A new 29-foot gaff-rigged sloop is being built at Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway. The work began in January and the boatyard is working towards a June launch. “In these financial times, we feel fortunate to be building a boat. We only got word after Christmas,” said Ross Gannon of the boatyard. At Christmas time there was uncertainty about the future season. “We didn’t know what we would do,” he said. “When this job came through, it was a great relief.”

The new sloop is all about Vineyard-made and Vineyard-designed. She was designed by Nat Benjamin, a partner with Mr. Gannon at the wooden boat boatyard. Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Gannon are both celebrated boatbuilders and wooden boat restorers.

Mr. Gannon said the design evolved from a long-standing relationship between the boatbuilders and boat owners and prospective customers. “We had a series of inquiries about a boat of this size, a boat with an inboard engine, a galley, an enclosed head. They wanted a self-bailing cockpit. So, Nat started tinkering on the drawing board last spring.”

He came up with a sailboat that will look familiar, a traditional Benjamin design. Gaff-rigged sloops are the boatyard’s new boat sailing plan. “It is a very shapely boat. It will be nice,” Mr. Gannon said.

They call her design a Holmes Hole 29; the name comes from one of the earliest names of Vineyard Haven harbor, and it also portrays a sailboat fine-tuned for sailing Vineyard waters, or beyond, the waters of southern New England. The two boatbuilders hope the boating community will not only welcome the boat, but welcome the design and ask for more like her.

The lofting of the sailboat began in earnest in a boat shed that is located behind the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven, almost out of sight but a nice spot to view. The property abuts Maciel Marine, where there are many dormant small boatsheds.

She is a traditional planked Eastern white oak frame sailboat, but unlike the much larger Gannon and Benjamin schooners and other big boats built before her, she is, conveniently, being built upside down. They are using plywood molds which might be used again if other identical boats are sought.

On Wednesday, boatbuilders Seaver Jones, Marty Harris and Martin Dael were installing white oak frames after each had been cooked in a steam box, the equivalent to a sauna. Steam rose from each plank and the workmen held the wood with their gloved hands. Physical might along with clamps helped persuade each timber frame into place.

The boat shed is the home of all varieties of woods, most of them being incorporated in the building of the new boat. There was angelique from Suriname, South America, which was used for the backbone timbers and wana for the planking. Spars will be spruce and Douglas fir.

Later, a 3,400 pound piece of molded lead will be added as the keel.

This is the 54th large sailboat built by the boatyard. The first was built in 1980 and they’ve all been special projects. The last new Benjamin design sailboat launched at the boatyard was a 24-foot catboat. Named Christine, it was launched last spring.

“We will launch a 36-foot powerboat next spring. We began work on it 13 months ago and completed it last fall,” Mr. Gannon said.

Mr. Gannon said the new sailboat provides employment for four boatbuilders, and they’ll take it from beginning to end. The vessel when completed will obviously bring summer pleasure to its new owners. She is built for both speed and comfort. Her sail area will be 450 square feet.

Mr. Gannon said the Holmes Hole 29 when complete will have two bunks, a cockpit large enough to take a family, or six people. A 16 horse power two-cylinder diesel engine below will give the captain enough authority to navigate to and from a mooring or dock in a small harbor. “Mooring areas are often crowded,” Mr. Gannon said.

“This is a great boat for a sailing couple,” Mr. Gannon said.