Back Cove 30 Hull mold completed

In ten days from now, I and three other associates of Back Cove Yachts will be heading up to Quebec to inspect the hull mold of the new Back Cove 30. The plug, pictured here about two weeks ago, has been finished to the mirror surface that you will see on the production hulls. Note the final finish on the left side of this image. The mold structure was no been built over the top of it. It is critical at this point that the structure of the mold be extremely rigid so that when it is removed from the plug, nothing changes shape.

The next major mold, now in build, is the IGU or internal glass unit. This is the skeleton of the interior where ultimately all of her interior furnishings will be fitted. Recognize any of the surfaces yet?

More to show you when I get back from La Belle Province.

 

Seeing First Hand

About a month ago I was communicating with a young couple who are currently based in Fayetteville, NC. They had attended the boat show in Annapolis last fall and had some questions about the boat. I put them in touch with our dealership in Beaufort, NC and followed the process as they discussed the merits of the Back Cove 33.

Now I have to tell you that if you were at the Annapolis Powerboat Show in October of 2009 you were either stark raving mad or an intrepid boater. The weather that weekend was as bad as it gets and if you were there you were on a mission. So the mere fact that I heard from anyone as a result of that show made me feel pretty good.

As their interest in the 33 increased I invited them to come to Maine to see the boats in build. When you build boats in Maine and invite people to come and see you, you are quite used to having people say "Sure I would love to come. How would July be?". But then there are people who went to that Annapolis Boat Show. And so they came to visit and their tour was very helpful.

Being able to see hulls in the mold and understanding the technology of building fiberglass parts. Being able to see areas of the boat that only boat builders see. They were able to witness for themselves the craftsmanship and pride with which each boat builder goes about his/her daily tasks; making sure that each operation helps to create the greater, high quality "whole".  

When they left (with a planned stop at LL Bean for a little post Christmas shopping) they had a new enthusiasm for Back Cove and a new understanding of what makes a Maine built boat. It's not all resin and fiberglass, wire and wood, It's all about the "Fierce Maine Pride".

And speaking of pride, this young couple are both graduates of the United States Naval Academy.  They have both served their country without question. I should have know they would come up when I asked them to.

Back Cove 30 Hull Plug Nears Completion

Once the carving of the foam billet has been completed the finishing of the hull plug commences. And as much as this may sound like the easy part, in truth this is where the "rubber meets the road."

Last week our designer Kevin paid another visit to the tooling shopin Sainte Claire, Quebec. He inspected the finish on the hull plug before the shop turns it from plug to mold. All surface finish facets from the plug will be mirrored in the mold so this is a critical step where the finish of the plug must be as good as it can be. The result of his inspection is that he is very pleased and expects this tooling to perform exceptionally well in production. Next time I'll have some images to show you of the final finish on the hull plug.

But the hull plug was not his only purpose for the visit to PCM Molds. While they have been working tirelessly to finish the hull plug and mold, there are many other parts that have to be tooled as well. And each of them requires detailed drawings for the production machinery to use and careful inspections along the way. There are several major molds and as many minor parts. Largest are the deck mold, the deck liner (ceiling) mold, the IGU or internal glass unit and the hard top and hard top liner molds. All of these are either in process or about to begin.

As we follow the tooling and production of the new Back Cove 30 we'll be able to make more frequent postings. We look forward to having you follow this fascinating process with us.
 

Back Cove 30 .... A Sneak Preview

Over the last five years Back Cove Yachtshas collected quite a following, having completed more than 400 hulls. Now, the design that started it all is going to be replaced with the next generation of designs. Yes the venerable Back Cove 29 is going to be replaced in June of 2010 with the exciting new Back Cove 30. We will continue to offer the 29 as a soft top, open version while the new Back Cove 30 will be made standard with a hard top, Yanmar 315 diesel engine, molded-in cockpit seating and a transom door.

In her interior the seating, galley and head unit will be much the same as her predecessor. The exceptions are in the improved galley storage and the manner in which the salon makes into a berth. When so desired, berth cushions which lay along the hull side of the berth, can be deployed athwartships to create a cozy environment in which to relax below decks. 

On her helm deck, seating is raised so that all of the crew has the same sight lines as the helmsperson. To port, the mates bench can comfortably seat two. Engine access is exceptional as it is on all Back Cove designs.

