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Email This Page to a FriendWalkabout at Brooklin Boat Yard, 91-Foot Cutter SONNY
All Videos » Wooden Boat Building
April 18, 2018
Sure, yachts are beautiful when the crowd gathers for launching day. But we wanted to see what it’s like four days before launch day, so we asked Eric Blake for a insider’s walkabout of Brooklin Boat Yard’s new 91′ cutter SONNY. It’s hard to grasp just how much talent they have at that yard, until you see what lies beneath the surface. When he swings open the electrical panel, we swear that we heard angels singing at the sight of Ronnie Billings’ electrical masterwork. This boat was a joint project between Rockport Marine (hull and deck) and Brooklin Boat Yard, with hefty contributions by quite a few other companies. Eric was project manager for Brooklin Boat Yard.
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RELATED OFF CENTER HARBOR LINKS:
You can go to Eric's Guide page for more videos and walkabout posts featuring Eric's work.
DRAWINGS:
This sail plan and interior arrangement are just two of over 300 drawings that Brooklin Boat Yard's design office created for the building of this 91-foot cutter.
BUILDERS AND BUSINESSES INVOLVED:
Brooklin Boat Yard
Rockport Marine (built the hull and deck)
Acadia Sails & Canvas, Southwest Harbor, Maine
Americas Wood
Aurora CanvasBar Harbor Interiors
Gorilla Rigging
Harken
Imtra
Hewes and Co.
Hylan & Brown Boatbuildiers
Nautilus Marine
North Sails
Offshore Spars
Wallace Interiors
Whetstone Boats
Comments, Thoughts or Suggestions?
You can leave a comment or question for OCH and members below. Here are the comments so far…
As Bush said, there’s the have’s and the Have nots.
Another example of why Wall St and the Equity markets never fall (for long), it’s a party and we’re not invited.
Having said that, its a beautiful boat Eric, you should be proud.
Love to see such a detailed design and implementation. If I had $10M to spare, I would have one built, but sadly I don’t have that kind of money to spend.
OMG…..Brooklin BY walkthru—2023……then……91ft cutter walkthru……thank you so much…..pure joy to see/takes my breath away. If I had another life to live (now 75)……I’d become a shipwright! Leo Goolden’s Tally Ho videos have been inspiring me for a couple years. Hope to visit Port Townsend this year or next. thx again.
Holy Halyards,I…..all I can think about is all those rocks lurking in the reach at mid tide.
What a fabulous piece of art and craftsmanship! Thanks for the tour Eric. I would hope we’ll all get to see the launching video!
WOW!!!
First reaction was great admiration for everyone in the design and build. But looking back, the total extravagance and consumption of limited and valuable timber resources on a single vessel makes me feel a bit sick. Brings to mind the historical obliteration of forests by seafaring nations. At least in those days there was no alternative, now there is.
Trees at least are theoretically renewable. What bothers me about this is how many families are struggling to get by on minimum wage jobs (assuming they’re lucky enough to even have a job these days) with no healthcare during a pandemic and no internet access for their kids who can’t attend schools in person. Sure, this kind of extravagance gives employment for the boatyard ecosystem, but it’s a very inefficient way to get money into the hands of those that need it the most.
Totally agree. Incredible craftsmanship in every detail. However, the resources pouring into this single vessel are utterly irresponsible given the warnings of international scientists on our planetary boundaries. Considering that there’s a whole industry of superyachts operating worldwide, their energy consumption and emissions are just not to be justified anymore, in the face of climate crisis with forest fires, heat waves and subsequent crop failures. Have your fun on the water, but please, as they say, enjoy responsibly.
Why is this vessel being critisized? This is a sailing vessel that creates jobs making something powered by the wind, that stores extra energy from the engine even for when it is used and it is made in an ultra effiecient high performance way. Even the wood there are obviously many places that uses ply with veneer professionally done that is more efficient use of rare wood. And vessels like this are made with traceable sources for the wood that is sustainable. It has as much horsepower as a motorcycle so a car is wasting more energy and that is when it needs the engine which usually it would not. This is an example of sustainable transportation and leisure for someone with the means for this size vessel. But big or small a sailboat is the next most efficient thing probably after a bicycle. And by some measures more sustainable than a bicycle actually.
Great walk about the boatyard January 2019.Whatever became of the 91′ SONNY?
