boats

by Helen Hopcroft on 4 Sep 2007 A small revolution is happening on our inland and coastal waters. It’s not an obvious or overnight change, just something that is happening in small steps rather than leaps and bounds. Like many shifts in public taste, it occurs so gradually that many people remain unaware that it is happening until suddenly the new thing has become part of the mainstream.

In America the taste for ‘Down East’ style vessels has become an established part of the local boating scene. It started when a few enterprising boat builders realised that there was a small but growing nostalgia for the older displacement trawler and sturdy lobster boat style hulls. They took the old designs and reworked them into pleasure cruisers, capturing the imagination of the retiring ‘Baby Boomers’ and sparking a world wide interest in these types.

The American boat builder Mainship quickly became a giant in this area and is now one of the world’s largest producers of recreational trawlers in the world.

Their trawlers and pilot boats have gained a reputation as very comfortable liveaboards, with the trawlers in particular often chosen as long distance cruising vessels because of their handling and fuel economy.

Chris and Wally Szewczuk, owners of Auspicious Yacht Sales and the sole importers of Mainships into Australia, said that the company’s growth had been phenomenal with agencies popping up all over the globe.

‘These boats are the classic, real deal American trawler and pilot boat’ explained Chris.

‘They’re huge in Europe: the Düsseldorf boat show is one of their biggest international shows. They’re in Dubai and China, they’re everywhere. They’ve even got someone in Russia and the Ukraine.’

Chis commented that there were many reasons for Mainships international success and it wasn’t just nostalgia for the look of the traditional working boats.

She observes, and this is a view backed up by Mainship’s own research, a demographic shift in tastes with many boat owners turning away from the ‘Miami Vice’ style of vessel in favour of a more classic type. They are choosing elegance over modernity, fuel economy over speed, and comfort over glitz.

‘Many Mainship owners are from a yachting background…They’re at a point in their life where they’re comfortable, they’re probably retired or they’re semi retired, and speed isn’t really what they’re after. They’re after enjoying the trip, not just the destination.’

‘They have the time to spare, so they like the leisurely trip of the boat. They like to feel that they’re being more traditional than just flying around in a white plastic thing.’

Perhaps people are buying Mainships in the recognition that a classic type never really goes out of style, which pays big dividends in terms of resale value. Mainships are so closely based on the original designs of the American working boats they seem to belong to a previous era, not just the present time.

As Chris puts it:

‘A classic never goes out of fashion. If you buy a boat now, in ten years time it will still look the same, and because it doesn’t go out of fashion it holds its resale value. You won’t have people say ‘oh that was in fashion back in 1998’ but things have moved on a long way since then.’’

‘It’s like a classic old Mercedes: it just never goes out of style.’

Clearly it’s not just a sense of authenticity that people are after when they buy a Mainship trawler or pilot boat: the interiors are luxuriously appointed in a way that would make the original East Coast fishermen sick with envy.

The vessels are fitted out with top quality appliances, interior designers choose the colours and furnishings and the cabinetry is extremely attractive. American Cherry is used extensively in the internal fit out with Cedar used in the hanging lockers.

‘Our lockers are lined with cedar because cedar is an insect repellent. It just smells beautiful when you open the door of your hanging locker and you get this whiff of cedar.’

Like many American built boats, everything seems to be built slightly larger than is usual, which contributes to the feeling of space, comfort and opulence in the interior. Doorways are wide with railings and grab handles slightly oversized. The saloon is designed to be light and airy with a number of small hatches for cross ventilation and there’s plenty of room to move around.

Chris stresses that the company applies the same standards of craftsmanship and thoroughness to the construction of the hull and external areas.

‘Americans are mad on safety: safety for their customers. And that means everything; from the way the boats are built to the materials that are used in their construction. We know what materials go into the boat, and there’s nothing there that doesn’t meet the strict guidelines of the American authorities.’

She said that if you have a close look at a Mainship and poke around into the areas of the boat that usually only an owner sees, you will be surprised by the overall quality of the finish and mouldings.

‘The finish of a Mainship where you don’t see it is the thing that really impresses me. When you lift up a staircase or you get down into the bilge, or you look where people don’t normally look, and you see that the flow coat is all beautifully finished off and it’s all spick and span. They really are well built.’

Finally it is the handling and sea keeping abilities of the trawler/pilot boat types that have contributed to their growing popularity and use as cruising vessels.

‘They really do track beautifully because they’ve got a true trawler hull so it’s a nice big deep V at the front. They’ve got a full length keel and a skeg so if you’re offshore you’re not flopping all around the place; it tracks and just goes straight. It’s a beautiful boat to ride in.’

‘They are sea kindly passage makers, so you can actually go out there. You feel safe in them, you feel like it’s a sea kindly boat.’

Contact details:

293 Dobell Drive,
Wangi Wangi, Australia NSW 2267
http://www.mainship.com.au
Email: sales@mainship.com.au
Telephone: +61 (02) 4975 4399 or 1800 062 433
Fax: +61 (02) 4975 4399
Mobile: 0418 820 502