1. How does the Whaler design team decide what to update on specific boats?
What it comes down to really, is talking to people just like you. We have a very robust boat research team that goes out into the world and spends time with you, learning how you use your boat, things you like and don’t like, going out boating with you, to the sandbar, and fishing. We take all that information back to the design group and decide as a team well, there seems to be a lot of popularity around bringing this new feature onto a boat, how do we accommodate that in our new model? A lot of the innovations on the 360 Outrage and new Dauntless’ are because of that consumer feedback you all give us.
2. Why do some of your boats have square bows and why have you moved away from the traditional hulls?
Yes, a lot of the older whalers have square bows, such as the old and current Montauk models. It’s been a classic Whaler look. With the square bows, a lot of that comes from BWOC comments about styling and usability. On a Montauk it makes a lot of sense, but on a lot of other boats it doesn’t. But who knows, a square bow may show back up in years to come! As far as hull design, we have a team here led by Kevin Donnelly, our senior Naval Architect, that develops new hulls. Each boat has a hull that was designed specifically for that boat. Each time we do it, we get a little bit better. Hull design is a very interesting engineering discipline, each time you come up with a hull, you can design it a little better the next time. It's not that we’ve moved away from the old-style hull, it’s that we’ve continued evolving.
3. Can someone do a co-op with the design team?
So glad you asked that! Yes, we have a very active co-op or internship program within the design team here, and a similar one is offered with the engineering team. For the design team, we host roughly two interns or co-ops per year. You’re not only working on random concepts but you’re actually designing the next Boston Whaler along with us. You can look back and say I was a part of designing that boat. Additionally, it’s a very competitive process to get onto the team here as an intern, but several of our current designers started their careers here as interns. It’s a great first step for those of you interested in getting into boat design!
4. What is your most favorite boat you’ve designed?
Ah, so hard. So many great boats. So proud of the 360 Outrage model. But personally, I’d have to say the 330 Outrage is my favorite. It’s the perfect balance of big water capability and ruggedness with simplicity. Easy to own, easy to clean, easy to work on. Boat design is a game of tradeoffs and I think we did a great job of balancing everything out just perfectly.
There’s a lot that goes into the design process. We do about 200-300 sketches on a boat before it’s all said and done. We do a lot of research, sketch, and also 3D model. Using a program called Rhinoceros 3D. We model a boat on average 10 times before it’s done, then the engineers will take it and work on it some more.
5. What do you think is the most important part of the Boston Whaler brand?
When I work a boat show, or go to a customer experience, or even attend a Rendezvous, (which I highly recommend!), I always hear all about the heritage of Boston Whaler. Many owners have stories about boating on a Boston Whaler with their grandfather, to now owning that same boat. There’s just such pride that comes with these boats and this brand really carries family memories. It reminds us why we design these boats.
