Doug Hylan

Boatbuilder & Designer, D.N. Hylan & Associates

Doug Hylan Doug Hylan built his first boat at age 14: a disastrous catamaran with a propensity to bury her lee hull before realizing any adolescent-appropriate speeds. After a decade or so of dabbling in more or less respectable professions, he relapsed into boatbuilding, first working with Jim Steele and Joel White, then going off on his own. He is currently CEO and janitor at D. N. Hylan & Associates in Brooklin, Maine, a boatyard that specializes in the design, building, and restoration of wooden boats.

Videos

Title
Building the Oonagh Rowing/Sailing Dinghy, Part 1 – A Real Rib Alternative: If you've wanted something more aesthetically pleasing to replace your inflatable tender, or a wonderful little family b...
Following a Course, A Centennial Tour of GRAYLING: GRAYLING was built 100 years ago as an elegant fishing boat.  When she was restored into a family cruising boat in the...
The Joy of Having a Boat Built: An Outboard Cruiser Takes Shape: Yearning to cruise in style and burn only three gallons per hour? The joy of having an outboard cruiser built that's exa...
A Good Boat, Up Close – The Chesapeake Crab Skiff: A beautiful spot deserves an equally beautiful boat — a Chesapeake Crab Skiff designed by Off Center Guide Doug Hyla...
Brilliant Designs, Small Powerboats: Handy Billy, Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff & More: We all know about high-speed production power boats these days. They are everywhere – a cookie-cutter navy of slam-ban...

 

Guide Posts

Title
Ruby Slipper, a 23′ Daysailer by Doug Hylan:         Here is another 23’ foot daysailer, quite similar to my previous SELKIE, but aimed more to...
EVE, An Electric Launch by Doug Hylan: When it comes to beautiful, fuel-efficient boats it pays to look back to the early lobster boats that raced home to Jone...
GRAYLING to Newfoundland, by Doug Hylan: Sometime during a sleepless February night, I started thinking about a boat trip to Newfoundland. In the past couple of...
The Albury Runabout: In the not very distant past, the subsistence farming and fishing economy of the Bahamas employed large numbers of saili...
Chesapeake Crabbing Skiff, by Doug Hylan: Some years ago, I was asked to draw a small version of the traditional skiff once commonly used by Chesapeake Bay crab f...
BERET, A Low-Impact Coastal & River Cruiser by OCH Guide Doug Hylan: BERET is another in my “Hat” series – a line of powerboats that, for some unfathomable reason, are all named after...
Resizing a Boat Design—Some Things to Think About: It seems like every week I get a letter or an e-mail that goes something like this: “Love your HESPERUS design, but I...
My Favorite Rig and Why—A Guide Post by Doug Hylan: As a lazy sailor, my favorite rig would be fractional sloop, sans running backstays. I have enough excitement just comin...
SELKIE—My Personal Dreamboat: A 23′ Keel-centerboard Sloop:     I should say at the outset that I am a lazy sailor. Although I have the greatest admiration for the sight...
Long Ends or Short? A Design Blog by Doug Hylan: The casual observer of workboats and yachts could be forgiven for some confusion as to why some boats have very long ove...
Good Reads: Recommendations by Doug Hylan: OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library… A DAY'S...
What About a Sailboat’s Displacement? Doug Hylan Discusses Light and Heavy: Among the dockside pundits, the discussion of light vs. heavy displacement usually revolves around the ability of a crui...
TUVA II, A New Concept for Cruising the Intracoastal Waterway:   TUVA II is not (at least at this point) a finished design, but just a preliminary to a design that I would love t...
Notes on Boat Design, Part II—Three Basic Hull Types: HULL TYPE I Let's start with a typical sailboat type hull, with a fairly fine bow and the transom up out of the water. L...
Notes on Boat Design, Part 1 — The Case for Going Slower: Off Center Harbor blogs seem like they might be a good place to try to discuss some technical issues in boat design. The...
Learning from Experience; My Biggest Disaster and What it Taught Me.: This incident was hardly a disaster, but it certainly could have been!  More of a mystery really.  It happened aboard...
The Influence of Joel White: "Whether it was counsel and encouragement with a construction or design problem, or going for an afternoon sail, you wer...
Why Choose A Traditionally Built Boat?: The easy answer: So that when you wake up in the morning, sun streaming through a port light, you can admire the beautif...
The Three Boats I Lust After (and Why): Perhaps it is my age, or maybe it is the fact that I spend a good deal of time taking care of boats, but generally speak...