Boston Whaler

17' Boston Whaler Montauk

Boston Whaler is a boat company that builds foam filled fiberglass boats. It is currently a sibsidiary of the Brunswick Corporation, and a division of the Brunswick Boat Group.

History

Boston whaler was founded by Richard T. "Dick" Fisher in 1958 as an independent company. In 1969 it was sold to a conglomerate called the CML Group, whose portfolio would eventually include brands such as NordicTrack and The Nature Company. In 1989, amidst financial problems, the CML Group sold Boston Whaler to the Reebok Corporation, where, despite several advertising campaigns and new hull designs, it did relatively poorly, and was sold to Meridian Sports in 1994. In 1996, after just two years, Brunswick Corporation purchased Boston Whaler for $27.4 million in cash and debt. Combined with Sea Ray, it founded what would become the Brunswick Boat Group, now the largest manufacturer of pleasure boats in the world.

Richard T. "Dick" Fisher graduated from Harvard University in 1936 with a degree in philosophy. He ran a company that produced electrical components, however he had always been interested in building small, lightweight boats out of balsa wood. He designed a rowboat and got the materials to build it, but he never completed it.

The 1950s saw the invention of polyurethane foam, a stiff, lightweight, boyant material. Fisher imagined it as a replacement for the lightweight balsa pine used in small boat construction, and in 1954 he constructed a small sailing dinghy filled with the foam, with a design similar to the Sunfish. He showed the finished product to his friend, naval architect C. Raymond Hunt. Hunt recognized potential in the process, however he did not feel the design was particularly suited to sailboats. Instead, he created a design based on the Hickman Sea Sled featuring a cathedral hull.

Fisher built a prototype out of Styrofoam and epoxy. "It had two keels," said Fisher, "one inverted V between the runners and an anti-skid, anti-trip chine." Fisher tested the boat all that summer and thought it was “the greatest thing ever”. That fall, Fisher started running the boat in rough weather, and found that the hull displayed issues with handling and cavitation. Under heavy load, and off-plane, the cavity in the middle of the hull forced air into the water, and then back into the prop. Fisher approached Hickman, the original designer of the Sea Sled for a solution. However, Hickman thought his design needed no modifications. Fisher contemplated putting "some stuff on the bottom to move that airy water out of there." He used a method of trial and error, laying fiberglass on the bottom of the hull in the morning and running the boat behind his house when the glass cured. If the design did not work, he would bring it back to his house and start over.

This prototype boat began to have a slight V bottom and the two runners on the sides. Fisher then approached Hunt to examine the design changes. Hunt added his own design changes to the prototype; most notably, a third runner in the center of the hull. Fisher then built a prototype based on this new design to would serve as a plug for the production mold.

Fisher and Hunt then took the boat on sea trials. One of these tests was to run the 13 foot boat from Cohasset, Massachusetts to New Bedford and back, which is roughly 120 miles. During these sea trials, Fisher found another small flaw in the boats design: it was "wetter than hell." "A lot wetter," he said, "than the other boat had been." The reason for this, was ostensibly nine inch sole that was throwing all the spray into the boat. Since the mold was already made, it was modified by adding to the flat center between the three chines, turning it into a V shape. In 1956, this design became the original Boston Whaler 13.

The boat was very stable and had great carrying capacity. These two features, along with great performance and rough weather handling made it very desirable. Also since the Whaler was so light in weight compared to the other boats at the time, it could be propelled by lower horsepower engines."

Users

While Boston Whalers are a highly respected recreational boat, Brunswick Boats maintains a commercial division that sells Boston Whalers to coast guard and naval units worldwide. Boston Whalers were used in the Vietnam War by both the Navy SEALs and the Coast Guard in rescue and river patrol missions. "The unique Boston Whaler boat has attracted an intensely loyal group of owners and fans."Active discussion forums on the web attest to the broad allegiance to the brand. It is used for sport fishing, water skiing, as a runabout, and as a tender on larger yachts.

