Illustration by Jim Ewing In the early 1990s, when John Hutchins founded Downeast Boats and Composites in Penobscot, Maine, his first task was to fabricate hull and deck molds for a 36-foot lobster boat from the drawing board of well-known designer Spencer Lincoln. Like most working lobster vessels, the Northern Bay 36 had a springy forward sheer and fine entry at the stem. Lincoln also gave her a deep keel that progressed from the turn of the shallow forefoot to a full keel to protect the prop and rudder. For an easy rolling motion, he gave her rounded chines.
However, instead of maintaining deadrise all the way to the stern, the sharp deadrise at the bow quickly transitioned to modestly flat sections amidships and then to long, flat buttocks with virtually no deadrise. At displacement speeds, this shape created a comfortable motion for working traps, minimized drag, gave better fuel economy, and offered a large lifting surface aft that allowed the boat to achieve semi-planing speeds.
Hutchins built and sold 135 of the Northern Bay 36 boats while adding other models to his lineup. Early advertisements in commercial fishing magazines offered a 36 with a 220-hp John Deere diesel for a $73,000 base price. Many of the Northern Bay 36s were delivered as hull-and-deck kits for other builders to custom fit and finish. Some of the hulls were solid glass, while others were cored with end-grain balsa.
In 2005, after Hutchins started building a 38-footer, he sold the Northern Bay 36 molds to Stacey Raymond of General Marine in Biddeford, Maine. Raymond knew Lincoln well and prized the design for its easy-riding reputation and speed. General Marine offers the boat with a selection of engines ranging from a practical 300 hp to a whopping 1,200 hp. With a 500-hp Cummins 8.3L diesel, she will cruise at 20 to 22 knots, burn 1.5 to 1.8 gallons per mile, and top out at 27 knots. If an owner equipped a Northern Bay 36 with a Caterpillar C18, her skipper might reasonably expect speeds in the mid- to high-50-knot range.
Raymond swears that he will never modify the hull of the Northern Bay 36 out of respect for Lincoln’s design, which combines ride and performance. He did eventually raise the height of the deckhouse to increase headroom on General Marine’s Northern Bay 36s.
This article was originally published in the October 2023 issue.