Keep up the GREAT work. Most enjoyable
Thanks
Randy
It warms Alan’s and my hearts to see WH 21 Sphinx being cared for by your capable hands. BBY did a magnificent rebuild of Whippet 20 years ago and it is our hope that the rest of the fleet will eventually be cared for by you…
The biggest boat I ever had was a 70″ cutter (removable hydraulic inner stay) with many of the same systems but much simpler (KISS). It was a stripped out racer (optimum off-wind up to about 25 knots surfing) designed for open ocean work. But this vessel is so far beyond mine in all respects it was a real pleasure to watch this video. Just think I only have to wait another 17 years …Something to ok forward to. In the meantime I look forward to videos of her after completion and under sail. Really looking forward to seeing her under spinnaker.
I thought I’d seen just about everything. And then I discover (in a preceding comment) that this is for an owner who’s 94 and still going for the gusto. Well played, sir; very well played.
The project management and coordimation is worthy of a detailed study/report !, …love it, …..Thank you
What a beautiful yacht! Highly impressive but I’m more impressed to know Mr. Phelps is still with us and sailing! Wow! I used to Sail on a Sonny with Mr. Phelps in the early 1970s in my teen years out of Stamford Yacht Club. That Sonny was a Whitby 45. Memories include playing with my first SSB and listening to a transmission from Australia. Just forward of the helm facing the cockpit was a sign saying “do not talk to the helmsman” and then there was a porthole to the galley that was labeled Madalyn’s …………. Great memories with a skilled and generous sailor.
If that were my project, and I were going to be move-ing her out of the shop in 4 days and then launch a week later, I think that I’d be pretty anxious. Eric seems pretty calm about craftsmen from all over the world descending on the site next week to finish up, though. WOW!
If you check out this site you can see the last SONNY built for the same owner, for sale…with some of the same great woodworking, including an almost identical settee.
http://brooklinboatyard.com/sonny-for-sale/
Holy Moly is right! A great example of the KISS philosophy… In all seriousness, though, thanks for a great tour of an incredible piece of workmanship – the skill of the people at BBY and the other businesses involved is phenomenal. Can we have a video of launching and sailing??
As soon as I stop trembling I will humbly go varnish a 17′ wooden mast. I’m curious about at what stage of completion the hull and deck were transported to Brooklin, and how that was accomplished?
Quite amazing. Proof of what co-operative efforts can achieve when meeting such daunting design challenges. If only we could put similar efforts into solving the many environmental problems our species has created on our Earth Mother/Gaia.
Yes, a triumph of design, engineering and skllled artisans, congratulations to all at BBY ~ but probably not the sort of legacy I would wish to leave the world.
So proud of Brooklin Boat Yard growing into such a world class wooden boat builder. The finest craftspeople and designers building the most beautiful, seaworthy boats in the prettiest place. And Eric, you make a great ambassador.
OMG
What a fantastic build, AND in 18 months. Amazing!
Now i really wanna one of these…
Superdelicious!
Obviously, this is an completely amazing video, even for people who aren’t into sailing. Perhaps, you could wait a month and then post it on YouTube or the BBY website for all to enjoy? Please?
Magnificent! Congratulations to all who are working on her. Looking forward to seeing and hearing more about her launching and trial. Video is a tribute to her majesty!
Wowsa
Absolutely fascinating. The complexity of this yacht is mind-boggling. Another excellent video!!!
I’m so amazed at the quality and level of workmanship of all involved I really don’t have the works to express myself…
I like it. Where do I sign?
I second Ted’s Holy Moly! Seeing is believing! Amazing craftsmanship and time management/coordination of subcontractors. Thank you Eric for the great tour. Can’t wait to see the launch.
If I were English I’d say that Sonny leaves me “gobsmacked”, but I’m just from Oklahoma, so I just slapped my forehead.
You guys do such a great job of capturing the details that bring the process alive. I was always amazed at the sophistication the boatbuilding community applies to their craft, I didn’t expect that it would be so effectively applied to cinematography, as well. We need an annual award….”and now, to present the award for the best hydrodynamics explanation in a schooner build walkabout…”
So impressive and Eric you did a great job with your description and tour of Sonny!
“Wow” !! What a great video, thanks for that. I hope were going to see the Launch & trials.
Cheers Keith.
I’m hoping for a time lapse video of the rigging of the mast!
Hi J.D., you can find one on my Instagram page @woodenboatphotographer. I’ll see if we can get it posted on the Navigate Further area under the video in a few days for those who aren’t on Instagram.
