When asked about the sale of Bristol Harbor Boats, Greg Beers, President of Bristol Harbor Boats, Inc stated, “As you know, my partners and I have had the sincere privilege of building the Bristol Harbor line of boats for the past five years. We have experienced great satisfaction delivering Bristol Harbor Boats to our customers and the design of the BHB19 and BHB21 is a proven success.  In order to meet the demands of the marketplace and ensure that a quality product is continued to be delivered, we chose to sell the assets of Bristol Harbor Boats, Inc. to Maritime Marine Group, LLC of Augusta, Maine.”  Beers continued, “Maritime Marine Group, LLC believes in staying true to the company’s core values of providing exceptional, personal customer service, the highest quality composite products, and a boat that continually exceeds its owner’s expectations. As the principal partners of Bristol Harbor Boats, Inc. we concluded that these company values meshed well with our expectations for the future of the Bristol Harbor Boats line.”

Knowing that Maritime Marine Group, LLC’s commitment to excellence and strong company values will bring continued growth and value to the Bristol Harbor Boats line, Bristol Harbor Boats, Inc. founders will continue to focus on Bristol Harbor Group, Inc., their core business of naval architecture and design. Manufacturing, marketing and sales of the BHB19 and BHB21 are consolidated with Maritime Marine Group, LLC while Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. will continue to support Maritime Marine Group, LLC with design work.  Maritime Marine Group, LLC will build the 19’ LOA and 21’ LOA Bristol Harbor alongside its current production lines of Maritime and Maritime Skiff boats.   Bristol Harbor compliments the Maritime production and shares many of the same core design principles of the highest quality and rugged durability that 100% composite construction affords.  In the Bristol Harbor line, Maritime Marine Group, LLC will be able to offer a classic, Downeast style center console that provides modern sea-keeping capability, performance and safety along with optimal fuel efficiency.  Underneath the classic lines will be modern technology as Maritime Marine Group, LLC transitions the boats to vacuum infusion manufacturing, making the boats lighter, stronger, and even more fuel efficient than before. Maritime Marine Group, LLC will bring its talent for building semi-custom production boats to the Bristol Harbor line, allowing owners to customize with a range of options, including teak decking, cover boards, and rails.

Ian D. Kopp further said about the acquisition of Bristol Harbor Boats’ assets, “Bristol Harbor Boats were born out of the desire to create a comfortable family fishing boat with classic lines and we look forward to continuing to deliver that Downeast style coupled with modern manufacturing technology and semi-customization that our customers have come to know us for.” All new Maine-built Bristol Harbor Boats have a 10-year structural warranty.  Contact the factory for dealer inquires or to purchase a Bristol Harbor Boat.  Peter Galvin, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Maritime Marine Group, LLC can be reached at 681 Riverside Drive, Augusta, ME, 04430 or at (207)620-7999, or visit bristolharborboats.com.

Background of Maritime Marine Group, LLC

The origins of Maritime Marine Group, LLC started back in 1947 when Kenneth G. Priest, Sr. founded Kenway Boats. At first building wooden boats of his own design, Ken quickly embraced the evolution of fiberglass boats. Gradually, Kenway Boats’ reputation for excellence spread to industrial customers and in 1966 Kenway Corporation replaced Kenway Boats. Over the next forty years, with quality at the center of the company’s philosophy, Kenway continued to develop its expertise for a wide range of custom-engineered composite fabrications. Currently, the company’s team of engineers, project managers, quality assurance personnel, and most importantly its expert composite technicians serve a wide range of customers from Maine, to Oregon, to Puerto Rico. Importantly, however, the company never strayed far from its boatbuilding roots and now shares its modern manufacturing facility and expert personnel with its sister company, Maritime Marine Group, LLC.

Maritime Marine Group, LLC is wholly owned and managed by second and third generation family members. Kenneth G. Priest II, PE serves as the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Ian D. Kopp as its President/Chief Operating Officer, and Michael Priest as its Vice President. Company owners Ken, Michael and Ian take great pride in remaining a small, family-owned business within an industry dominated by corporate giants.

Background of Bristol Harbor Boats, Inc.

The three naval architects who started the naval architecture firm Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. got into the business because they loved to create something from scratch. Designing a boat to fit a specific need and do a particular job is what they love, and they have invested all their passion, knowledge and experience in their line of family fishing and cruising boats.

Greg Beers, P.E., Cory Wood and Andrew Tyska have been designing boats in Bristol, Rhode Island since 1995. They have designed everything from barges to a 20 foot runabout with 129 foot fast ferries and 85 foot tugboats in between. “No matter what we are building,” Wood explained, “we always look at the boat as our client. Owner’s specifications, Coast Guard regulations and manufacturer’s capabilities are all part of the process, but ending up with a great boat is the bottom line.”

Beers, Wood and Tyska, classmates at the University of Michigan’s prestigious Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, built their thriving design firm one client at a time. When Bristol Harbor Group, Inc. was firmly established with a total of seven employees and a full schedule of commercial vessel and yacht design, they decided to look for a new challenge.

“We looked at the boats available in the small cruiser market and felt there was a niche we could fill,” explained Tyska. “For over ten years we’ve been fulfilling other people’s dreams and now, with Bristol Harbor Boats, Inc. we like to say: It’s your turn!” With classic lines, a comfortable ride and an attractive price, the first of the 21 foot center console models was finished at Bristol Harbor Boats, Inc.’s facility, in June of 2006. The line includes a 19 foot center console and 21 foot models that the client can order either as a center console or as an express cruiser.

For more information contact:
Peter Galvin
Vice President Sales & Marketing
Maritime Marine Group LLC
681 Riverside Drive
Augusta, ME 04330
Phone 207-620-7999
Fax 207-622-6611
info@bristolharborboats.com

The show will host more vendors and exhibitors than last year- but more importantly Maritime will be there with a nice selection of boats and solid team of experts to help answer your questions.   Bring the family and your stories and let’s start thinking about and planning for the start of boating season!  PGG – Maritime Marine

Flashback - 2009 New England Boat Show

It makes us feel good knowing our boats safely allow others to help people in need…..                   Maritime- Boats You Can Depend On! PGG

Brunswick Police use their Maritime 20 Pioneer for River Rescue. (Published with permission from The Times Record / D. Moore Photo)