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Boat and Engine Design
 ompetition also served to increase
the popularity of the new power boats, and to advertise the superiority of
one manufacturer's engine over that of another. A boatbuilder who had designed
a winning hull soon had the names of additional customers in his order book.
Cape Sable Island became the focus of motor fishing-boat production, and the
sons of Ephraim Atkinson joined their father in the expanding business. By
1927, E.M. Atkinson and Sons of Clark's Harbour built all the winning boats in
the main racing heats, including the Free-for-all at the Cape Sable Island
summer races.
The dissemination of the boat design and engines throughout the province had
encouraged fishermen everywhere to use the powered inshore craft. Boatbuilders
soon built their own versions of the long, lean pleasure cruiser hulls. They
were often double ended with a tapered, pointed aft end known as a cruiser
stern. The open boats still retained thwarts for transverse strength with
short bulkheads, (parting boards) beneath the thwarts for dividing the long,
open cockpit into compartments. The helmsman stayed near the stern to handle
the tiller and control the engine, while his partner, or partners, stayed near
the bow to fish. The parting boards kept the fish from sliding about within
the boat and served to separate fish from nets, fishing gear or engine
spaces.
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y the 1930s, the first forms of
shelters appeared in the open hulls. As power boats were driven into seas
with more speed than their sailing forebears, the long narrow hulls tended to
take aboard spray, making them very uncomfortable, especially near the forward
end. A canvas canopy was the first attempt to alleviate this problem. The canopy
was portable and could be rolled to one side when fishing or in good weather.
