When the phone rang at 10:00 that night, Steve Wessel was not happy. The Surry, Maine, boatbuilder was ready to call it a day, and his first impulse was to ignore the ring. But he didn’t…and the rest is history.

The caller was a customer and now a friend, Don Lynch, from Killmarnick, Virginia who couldn’t wait until the next day to talk about a great idea he had. 24 years later, Steve, president of WESMAC Custom Boats, Inc. laughs when he looks back on that fateful evening, commenting, “Even though I was half asleep I could tell there was something there worth pursuing!”

So, what was the great idea? “It boiled down to merging the best of two opposite concepts in boat building – combining a full-keeled downeaster with a “V” bottom, hard-chined hull which is typically found in a Chesapeake Bay-designed vessel,” says Steve. He quickly scribbles some drawings that show the difference between the typical downeaster soft-chined hull and the hard chine found in Chesapeake boats.

WESMAC’s president explains that the performance of a boat is based on the shape of her hull and how she sits in the water. “Speaking in general terms, there are three types of hulls, semi-displacement, displacement and planing” says Steve. A boat with a displacement hull does not rise out of the water as the speed increases; the hull pushes through. In general those boats are easy to propel at low speeds; they offer a lot of space, and are very rugged.

Semi-displacement and planing hulls, on the other hand, are designed to run on top of the water at high speeds. Boats with planing hulls are less efficient at low speeds; in addition, they pound into waves, resulting in a pretty rough ride.

Semi-displacement or semi-planing, is a combination of the first two according to Steve. The WESMAC’s semi-displacement or semi-planing hulls combine speed with sea-worthiness and offer good useable interior spaces. “These boats are great working platforms, you can fish from them in any kind of weather and they handle really well and won’t pound or roll” is Steve’s summary.  

The chine is a different story. Downeast boat builders have traditionally used soft chines. Why mess around with success, so to speak, and use a hard chine on a large-keeled downeaster? According to Steve, “The hard chines help control lift, roll and spray, and add stability; hard-chined hulls increase buoyancy and shorten the roll period, making for a less bumpy ride.” Steve claims he’s had customers whose wives tell him how much they love his design because it allows their husbands to come back after a long day at sea, and still have the energy to take them out shopping that night… Maybe even more importantly these days, the hard-chine design reduces drag at higher speed, thus resulting in more efficient fuel consumption.

As far as looks, however, the WESMAC boat would not call attention as being “not from around here…” For all her differences below, above the waterline a WESMAC has the traditional down-east lobsterboat lines.

The company currently offers the WESMAC 36’, 38’, 42’ and 46’; two new models are the 50 and 54 foot. What type of engine powers these proud vessels? A WESMAC boat always boasts a CAT below deck. Steve does not compromise here. “We take the best of displacement and the best of planar; we combine full keeled design with V-bottoms and hard chines, so we recommend only one type of engine, and that’s a CAT.”

Because WESMAC Marine Architects will stand behind their boats, no matter where the boat may end up, the WESMAC president explains that being able to count on Caterpillar’s exceptional worldwide support is crucial for them. “In the Northeast, our customers rely on Milton CAT and their network of approved marine dealers,” states Wessel, who continues, “Wherever our boats turn out to be, CAT offers us that key additional reliability.”

Building WESMAC

Steve Wessel has the right credentials to be a serious boatbuilder. A graduate of Maine Marine Academy, he was hired to work in procurement for the Navy Patrol Frigates at Bath Iron Works. He was commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy in 1974 upon graduation. Then it was time for a change. As he puts it, “at that stage of my life, I knew that a desk job was not for me, so I decided to go back to the sea, and had a few years as a lobsterman.”

Starting his own boatbuilding company was a natural next step for Steve; as he says, “I knew what I wanted, and I knew why I wanted it!” His background and broad experience gave him credibility with his customers, many of whom are repeat ones. “We don’t have to advertise,” states Steve, “people come here through word of mouth.”

The profile of his customers changes according to the ebb and flow of the economy; where a few years ago, half of WESMAC boats were commercial and half pleasure, nowadays the ratio is closer to 70% pleasure and 30% commercial. But regardless of their differences in the use of their boat, WESMAC owners share some definite common comments.

Steve’s intimate knowledge of what makes a boat the right boat, his unparalleled attention to detail and his concern for safety are mentioned again and again by his delighted customers. As Chris Peterson, from Freeport, Maine puts it, “Steve has the absolute desire to give you the best boat.” Describing Mojo, his WESMAC 42 as a “one-piece boat,” Peterson reminisces about the boat building experience, saying how much he loved the entire process. When asked about the performance of the C15 CAT engine on his WESMAC 42, Chris Peterson summarizes it as “Flawless.”

Lobsterman Brent Oliver from Stonignton, Maine, is direct and clear in his comments about his WESMAC 46. He describes Jarsulan as a “great package” that rides good, has excellent visibility, can hold up to 120 traps and is faster than any other boat he’s had. Oliver believes the hard chine design gives the boat added stability. This is Oliver’s second CAT engine; his former 42’ boat had a C15, and he’s very pleased with his CAT C18. “I don’t need to run it fast, low RPMs are efficient and if I need service, the Milton CAT Authorized Marine Dealer on the island, Billings Diesel, is tops.”

Jim Noon from Wakefield, Rhode Island, is part pleasure boater, part commercial fisherman and full time WESMAC admirer. He takes his 10 year old 42’ Midnight Rambler and goes tuna-fishing as far away as 100 miles off shore and stays there for two or three days. He comments on what he calls his boat’s “perfect design,” which gives him more speed, more stability and no rolling. This is Noon’s third CAT engine, and he says – “CAT was the only engine I considered, and the reason I switched to the third one was because I wanted more power, so I sold my C15 to a Rhode Island lobsterman and got a C18.” Noon appreciates Milton CAT’s service and parts availability, and relies on Rhode Island Engines at Point Judith.

What’s next?

It took vision and courage to try an idea that was totally outside the traditional way of doing things, in an environment where tradition is highly respected. Hard work and a passionate commitment to their customers have done the rest.

Open year-round with a full team that includes several veterans with more than 15 years with the company, WESMAC has a problem – it cannot keep up with demand. Steve’s explanation – “It takes about one year, beginning to end, to have one of our boats ready, and we have a pretty long waiting list…”