Fifty years ago this summer, a shipyard opened in Oxford, MD. Today, Cutts & Case is internationally renowned as designers, builders, and restorers of fine wooden boats (sail and power).
In 1965, the shipyard was founded by Long Island trained boat designer, builder, and inventor, Ed Cutts Sr., and veteran, sailor, IBM executive, and computer pioneer, John Case. The story goes that John Case wanted to own a boatyard but didn’t know how to run one, and that Ed Cutts dreamed of running a boatyard but couldn’t afford to buy one. The rest is history.
Cutts’s innovative “Cutts Method” of wooden hull construction put Cutts & Case on the map. He devised a method that could produce lighter, stronger boats, by incorporating modern materials like epoxy and Kevlar with variations on traditional wooden boat planking and design.
With this method, the shipyard has designed and built more than 20 custom yachts and performed historically critical restoration on countless others. Each Cutts boat is completely hand-crafted and individually designed, taking several years to complete. Some of the notable restorations include the famed America’s Cup photographer, Morris Rosenfeld’s, 33-foot 1929 yacht foto and the 1935 Ralph-Wiley-designed, cutter-rigged Country Girl.
Located in the historic waterfront town of Oxford, the shipyard has long delighted yacht enthusiasts and tourists alike with its ramshackle red barns, informal showroom of classic yachts, vintage motorcycles, and array of Rosenfeld America’s Cup photos. The grounds also feature the oldest home in the Oxford, Byberry, built by ship’s carpenters in 1695.
When Cutts passed away, the business was passed down to his sons, Eddie and Ronnie, who grew up building boats with their dad. Ronnie describes the business as being “a lifetime for us both.” Neither can remember a time that they weren’t in on the action. When I asked Eddie what it was like to grow up in the boatyard he chuckled, and commented “We always thought we were huge contributors, but many times we were probably just in the way.”
Both brothers have fond memories of every ship they have ever built and rebuilt, but their favorites will always be the ships their father built. “We are always on the hunt for one of Dad’s lost boats, like lost children,” Ronnie remarked. And for Eddie, he remembers the grueling rebuilds and the immense satisfaction when owners of those rebuilds will return 15 and even 20 years later and still have smiles on their faces. “The shoddy jobs are easier, sure, but the nice, thorough jobs, they keep shining years later.”
For more information, check out
cuttsandcase.com
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