For 100 years, Beetle Cat boats have been built and raced competitively — the only wooden boat to achieve such longevity.

Bill Womack, who has owned the Beetle Cat company since 2003 and built the boats in Wareham since 2004, spoke to the Sippican Historical Society on August 26. 

The boats are named after the family who first made them: John Beetle and his son Carl designed the 12-foot sailboat in 1921. In 2000, Architectural Digest recognized the boat as one of the great designs of the twentieth century, which Womack said speaks to the “longevity and beauty” of the boat.

The boats are built by hand from carefully selected, cut and steam-bent wood. Masts are hand-carved on lathes, and every coat of primer, paint and top coat is applied by hand with a brush. 

Womack explained how his shop builds boats with a manufacturing method that maintains the precision and quality of handwork while still being efficient: “When we make parts, we make parts,” he said. 

His crew will make multiples of each part as they go and will have many boats in-progress at any given time.

“When you set up a pattern or jig to make a transom, it’s more efficient if you make a dozen at the same time so you can keep the costs down and get that production you need to move forward,” Womack said.

That method dates back to the Beetle Cat’s origins: Womack said that the Beetle family was notorious for being able to put together 26-foot whaling boats in 48 hours, on demand, by pre-manufacturing all the elements ahead of time. Womack added that it’s said that Henry Ford visited the Beetle family’s boat shop and a bicycle manufacturer in New Bedford before opening his factories.

Some of the tools used today to manufacture the boats have been in use for decades.

“Every Beetle Cat since 1946 has been built on this same mold, using the same methodology, using the same patterns,” Womack said.

Once the pieces are cut, assembly and steam bending can begin. Steam bending is a process by which craftsmen soften a piece of wood by exposing it to steam before carefully bending it into shape. 

“Every piece on this boat is steam-bent, one way or the other,” Womack said. “There are no straight lines on a wood boat.”

Once built, the top of the boat is wrapped in canvas and sealed before painting and sealing — all done by hand — can begin. 

Much of what goes on at the Beetle Cat shop on Thatcher Lane in Wareham is maintenance. Womack and his team store and maintain dozens of boats each year.

Womack said that people often ask him what has changed about the boats over the years. While the design is the same, Womack said the craftsmanship and quality of the materials used to make the boats have improved. 

“You won’t find any better shipwrights,” Womack said. “These guys are loaded with talent.”

Womack said that he thinks that the boats are best suited for family outings and for teaching kids to sail, as the boats can be safely sailed by a group of kids working together — a significant advantage over smaller, one-child sailboats, Womack said. 

The boats are also raced competitively. The recent 100th anniversary regatta in Chatham drew 72 Beetle Cat sailors.

“It was a hoot, as you can imagine,” Womack said.

For more about the boats, go to www.beetlecat.com.