Although Boston Whalers were originally manufactured in Massachusetts, the current manufacturing facility is in Edgewater, Florida. Boston Whaler is currently operated as a subsidiary of the Brunswick Boat Group, a Division of the Brunswick Corporation, located in Lake Forest, Illinois. Brunswick also owns Mercury Marine; as a result, new Boston Whalers, like all other Brunswick boats, ship from the factory already equipped with Mercury engines.

Current Models

Current recreational production models range in length from 9 to 32 feet (2.7 to 9.8 meters). Models include:

Current Recreational Models

Name	Length	Layout	Min HP	Max HP
1Sport	1 11	Skiff	5	25
2Tender	1 11	Skiff	5	25
3Super Sport	1 13	Skiff	40
3Super Sport	1 15	Skiff	60
3Super Sport	1 17	Skiff	90
4Montauk	15	2 Center Console	40	60
4Montauk	17	2 Center Console	80	100
4Montauk	19	2 Center Console	90	135
5Dauntless	18	2 Center Console	135	150
5Dauntless	20	2 Center Console	150	200
5Dauntless	23	2 Center Console	225	250
6Outrage	19	2 Center Console	115	150
6Outrage	21	2 Center Console	135	225
6Outrage	24	2 Center Console	225	400
6Outrage	27	2 Center Console	400	450
6Outrage	32	2 Center Console	400	600
6Outrage	32	3 Cuddy Cabbin	400	600
6Outrage	37	3 Cuddy Cabin
7Conquest	20	3 Cuddy Cabin	135	200
7Conquest	23	3 Cuddy Cabin	175	250
7Conquest	25	3 Cuddy Cabin	250	450
7Conquest	28	3 Cuddy Cabin	300	450
7Conquest	30	3 Cuddy Cabin	400	600
7Conquest	34	2 Center Console	550	750
7Conquest	34	3 Cuddy Cabin	550	750

Current Commercial Models

Name	Based On	Length	Layout	Min HP	Max HP
Guardian	Montauk	15	1 Center Console	40	60
Guardian	Montauk	17	1 Center Console	80	100
Guardian	Outrage	18	1 Center Console	90	200
Guardian	Outrage	19	1 Center Console	90	150
Guardian	Outrage	22	1 Center Console	85	240
Guardian	Outrage	25	1 Center Console	115	300
Guardian	Outrage	27	1 Center Console	300	600
Justice	Conquest	20	1 Center Console	135	250
Justice	Conquest	24	1 Center Console	200	400
Justice	Conquest	27	1 Center Console	400	500
Justice	Conquest	32	1 Center Console	400	600
Justice	Conquest	37	1 Center Console	750	900
Challenger	Conquest	27	2 Cuddy Cabin	300	600
Challenger	Conquest	35	2 Cuddy Cabin	300	600
Vigilant	Conquest	27	2 Cuddy Cabin	400	450

Advertising

A Boston Whaler of the Bermuda Police Service

Boston Whaler has, for many years, sawn boats in half to illustrate their durability, performance, smooth ride and "unsinkability". The original 1961 Life magazine ad pictured Dick Fisher sitting in a floating 13' Whaler with a crosscut saw half-way through the hull. After the cut was completed, Dick used the stern section to tow the bow section back to shore. Modern Whaler advertising uses a chain saw. Due to the foam core construction, the Whaler will remain afloat when sawn completely in half. Boston Whaler boats also remain afloat when completely swamped (full of water). Because of these attributes, Boston Whaler's trademarked sales line is "the unsinkable legend."

Unsinkability

Today, this "unsinkable" attribute is not exclusive to Boston Whalers. All motorboats (and certain other boat types) under twenty (20) feet, manufactured for sale in the United States are required by law to have positive flotation, such that a completely swamped boat will still float. This is accomplished through the use of closed cell foam, or other non-permeable material. Boston Whaler,however, does claim to exceed the Coast Guard requirements.

Further demonstrations have been done to prove how "unsinkable" the boats are. In March 2007, a 19' Guardian was shot with 7.62mm rounds from an M60 machine gun. The boat did not sink, although it was full of holes. The engine was unable to start because of its having been destroyed during the test.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Tunnel hull
• Cathedral hull

External links

• BostonWhalerForum.com
• Manufacturer's Web Site