Situated on Vineyard Sound in Vineyard Haven harbor is a small but flourishing boatyard whose mission--and passion--is designing, building, repairing, maintaining and sailing wooden boats.

Established in 1980 by Nat Benjamin and Ross Gannon, Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway has built over 50 substantial vessels, mostly to Nat’s designs. With design inspiration from classic yachts and traditional boats, and built with the highest quality materials and meticulous craftsmanship, our boats are intended to take owners, family and friends sailing in a comfortable, safe and seamanlike fashion. Built in plank-on-frame construction (lapstrake or carvel, steam bent and sawn frames), our boats range in size from an 8 foot dinghy to a 65 foot schooner.

We oversee every step of the process from design to selection of wood, construction, rigging and outfitting so that construction moves forward in a harmonious, cost-effective, quality-controlled manner. We can build you a boat to row around your pond, take you cruising along the New England or Patagonian coast, or to sail around the world.

See what we’re doing at any time by clicking on Projects, then Current Projects.   A click on each picture will open up the story of that boat’s construction, from beginning to end. Our projects since 2004 can be viewed in Past Projects.

Pictured here are the two boats launched in June 2009:

The Holmes Hole 29 sloop Sheena is Nat's latest design. The photo by Denys Wortman was taken as Sheena left on her maiden voyage to the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic, CT the last weekend in June.

At 36', the "lobster yacht" Neighborhood Bully is very similar to the 32' Alliance launched two years ago.  Photo courtesy of Louisa Gould.

Click on Projects, then Current Projects, to find more pictures of each boat plus the other projects we are working on at this time. Shortly, the Neighborhood Bully and Sheena projects will be moved to Past Projects.

Keep us company as we start a new project in July: the 28' sloop Naima. Lofting begins in July, and the story will be in Current Projects.   Naima will have a Marconi rig, but in other respects will be very similar to the gaff rig sloop Celeste, launched in 2003. 

Click here to see our Gallery of G&B Boat Designs.                Boats for Sale