My name is Sam Devlin and I'd like to briefly introduce myself and Devlin Designing Boat Builders. I'm just an average guy with a pervasive love of boats and the water. My Norwegian-Irish heritage may have something to do with it, or perhaps it was the "ship" bedroom complete with curved walls and a sea-berth that my father built for me as an infant, or maybe just the hours of play in a landlocked skiff at my father's marine store. Whatever it was, it's indelibly etched on my being. Upon finishing my college degrees in geology and biology and working a season on Alaskan tugs, I wanted my own boat. With that project, I was captivated with new ideas about boats. Though there is little new under the sun, I had lots of "what ifs" and "how abouts", and a burning desire to see what these ideas would look like and, most of all, how they performed. So in 1977, I pooled my resources and my energies and started “Devlin Designing Boatbuilders”. Over the years, it's grown from a backyard operation to a going concern with a good selection of boats in various sizes with a multitude of purposes. I have a good crew of craftsmen interested in producing a quality product they can be proud of. To date, we have produced more than 300 boats from 7ft. to 48ft in length. 

In 1982, I moved the shop from Eugene, Oregon to Olympia, Washington where we have a shop on a lovely cove on Puget Sound. The boats roll out the door and down to the bay and sail, row or motor into the sunset.

I am very happy in this business and I am still full of enthusiasm for new projects and ideas that keep me close to boats and the water. My youngest son, Mackenzie, now works daily with me in the business and the rest of our co-workers have skills that rival anything in the custom boat world.  My drafting table has seen a great deal of work done with marine plywood designs, with virtually all of them using the method of construction that I have been a stanch pioneer and advocate of -- “Stitch and Glue” boatbuilding. The boats we build and sell plans for would properly be called composite construction, combining the best of both worlds -- wooden boat building with modern epoxy technology.  

By using sheet marine plywood and epoxy technology, we can literally weld together the plywood that the hulls are constructed of. The interiors are clean and uncluttered by ribs and excessive framing. By using high grade marine materials and wood epoxy sealing techniques, maintenance is kept to a sane level and the life of the boat is greatly increased.  

The designs are meant to be used. The construction is strong, the rigs are simple to use and all the designs focus on seaworthiness. It is our intention that the use of these boats be limited only by the owner, not by the design or the construction method.  

All the designs in our catalog and in this website are available custom built by Devlin Designing Boatbuilders and on certain designs, full building plans for homebuilding, or for professional building by other boatbuilders, are available.  

If you desire a boat with a special purpose in mind, please consult us for a custom design.