Courtesy / WoodenBoat
Matt Murphy
January 6, 2022
WoodenBoat Publications acquired by magazine's editor, publisher
Courtesy / WoodenBoat
The founder of WoodenBoat Publications, headquartered on 61 acres in Brooklin, sold the enterprise this week to a partnership consisting of the longtime editor of WoodenBoat magazine and the publisher of the company’s magazine division.
By Staff
At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve, WoodenBoat Publications founder Jonathan Wilson finalized the sale of the multi-pronged Brooklin enterprise to a partnership consisting of Matt Murphy, the longtime editor of WoodenBoat magazine, and Andrew Breece, the publisher of the company’s magazine division.
Murphy and Breece each acquired 50% of the company’s shares; terms were not disclosed. Breece assumed the role of chief operations officer and Murphy is now chief content officer, according to a news release.
Courtesy / WoodenBoat
Andrew Breece
WoodenBoat’s various business enterprises will continue to operate on the Brooklin campus, which Breece and Murphy will lease from Wilson.
The purchase includes the publishing division (WoodenBoat magazine, Professional BoatBuilder magazine and Small Boats magazine), the WoodenBoat School, the WoodenBoat Store and the WoodenBoat Show.
Off-the-grid origin
Wilson founded WoodenBoat magazine in 1974 in a small off-the-grid cabin in Brooksville, with a focus on materials, design, and construction techniques and repair solutions related to wooden boats.
Wilson was a boatbuilder and repairer at the time, when the trade lacked a good professional journal, according to the release.
He started the magazine despite having no experience in publishing. It soon became a bestseller on the newsstand and developed a loyal subscriber base. He quickly found success not only with the publication, but in the development of a synergy with wooden boat builders, customers and fans, bringing about a resurgence of a craft that was being marginalized by fiberglass construction.
Courtesy / WoodenBoat
Jon Wilson
“I could not possibly have imagined the trajectory of this endeavor when we set forth with a few cartons of magazines at the Newport [Rhode Island] Sailboat Show in September 1974,” Wilson said in the release.
Readership grew to over 100,000 over the next decade. With the advent of social media and online publishing, the company’s audience has grown larger and more diverse.
61-acre campus
In 1977, a fire in an early office location in Brooksville caused WoodenBoat to relocate to Brooklin, where it eventually set up operations on a former 61-acre seaside estate.
Courtesy / WoodenBoat
WoodenBoat, founded in 1974, is one of Maine's most prominent magazines. Its success has spun off other enterprises over the years.
In 1981, Wilson founded WoodenBoat School at the site. This summer, the school is scheduled to offer more than 90 courses, including boatbuilding, traditional seamanship and related crafts. It draws students from all over the country and beyond. Last August, Eric Stockinger became the school’s new director.
Courtesy / WoodenBoat
In 1981, Wilson founded WoodenBoat School at the Brooklin site. The school is today attended by hundreds of students.
The business also includes a retail operation selling books, tools, apparel and boat-related items; book publishing; the WoodenBoat Show, which is held on the grounds of Mystic Seaport Museum in Connecticut each summer; the trade magazine Professional BoatBuilder; and the online publication Small Boats Magazine.
Wooden boat aficionados
Breece and Murphy have separately been involved with wooden boats for most of their lives.
Breece grew up in Orono and was attracted to the magazine from age 3, “fascinated by the shapes and colors in the photographs inside,” he said. “By age 7, I was reading it cover to cover.”
After graduation from Bates College in 2008, Breece worked as the annual-fund coordinator for Mystic Seaport, then served as the development director for the Maine Island Trail Association. He joined WoodenBoat’s staff in 2014, and soon after that assumed the role of publisher.
Murphy grew up in Salem, Mass., graduated from Colby College, then pursued a master’s degree at the University of Rhode Island. He has sailed and worked on wooden boats since age 10. He worked for Dutch Harbor Boat Yard in Jamestown, R.I., repairing and refinishing wooden boats, before joining the WoodenBoat staff as associate editor in 1992.
He succeeded Wilson as editor in 1994.
“Jon set an elegant tone and a high standard for WoodenBoat magazine nearly five decades ago.” Murphy said. “Those elements still guide everything we do.”
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Anonymous
January 12, 2022
Thank you so much, Jon, for the incredible work you’ve done over such a long career. Few people stick with something that long, but it’s easy to understand why you did when the results have been spectacular. I was a reader from the earliest days and still row out to my current eighth self build on the Nutshell I built in 1986. Best wishes from Scotland!
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