I was lucky enough to have been in the shop the day before the first topcoat was sprayed. I was intensely curious about the details behind this great machine and really appreciate the quality and thoroughness of this video. Amazing from concept to completion.
Isn’t this the second or third Sonny built for the same owner, or am I mistaken?
Yes, Dave. This is the third SONNY that BBY has built for the same owner. I hear that he enjoys the process of having a boat built at BBY with Steve White and crew so much, he just keeps coming back. I also hear that when he first called Steve White regarding this boat, he said something like: “I don’t need a boat, but I need a project.” Everyone I spoke to at the launch who worked on the project had bright eyes and a bounce in their step at how proud they were of their work and the entire experience of working for this owner. He is 94.
What a treat. Thank you Eric! Can’t wait to see more of SONNY.
thank you for the walk about. is there going to be a video of the celebration of the launch ?
Thank you Eric, great walkabout of an exceptional build by an enormous colection of very talented craftsmen.
I’ll take two!
Very nice video, Eric. What I find impressive is the ability for many in the marine industry in New England and beyond to cooperate in building this beautiful boat in a mere 18 months…great work!
Mightily impressive!! Thanks for the backstage peek!!
I watched every minute and enjoyed it a great deal. I love that Eric is intimately knowledgeable about every aspect and gives such a great tour of something he is so obviously proud of being a part of building. I’m in shock that the timeline for the build was just 18 months. An exceptional crew must be involved in its production to have hit this timeline. Nice job.
Thanks in big part to Rockport Marine, who built the hull and deck while BBY was finishing up their previous project.
thank you, Eric. It’s such a privilege to see this and to know some of the people who can build it. I saw her in wonder on the Reach Wednesday under power, then under sail. Beautiful, quiet elegance. Congratulations.
My wife and I were lucky enough to have a walk through with Eric 12 months ago when this masterpiece was in its early stages. The finished article is mind-blowing! An absolute credit to Eric and his team! Can’t wait to see a follow-up of the launching and to see it sailing.
A hearty “thank you”to Eric Blake and the rest of the OCH crew. There are no words to describe my feelings. Beauty,workmanship,craftsmanship, and holy %#&@!, are just a few that don’t even begin to do justice to this vessel. I never tire of OCH videos or of Eric’s fine play by play. I feel that Sonny just raised the bar for every boat that graces these pages. Well done again,folks.
Enjoyed the walkabout very much and am looking forward to a possible sailabout.
Well, it’s undeniably beautiful, the craftsmanship is stunning, and what people with vast sums of money choose to do with it is none of my business. So I won’t criticize it, but just report that I wasn’t really much interested. I found myself fast-forwarding through part of the tour, something I’ve never done before in more than five years of OCH membership. I’m much more impressed by and interested in boats where something beautiful has been realized through relatively modest means, such as Harry Bryan’s 20′ KATIE or Alex Spears’ 32′ VITO DUMAS (both chronicled in OCH videos).
I’m glad Brooklin Boat Yard and the other firms listed above had the work, though. Without commissions from wealthy clients, a lot fewer good craftspeople would be making a living, and civilization would be poorer for it.
I’m right there with Larry, except for the fast-forwarding part — I watched every second in awe of the talent brought together to create such an extravagance. After the revolution, all those whose skills are represented here might actually get a chance to make use of “the drinking cockpit” — heaven save us from ourselves!
Thanks, Eric, and congratulations on the craftsmanship of your team.
Ditto. I’m a small boat guy, but not everyone is. Imagine trying to use the emergency tiller and sail it “like a dingy?” An impressive design and build, to say the least.
Wow! — Is it too tacky to inquire as to what would Brooklin Boat Yard would charge me to build a similar masterpiece for my weekend sailing pleasure?
If you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it.
J. P. Morgan
Yachting is like standing under a cold shower, tearing up thousand dollar bills. Who?
Funny… If you ever wish to sell your Albury 19 built by Mr Hall, please let me know …
Wow if this a day boat I would like to see what the cruising version looks like ! Fantastic work, an amazing complicated piece of management and skill brought together in 18 months. Thanks to the Owner, Steve White, and Eric with all the OCH crew for the pleasure of having this fantastic guided tour. Eric is the grand master of nautical narration , his mastery of understatement is always entertaining.
I am totally blown away. I watched this video with my mouth open, Holy Moly!
Every once and a while it’s important to see how the rest of the world lives… I mean, sails.