WILBUR 37 WEEKENDER

The end result is a great- looking Downeaster that is sleek and modern, yet still has traditional lines.

Based in Southwest Harbor, Maine, Wilbur Yachts has built 200- plus hulls since Lee Wilbur started the company in 1973. Today, the boatbuilder makes Downeast- style yachts from 34 to 61 feet in length. The newest, the Wilbur 37 Weekender, is the first all-new Wilbur with outboard power plants: a pair of 425- hp Yamaha XF425s.

“I’ve been thinking about this boat since about 2003,” says John Kachmar, who is married to Lee Wilbur’s daughter, Ingrid, a coowner of the company. “I wanted to modify our Wilbur 34 hull to use outboards, but the engines just weren’t there yet. Outboards have come a long way in the last 15 years— so much so that we feel comfortable building a boat around them.”

Geoff Dickes with Dickes Yacht Design in Palm Coast, Florida, drew the new plans.“I initially struggled with the look of the outboards on the back, but eventually they just disappeared into the design,” Dickes says. “The end result is a great- looking Downeaster that is both sleek and modern, yet still has those traditional lines.”

Top end on the Weekender with the XF425s should be around 48 knots, Kachmar says. “Of course, no one really runs around at top speed all the time, so she’ll cruise efficiently in the mid- to high30s, depending on how miserly an owner wants to be with fuel.”

As with other boatbuilders, Kachmar says the Wilbur Yachts team noticed that using outboards allowed for changes to the boat’s configuration. “Having the engines out of the boat made it

possible for us to build a singlelevel deck, from the cockpit to the windshield,” he says. “Most Downeast- style boats have at least a small step for the cockpit-to-bridge-deck transition to make room for the inboards.” The first hull could be ready in spring 2020.

LOA : 37’0” Beam: 10’7” Draft: 2’2” Weight: 14,200 lbs. Power: (2) Yamaha XF425 4-strokes