The new, high-performing Hood 57, a Downeast boat with creative input from many directions, is now under construction at the Lyman-Morse yard in Thomaston, Maine. Powered by twin Volvo IPS1350 pod drives, Volvo’s most powerful, it is expected to top out at 39 knots when it is launched in 2020.
The new Hood 57 has an unusual history. It is being built for a New England owner who came to Chris Hood, the head of C.W. Hood Yachts in Marblehead, Mass., to repower his 24-foot boat. They ended up talking about a much larger boat, as in 50-feet plus.
Hood collaborated with David Robison to develop the lines for what became a 57-foot boat, and then they in turn collaborated with Stephens Waring Yacht Design in Belfast, Maine, for engineering and construction drawings. And they all then turned to Drew Lyman, the president of Lyman-Morse, to start construction.
To provide the speed the owners wanted, Stephens Waring decided on an innovative composite construction using both wood and fiberglass. The boat is being built with four major shaped hull panels made with cold-molded wood backed up with composite girders. The four panels include the bottom module, which is 50 feet by 15 feet, both port and starboard topside panels, and a curved transom section.
At the end of the process the topsides will have a structural inner skin vacuum bagged in place and the four separate parts will be joined together to create a structural monocoque assembly. Once the hull is completed, Hood will finish the boat in his yard in Marblehead.
When they saw the final drawings, Volvo engineers also got involved, suggesting some changes in the hull. They added more area to the chine flats, to control how much the boat can lean in a high-speed turn. They also added more beam to distribute the weight better.
The Hood 57 has classic lines, with a sharp entry, long sheer and beautiful tumblehome. It also has some unique touches, such as electric drop-down windows in the salon, a helm made to feel like the controls of a sports car (the owner is a car buff), and a unique cockpit layout where both sides of the cockpit are open for easy access to the transom and the water. The entire cockpit lifts up under hydraulic power for easy engine access. A ventilator box is centered in the transom.
For modern touches, the boat will have custom titanium hardware, and titanium spiral stairs lead from the cockpit to the flybridge. All this is being made a Lyman-Morse Fabrication.
The owner’s suite, with plenty of moving-around room, is forward, with an en suite head and large stall shower. There’s also a small guest cabin with an office desk; it shares the day head.
The galley is mid-level, between the accommodations deck and the salon. A large sofa and two built-in chairs are in the salon, while the aft cockpit has molded-in furniture. An unusual feature is a forward cockpit in the bow, which is designed to resemble the rumble seat of a Model A Ford.
Specs.: LOA: 57’3”; Beam: 17’6”; Draft: 4’10”; Disp.: 60,000 lbs.; Fuel: NA; Water: NA; Power: 2×1,000-hp Volvo IPS1350 pod drives.
