By Andrea Ray From Wareham Village Soup

Cape Cod Shipbuilding President Mary Goodwin is tickled pink by the company’s latest honor – one of its boats is a finalist for an English award that recognizes traditional craftsmanship.

“The award is concentrating on the real craft, not the cookie cutter production boats, just like we do – it’s nice to get recognition for that,” said Goodwin.

Cape Cod Shipbuilding’s Marlin Heritage 23, a 23-foot cruising boat, was nominated by “Classic Boat” magazine in the “Spirit of Tradition Under 40 Feet” category. Base in England, the publication bills itself as “the magazine for the world’s most beautiful boats.”

Established in 1899, Cape Cod Shipbuilding is the oldest fiberglass boat manufacturing company in the United States, and has been producing boats in the same fashion from the 1950s onwards. Each boat model has a mold, and every boat is built individually, according to customer preference. The company takes its craftsmanship seriously, with master craftsmen from the area producing each boat by hand.

Often, her customers send a “thank you” to the company in the form of photographs of the new boats sailing in blue-green waters off of Italy or in the Cayman Isles.

Goodwin says that the Marlin Heritage 23 is based off of an original Marlin, which was produced at the factory in the 1950s. The Marlin of the 1950s was by famous yacht designer Captain Nathanael Hereshoff, who designed five different boats that all won the America’s Cup Challenge. Cape Cod Shipbuilding bought many of Hereshoff’s original designs in 1947, including the Marlin and the H-12 1/2, a small boat frequently seen racing and cruising in Cape-area waters.

The award nomination arrived under a unique set of circumstances. Writers from a different British boating magazine, “Water Craft,” landed on American shores, looking for information on New England shipbuilders. When the writers arrived on Cape Cod Shipbuilding’s grounds, they asked Goodwin what to write about. She directed them to the Marlin Heritage 23, a boat built after five years of design work. Several months later, she found out that the magazine had liked the boat so much that they nominated it to the Classic Boat Awards. Goodwin was surprised and flattered to receive the good news.

There are currently two Marlin Heritage 23 boats in the water. One one is sailing in the Grand Cayman Isles, and the other in Maryland. Goodwin reported that the boatbuilders won’t move the mold for it out of the shop.

“They want to build another one,” she said. “They’re sure they’ll get to.”

IMAGE: Photo by: Michael C. MagniCape Cod Shipbuilding President Wendy Goodwin aboard the Marlin Heritage 23

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