It’s been a while since Hinckley Yachts has launched a sailboat, but when the new Bermuda 50 — the first of two on order, so far — rolls out of the company’s Trenton, Maine, production yard this spring, it should make quite a splash.
The model name harkens back to Hinckley’s sailing heritage and the venerable Bermuda 40, which made its debut in 1959. Designed by Bill Tripp, the B-40 still turns heads in harbors around the world today. Early on, Hinckley described the boat as a “great gentleman’s ocean racer.”
Its modern-day sibling, designed by Tripp Design and Bill Tripp III, could be described as the same, though I’d bet it will be a whole lot quicker around the buoys or over the long haul, say from Newport to Bermuda, than the yawl-rigged B-40.
The B-50 is thoroughly modern in looks, equipment and build. The foam-cored, carbon and Kevlar hull is infused with vinylester resin, as is the carbon deck. The carbon rig will carry an easy-to-handle sail plan, making the boat a couple’s cruiser or a very seaworthy racer for a captain and full crew.
A cherry interior is standard, but hull number one will be fitted out with maple. Accommodations include a master’s suite forward and two aft cabins.
As of this week, the hull and deck are complete, and the deck has been dry-fit. Interior modules are in place and the company expects the deck will be remounted permanently in another couple of weeks.
Renderings reveal a boat with a plumb bow, a sleek low-profile house, roomy cockpit with twin wheels and a graceful overhung stern. Below the waterline, a hydraulic lifting keel can reduce draft from 11 feet, 6 inches, to 6 feet, 6 inches, making the B 50 suitable for shallower bays and cruising grounds.
Wherever the B-50’s new owners decide to take her, though, I’m betting the captain and crew will enjoy the ride.
Hinckley Bermuda 50 Sailboat Being Built
Hinckley Bermuda 50 Sailboat Deck Being Built
Hinckley Bermuda 50 Sailboat Rendering
