When debating future concepts with our team, we always start with an open discussion. It may kick off with a story that a junior designer has heard or read, a series of iPhone photos of a striking boat design, or an architectural detail that caught someone’s eye. Often, modern materials and technical developments are threads that run throughout our debates.
These vibrant discussions keep us sharp before we render into a design spiral. In this first phase, we start by sketching various items based on our conversations. The sketches then become a subject of debate again, with some destined for the refuse heap and others deemed well worthy of sharing.
A recent one that rose to the top is based on the classic Chesapeake deadrise. The vessel has earned its place in boating lore as a workhorse for the waterman of the mid-Atlantic whose quarry ranges from blue-claw crabs to oysters and pelagic fish. The long, sleek boats—with cockpits the size of dance floors, sharp bows and tiny, utilitarian pilothouses—have proportions like pickup trucks that we love.
Our goal is to transform this boat into a comfortable, versatile design, retaining the classic deadrise profile. We kept the long, unbroken cockpit, with low freeboard aft that transitions to a graceful rise of the sheer to her plumb bow. The forward wheelhouse remains as well, but this area will be an order of magnitude away from a space just to escape nasty weather.
To make her interior more spacious without compromising the loved silhouette, we added another deck, utilizing the pilothouse roof as the flybridge sole and the wheelhouse silhouette as a flybridge bulwark. Access to the flybridge is via a portside ladder from the cockpit. A pair of helm seats are abaft a C-shape, forward seating area. A manually operated window allows for a fully enclosed helm station or one open to the elements.
On her main level, we have an open layout for lounging, with sleeping accommodations forward for two people, and an amidships head with a shower. The salon sleeps two more people on a convertible settee. There are no side or forward-facing windows, but a wall of glass comprises the after bulkhead.
The aft deck can be configured to suit the owner’s needs, including for stowage of diving gear, sport bikes, personal watercraft and more. Our design incorporates a fighting chair and a C-shape seating area that flanks a galley with a cooktop and refrigeration.
Our concept is based on a full aluminum build, so customizations can be tailored to her future owner. Also, there would be no need to invest in a full set of molds to create the boat from FRP.
The Chesa 44 will be driven by a pair of 480-hp Volvo Penta D6 engines mated to IPS drives, easing maneuverability while adding adroit performance and fuel efficiency. With her engines set well aft, a centrally located stowage space is large enough to swallow an array of water toys and other gear. The power package, matched to her planing deep-V hull, should produce a cruising speed close to 30 knots and a top end from 34 to 40 knots, depending on her engine setup. The IPS units will allow Chesa to get on plane at slower speeds and cruise efficiently in the high teens.
CHESA 44
LOA: 44ft. 6in.
Beam: 14ft. 7in.
Draft: 2ft. 9in.
Displacement: 24,250 lbs.
Fuel: 400 gal.
Water: 100 gal.
Power: 2x 480-hp Volvo Penta D6-IPS650
This article was originally published in the November/December 2023 issue.
