WorkBoat has announced its 10 Significant Boats for 2019. Now it’s time for you to choose the Boat of the Year from that list. You can place your VOTE HERE. Voting ends on Friday, Nov. 8, 2019.
Choosing the Significant Boats each year is subjective, with many boats deserving of making the Top 10 list each year. However, there are certain parameters that the editorial staff does follow in its efforts to give all boats that qualify a chance. For example, we try to select at least one boat from each sector of the industry that WorkBoat covers — inland and coastal, harbor and ports, offshore, passenger vessels, etc. In addition, we also try to select one boat from each region of the U.S. — East Coast, West Coast, Gulf Coast and the Great Lakes. Thus, this makes it impossible for all Significant Boats in a particular year to be tugs built on the West Coast or offshore boats built on the Gulf Coast.
Furthermore, while design is the most important ingredient in the Significant Boat gumbo, it is not the only one. This is not a list based on naval architecture and marine engineering only. Maybe what makes a boat “Significant” is that it’s a first of its kind, a successful series build, or where it operates and who it serves, or how it helps advance new workboat frontiers like wind energy.
And the editorial staff reserves the right to veer off these guidelines in its quest to put together the best list possible.
Only boats that appeared in WorkBoat magazine from December 2018 to November 2019 were considered. (Remember, it's not when the boat was actually delivered, but when it appeared in the magazine.) In addition, the boat has to appear as a full item in our boatbuilding section (On the Ways), or be the focus of one of our features, which means the story must have a list of specifications, including owner, builder and designer, at least one photo of the boat, and there have to be quotes from at least one of the major participants in the project. This year the pool of possibilities came to almost 50 boats.
This year's 10 Significant Boats will be discussed at a WorkBoat Think Tank session and be recognized at an awards breakfast at the International WorkBoat Show on Thursday, Dec. 5. The breakfast will culminate with the selection of the 2019 Boat of the Year, which will be chosen from the alphabetical list of the 2019 Significant Boat winners below:
ANDREW S (100'x38'x17'2", Z-drive, Subchapter M tug)
Builder: Main Iron Works
Owner: Bisso Towboat Co. Inc.
Designer: Ashraf Degedy, Bisso Towboat Co. Inc., Main Iron Works
BOB AND BETTY BEYSTER (42'x16'x5' coastal research vessel)
Builder: Armstrong Marine USA
Owner: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego
Designer: Armstrong Marine USA
BRAZOS PILOT (64'x19', pilot boat)
Builder: Metal Shark
Owner: Brazos Pilots Association
Designer: Metal Shark
CAPTAIN BEN MOORE (63'x21.3', agricultural freighter)
Builder: Derecktor Shipyards
Owner: Harbor Harvest
Designer: Incat Crowther
DOLPHIN XI (114'x25'x9', 360-passenger whale watch boat)
Builder: Gulf Craft LLC
Owner: Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch
Designer: Gulf Craft LLC, Incat Crowther
ISLAND REGENT (82'x41'x12' ATB tug)
Builder: Island Tug and Barge, Nichols Brothers Boat Builders
Owner: Island Tug and Barge
Designer: Robert Allan Ltd.
KAYAK EXPRESS (64'x19', 72-passenger tour boat)
Builder: Moran Iron Works
Owner: Pictured Rocks Kayaking
Designer: DLBA Naval Architects
PYXIS, LYRA, VELA (142.7x'40'x5.4', 445-passenger ferry)
Builder: Dakota Creek Industries Inc.
Owner: City of San Francisco, Water Emergency Transportation Authority (operator)
Designer: Advanced Multihull Designs
SFFD M2-38 (38"10"x13'10", dive and fire rescue vessel)
Builder: Moose Boats
Owner: City of San Francisco
Designer: Moose Boats
TAÍNO, EL COQUÍ (720'x105'x59', ConRo ship)
Builder: VT Halter Marine
Owner: Crowley Maritime Corp.
Designer: Wärtsilä Ship Design, Jensen Maritime
