BIG FOOT HISTORY—

Big Foot Marine was born, in the mind of Leif Knutsen, during the 1980s. As the cost of boat repairs continued to climb and the availability of quality building materials became unreliable and expensive. At the same time incomes of most commercial fishers were deteriorating. It became clear that the future prospects of his livelihood needed to be evaluated.

"Upon assessing the status of the fishing fleet and the direction of the fish stocks I felt the desire to offer a vessel that would meet the needs, as I perceived them, of the twenty-first century. Some criteria which should be met by such a vessel are as follows: fuel efficiency, maneuverability, sea-worthiness, versatility and stability. As I like to put it, a vessel with a 'large footprint.' Plus, it must be cost-effective to build." The key to achieving the "large footprint" at an attainable cost would be to utilize computer aided design to help minimize the man hours required for construction. It would also be important to keep the design simple—allowing the form to follow function.

Looking for inspiration, one vessel that came to mind was the Bay Point. A boat that Leif had an opportunity to do repairs on some years before. The Bay Point was originally a Columbia River salmon packer of the early 1900s. During sea trials her ability to slip through the water with the grace of a canoe, despite her 2.5 to 1 length to beam ratio, was impressive. "This wide beam provides that "large footprint" that I sought. It endowed the vessel with tremendous stability and a large payload capacity. However, her round bilges would keep her from being the most cost-effective vessel to build using readily available materials," such as, steel, aluminum, plywood or flat panel glass.

"While discussing this building dilemma with a friend he pointed out that the hull shape was similar to the Chincoteague Skiff in Chappelle's "American Small Sailing Craft." Sure enough, here was a hard-chine version of the vessel Bay Point." Another familiar vessel where we can find this same basic hull form is the fuel conscious Washington State Ferry System.

Using these vessels as inspiration Leif developed the Big Foot Hull Form. "At that point I began to confer with naval architect Jack Beaton. We worked together off and on for the next ten years refining the hull form. Thanks to Jack the Big Foot Hull Form is computer lofted. Meaning the hull plates, frames and more can be computer cut, minimizing lofting and construction time. Plus, the size of the vessel can be altered with a push of the button."

Leif built a 36" model for tank testing and a 13' skiff for powered sea trials. He then built Shadowfax, a 25' "research" vessel, created to test the Big Foot Hull Form in real world conditions. "Extensive sea trials to Icy Straits, Alaska and nine years of cruising closer to home have shown her to be all that I had hoped for. Here was a vessel that was light, yet stable, maneuverable, but held her course, had fuel efficiency and was capable of carrying immense loads and coming home safely." Unlike many boats currently on the market Shadowfax can be easily managed even by those with very little boating experience. This one of the greatest advantages of the Big Foot Hull Form.

By now several different boats have been developed using this hull form—they can be seen on this site. Currently in production are the Townsend 47, which was launched in the summer of 2003, and a steel Motor/Sailor that is being built in Minnesota. In the research and development phase is the Eco Tour 29.

 

 

"In my opinion Big Foot Marine has the right idea in promoting the 25' and 29' work boat category, (specifically the Shadowfax and Puffin line).  With rising fuel costs, higher overhead in general, the desire for unique handling and branding of local fish caught close to communities, a small, affordable, versatile workboat is more suitable for the future.  The key to using a small, seaworthy boat for a work boat in the upcoming years is economic viability.  I believe that many coastal communities will find this line of boats employed in a variety of fisheries  or town related tasks could bring economic survivability where a large vessel would not." 

—Randy Babich,
Owner of F/V Paragon and fisherman for 39 years

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