I her cockpit crews will enjoy the molded-in seating and the ease of access through the transom door.

Look for her to be in sea trials in June of 2010 and follow her development here on the Back Cove blog
 

Back Coves are selling and grass is growing

As you might imagine I get asked by lots of people, "how are you guys doing in this economy?"

Perhaps not the best blog topic but what the heck I'll write about it and let the readers decide if it's interesting or not.

Well, the plain and simple truth is that it's tough but we Mainiacs are used to tough. A lot of our dealers were well stocked when the financial meltdown beganand they have had to hold boats in inventory for longer than they would like. But I am really pleased to say that a lot of stock boats have sold to new owners over the last few months and things are looking quite bright as we enter the month of May. Our annualized boat sales are down from 2008 but nowhere near the drops that have been seen by the "white plastic boat guys" as we call them around here. 

We're here for the long run. Boaters will always enjoy boating and that is not going to change. Sure boating will take a hit just like every other outdoor activity that has a cost associated with it. We are doing fine thank you very much and will continue to work our way through the downturn. After all, the snow is gone now and the grass is growing again.

In Maine that's cause for optimism !

Back Cove 37 Virtual Tour available now

By far the most popular features of our web site are the video footage and the virtual tours of our boat models. I just received a link to the Back Cove 37 tour and thought you might enjoy seeing it. 

I love technology and the company that produces these for me are top shelf.

BTW the "rustic" building in which this was shot is not the clean modern Back Cove facility spoken of last week on the blog. This is Portland Yacht Services where the annual Maine Boat Builders Show is held each March.

Back Cove Plant Tours

I am often asked "if it would be OK to come for a plant tour?" Are you kidding me? We are so proud of what we do and how we do it that we welcome all plant tours at Back Cove Yachts. In fact the "yard" (as we call them in Maine) is our best selling tool so be forewarned that if you come to the yard you may end up buying a boat whether that was what you started out to do or not.

 

The Back Cove yard is the large building in the center right and in the lower left corner of this image is  the old shop where the first Back Cove 29's and 26's were built. By chance, as the popularity of the Back Cove began to grow, the building across the street where Nautica once made and warehoused their clothing line, became available and we decided to purchase this magnificent facility. The conversion to boat building was accomplished and today we have one of the best boat building facilities in the country.

If your spring and summer travels call for a trip to Maine, be sure to call and set up a tour. You won't be disappointed and you'll enjoy what you see. We would welcome your visit Monday through Thursday.

Back Cove 37 Yanmar test data is in.

As promised here is the test data for the Yanmar 6CX CR engine at 530 horsepower. I have been anxious to see these results myself because so many of our potential buyers are sailors looking to move to powerboats and Yanmar has been their engine of choice for a lot of their sailing life. I also have been keen to see it because Yanmar had this engine available in the past as a 465 and then 500 horsepower non common rail GTE series engine. It was a real workhorse for us in many of our Sabre applications and I always loved the torque curves and the feeling that a larger displacement engine like this has.

It's another great choice for powering the Back Cove 37

Download BC37_Yanmar_6CXM-GTE_530mHp

Back Cove Propeller Pocket: Superior Performance

I'm not going to blab too much about Back Cove Yachts and the superior attributes that make our boats special.  But I find this feature particularly interesting and I wanted to share.  Here at Back Cove Yachts we put the prop in a bit of a pocket, the reasons are simple:
1. The propeller sits higher and reduced the draft by about 6".
2.  The pocket provides strut protection.  Obviously it does not provide as much protection as a keel, but if we had a keel, we wouldn't get the performance people have come to expect from us :)
3.  The shaft angle to the engine is straighter, this had 2 functions:
           a.  The Back Cove gets on plane quicker, some boats get bow high for a long time when they take off, we don't
           b.  At cruising speeds the load on the engine is lighter, making it more fuel efficient and a smoother running boat overall.

        -Ben

Singles and twins

A lot of boaters want to know why Volvo (IPS) and Cummins (Zeus) don't offer single engine applications of their pod drive systems. We want to know too. I have asked engineers from both companies of they plan to offer anything in the future but they seem uninterested because the market for single engines is too small. I/O installations turn from side to side of course but shafted drives with singles do not. I for one think that a Zeus single couple to an effective bow thruster would be a great and efficient drive train.