It’s launch day for Fantasy, a 55-foot motoryacht built by the Camden Shipbuilding Company for poet and author Donald Parson. In this photo—taken in 1949, by photojournalist Jim Moore—she has just splashed in Camden Harbor, a small skiff standing by to offer assistance. Soon, she will depart Maine and set course for her new homeport in New York.
Fantasy was the creation of naval architect Geerd Hendel, whose designs had a profound impact on Maine’s shipbuilding industry. Born in Germany in 1903, Hendel began his career apprenticing at the Deutsche Werft shipyard in Hamburg before attending the Higher Technical Institute in Bremen, where he specialized in naval architecture. After graduating in 1925, he worked in the design office of the Nobiskrug shipyard before coming to the United States in 1928. By 1935, he had secured a position as chief draftsman for naval architect Starling Burgess, collaborating on projects for Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, most notably the construction of the America’s Cup Defender Ranger in 1936. Through his work on Ranger’s aluminum masts, Hendel became one of the early advocates for aluminum in yacht construction. The following year, Ranger won the 1937 America’s Cup.
In 1942, Hendel joined the Camden Shipbuilding and Marine Railway Company to design small craft for the war effort. That company closed after the war, and in 1948 Bok and William E. Peterson established the Camden Shipbuilding Company at the same site, hiring Malcolm H. Brewer as master builder. Brewer focused mostly on lobster boats and power cruisers, with many of the designs coming from Hendel, who had established his own firm in Camden in 1945. The builder also helped Hendel continue experimenting with aluminum, producing a series of 18-foot aluminum centerboard daysailers designed by Hendel.
Beyond his contributions to the Camden Shipbuilding Company, Hendel designed a range of vessels, from fishing draggers built at Gamage Shipyard in South Bristol to boom jumpers used in paper company log drives. His diverse portfolio included large and small motor and sailing yachts, fishing trawlers, tugs and more. Notably, his Boothbay Harbor One-Design remains a popular daysailer-racer to this day.
The Camden Shipbuilding Company ceased operations in 1963 and was succeeded by Wayfarer Marine Co. By then, Hendel had gained fame as a naval architect in both the U.S. and Europe. He died in 1998 at age 95. His wife donated his extensive collection of plans, photographs and business papers to the Maine Maritime Museum.
