Brooklin Boat Yard launches custom 47-foot cruiser
Construction on the vessel began in 2025
An enthusiastic crowd looks on as ‘Breakthrough’ is christened at Brooklin Boat Yard on July 15. Photo by Richard Leighton.
July 20, 2026
By Steele Hays
BROOKLIN—On July 15, Brooklin Boat Yard launched a sleek custom-built 47-foot power cruiser that combines impressive cruising speed, fuel efficiency, seaworthiness and a luxurious interior.
The boat yard’s entire staff gathered to watch the launch of Breakthrough and listen to the owner praise the yard’s employees for their craftmanship, dedication and attention to detail.
The boat’s owner, who asked to remain anonymous, first contacted BBY almost four years ago after docking at a Florida marina next to Marcy, a BBY-built boat that impressed him with its design and quality. Soon afterward, he contacted BBY’s president, Brian Larken, and said he wanted a boat that would be fast, very seaworthy in rough seas, have a “Downeast look,” and be powered by a single in-board engine.
Power cruiser ‘Breakthough’ in the power-lift cradle ready for launch, with Brooklin Boat Yard President Brian Larkin [left] and an unidentified colleague in the foreground. Photo by Steele Hays.
Larkin and BBY Chief Designer Will Sturdy said they could do that and a deal was struck.
There was an unusually high level of collaboration between the boat owner and BBY employees on this project, according to several employees. In his remarks, the owner thanked dozens of individual crew members by name for their work and several of them said afterwards that working on Breakthrough was their favorite project.
“Not only has Brooklyn Boat Yard delivered an incredible boat, but a bond has been forged between the yard, [my family] and me,” the owner said.
Just moments after launching, owners, friends and family members head out for their maiden cruise aboard ‘Breakthrough’. Photo by Steele Hays.
Construction began in the summer of 2025. Built using wood-composite technology, Breakthrough is 47 feet long and 14 feet wide. Its 850-horsepower, six-cylinder MAN diesel engine lets it reach a top speed in the low 30-knot range and maintain an efficient cruising speed in the mid-20-knot range, Sturdy said.
“He likes to run boats fast,” Sturdy said of the owner. “When he’s on the water, he likes to be moving.”
The owner lives in New Jersey and plans to cruise between his home there and Maine, where he recently bought a home in Castine, a distance by water of approximately 380 nautical miles. At a cruising speed of 25 knots, that distance can be covered in approximately 15 hours.