The Jersey Design

The design that we call the Jersey Design Boat evolved over time from a number of boatbuilders and designers. Some call this the Jersey Sportfisherman. These later became known as "convertibles", not for a lack of a roof, but because they were configured for both fishing and cruising. The Jersey Design Boat was produced by a number of companies, each with it's own modifications and design features. They all share the fundamental design concepts.

Originally crafted of wood in the 1950s and 60s, these boats took shape and evolved into the form that is still being produced today. In the 1970s manufacture turned to fiberglass and the real definition began as improvements in shape became possible, which today has become computer controlled production of extremely large single molded pieces. But the designs and concepts that became the Jersey Design Boat began in wood.

A number of visually obvious features characterize the Jersey Design Boat. First a high and flared bow to handle the waves of the Atlantic and cut through the water with some speed. These are not the wide, bulbous bows of today's coastal cruisers, but trimmer bows with sharp entry.

Next, a much lower aft cockpit, closer to the water to make fishing, gaffing, and landing fish easier. A transom door may be included to enable pulling large fish aboard. The cockpit will even be designed to be self-bailing so that any seawater taken aboard will run overboard by itself. The cockpit coamings are not obstructed by railings or anything else, and may even be padded, and even have the boat cleats mounted inside the boat so they don't interfere with the fishing. Now that's a serious sportfisher.

And finally a flybridge with room and seats for a number of people. This serves as an observation post to spot fish schools and birds who will find the fish for you. Some of these boats have even been fitted with various metal towers constructed above the flybridge to give an even better look - some even with controls to run the boat from up higher! But the flybridge is even more important. That is where the boat is controlled from when the fishing gets hottest. To aid that, the captain's chair and controls moved from the front of the flybridge to the rear where the captain had a good view of the action and could pilot accordingly.

These three characteristics define a Jersey Design Boat to many people. But it takes more design features to bring the success these boats have had. We mentioned the high, sharp bow. Below the water that bow shape continues back far through the boat. But the hull takes a very different shape toward the rear, where it becomes much flatter to enable more speed. These are not the flat, shallow hulls of coastal production boats, rather shallow Vee shaped hulls, to different degrees from various boat builders. Some of these are combined with small keels, primarily to aid tracking straight. There were many variations on this basic design, but all share a sharp bow entry with a flatter hull toward the transom.

With the increase in fiberglass construction, hull shapes got even more complex with horizontal strakes, or ridges to aid lift and reduce rolling. Many hulls also had sharp chines - the edge along the hull where the side meets the bottom. This also aided lift and reduced rolling. These boats became semi-planing, modified-V hulls, which achieved good speed from moderate power and a stable ride at low speed or when stopped.

Speaking of power, these boats originally had mostly gas engines. By the early to mid 1980s diesel was the standard power. After that increases in the size of diesel engines were the norm. This was not only the design issue of getting these new hulls on plane better, but the market demand for speed so as to beat the competition to the fishing grounds.

One final general point which defines the Jersey Design Boat is the luxury of its interior. This was not just fluff, but a necessity for long offshore trips. A reliable head with capacity to start for these long trips. Multiple bedding spots so crew members would have a place to sleep with some comfort. And a good galley with a large refridgerator, sink, and stove, so that multiple meals could be served on a single trip. Finally a salon with seating and even electronic entertainment of the day. A generator was necessary to provide electrical power for all of this.