Featured in Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors

Peter’s story ran in Issue 166 of Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors (September/October 2020). In “British-born Builder Brings Back Classic Maine Designs,” writer Brian Robbins tells how a builder from Banbury, England, ended up in Addison, Maine — and how the Willis Beal designs came back to life in our shop.

Peter came to Maine in 2002 with no boatbuilding experience. That fall he hired on at RP Boats in Steuben, and by the end of six years there he was running builds. In 2011 he opened Taylored Boats, custom-finishing hulls from a range of Downeast builders.

Fire took the RP shop and its molds in 2010, but Peter never forgot the Willis Beal models he learned on. As he puts it, “Willis is the man.” In 2018, with Willis Beal’s blessing, we brought the RP 40 Designer’s Daughter, owned by Travis Beal, into the shop, stripped her down and used her hull as the plug for a new mold. An older 35-footer became the plug for a second. The 40 can be lengthened or widened to suit a customer, and the 35 runs out to 38 feet.

Peter says he’s “proud to have Willis’s name on them.” The full article goes further, including Willis Beal’s own story, from building wooden boats on Beals Island to designing the RP line in fiberglass. It’s well worth the read.