The Southport "Handy Billy"

The Southport Handy Billy Line of Boats

Ever since reading about Harry Bryans’ Handy Billy designs in Wooden Boat Magazine in the late 1990’s we have thought that these boats looked so good and made such good sense that we wanted to build one. In 2001, after owning the boatyard for a year, I called Harry Bryan and purchased a set of plans for the 21 foot Handy Billy.

At that time, I was anticipating a slow period in the business, and I thought we might build one on speculation. It was at that time that I first got the idea to build the boats in Fiberglass for the first time. I called the designer to discuss this possibility with him, and he was supportive. I was ready to embark on this project in that summer of 2001, but paying customers interrupted my plans (it got busy).

The plans languished, hanging on the wall of our offices until recently when a local man who wants a Handy Billy built for him walked into my office. We discussed his needs, and we both got very excited about beginning to build these boats in fiberglass – he liked the reduced maintenance that this implied. I called Harry Bryan again, and this time we discussed the financial arrangements around using his design. Shortly thereafter, we communicated with designer Doug Hylan who had designed a 26′5″ incarnation of the same concept.

And so we now have the rights to build this boat (he called it “Top Hat”), we will call it HB-26 as well. We plan to build the first hull in the fall of 2006.

V-Bottom Launches: Based on the Work of William H. Hand, Jr.

Between the years 1900 and 1920 William Hand developed V-bottomed runabouts designed to make the best use of the motors available at the time. The hull shape was developed to contend with the short steep seas and stiff breezes of Buzzard’s Bay, Hand’s home waters.

Hand’s successful work has been taken, and blended it with modern power technology to create a new design while always keeping the following principles in mind:

1. The boat must be seaworthy
2. It should be highly efficient in its use of fuel
3. It should be unusually quiet
4. It must be good looking.

Seaworthiness:

Hand’s V-bottomed craft had a high easy entry for meeting the waves and moderate beam flowing to a narrow transom sitting at the water’s surface. Moderate beam and a narrow transom give efficiency at low and medium speeds. These features have been abandoned by the modern outboard runabout which drags its wide or deep-V transom at the slow speeds dictated by crowded conditions or rough water. The presumed safety of fast planing boats comes from an assumption that one can reach shelter quickly when the weather deteriorates. In truth, their high speed can’t be maintained when the going gets rough. The hulls that Hand developed do not skip along on the surface of the water like fully planing hulls.

The Handy Billy's design is a result of extensive Computer-Generated Hul Design

They will, however, knife through the water at well over displacement speeds. As the V-bottom concept evolved and more powerful motors became available, other designers introduced wider, faster (but less seakindly) boats. In these new developments, the soft, sweet, loping ride of the early Hand designed boats was left behind. We believe these new launches capture what was lost.

Power and Efficiency:

It is our opinion that 68 horsepower (which is the average used by the North American boater) is excessive for recreational needs. Power is needed for speed, but speed has a largely negative effect on recreation as it contributes to increased danger and noise both for the occupants of the boat and other people within its sphere of influence. Expense of operation (both in purchase price and fuel cost) increases with speed. Modest horsepower is enough for moderate speed yet small enough to be efficient. In the HB 21, 25 horsepower 4 cycle engines have been used. In the HB 26, 50 horsepower 4 cycle engines have been used. Four cycle technology tends to be superior to two cycle in fuel use, in reducing pollutants, and sound levels, although at this writing (fall 2005) two cycle technology is improving. Modest powering limits noise as well.

Quiet Operation:

Motor boats have always carried with them the burden of noise. There are some people who consider noise a fine thing and create exhaust systems that maximize sound, presumably to impress others. These launches has been created for those who think otherwise. Noise is stress, both for the occupants of the boat and those within hearing range of its operation. While four cycle engines are inherently quieter than two cycle, we have gone beyond this by placing the engine within the hull and adding a barrier of acoustic insulation. The result is probably the quietest outboard boat on the market. The benefit is easy conversation, greater awareness of surroundings, and far less intrusion on others.

Good Looks:

A priority for all of our boats is a commitment to traditional good looks. Aesthetic quality is built into any good design. It is not a veneer to be applied after the basic structure is complete. Even though they may not hear you coming, we think that those who notice will agree.

The Southport HB-21 Computer Rendering