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Ouzel, 29 metres built to travel far

Designed by Langan Design Partners and built in Maine, Ouzel approaches bluewater cruising through craftsmanship, lightweight construction and sailing performance

Ouzel is a 29-metre sailing yacht built by Rockport Marine, combining classic lines, wood-composite construction and performance designed for world cruising

Ouzel looks like a yacht that could belong to another era, yet it was created to face the sea according to distinctly contemporary principles. Measuring 28.96 metres, it was conceived as a custom sailing yacht for experienced owners who wanted a boat capable of taking them to distant destinations without sacrificing either classic proportions or performance.

Built by Rockport Marine in Maine, Ouzel combines concept and naval architecture by Langan Design Partners, interiors by Mark Whiteley Design and project management by MCM Newport. More interesting than the individual names, however, is the result: a modern classic using contemporary materials and techniques to continue a boatbuilding tradition deeply rooted in New England.

Classic proportions, modern beneath the surface

Ouzel’s profile is based on elements associated with the sailing yacht tradition: graceful sheer, generous overhangs and a low-profile deckhouse that allows the hull to dominate the silhouette.

The design by Langan Design Partners, however, avoids turning this aesthetic into nostalgia. Beneath the classic lines are a modern rig, a Park Avenue boom and an efficient keel designed to combine stability and performance.

The aim was therefore not to reproduce a yacht from the past, but to use a traditional design language for a boat capable of sailing quickly and covering long distances.

Wood, carbon and composites in the same hull

One of the most interesting aspects of Ouzel is its construction. The hull uses cold-molded wood-composite construction, combining Douglas fir and western red cedar with carbon fibre, E-glass and foam cores.

It is a Rockport Marine speciality and creates a meeting point between two worlds that only appear to be opposites.

Wood retains qualities that are difficult to reproduce completely: a natural feel, acoustic characteristics and an atmosphere less austere than an entirely composite structure. Carbon, glass fibre and modern materials, meanwhile, allow weight, stiffness and structural stability to be carefully controlled.

According to the yard, the result provides many of the performance and durability benefits associated with fibreglass while requiring significantly less maintenance than traditional plank-on-frame construction.

An American yacht designed for the world

From the beginning, the owners had one firm requirement: Ouzel had to be built in New England.

The choice went beyond geography. Rockport Marine is based in Maine and brings three generations of experience in building and restoring wooden yachts. The region also maintains a boatbuilding culture in which designers, craftsmen, technicians and suppliers continue to work around custom projects.

There is something particularly interesting about a yacht intended for higher latitudes, remote islands and global cruising beginning its life within such a local manufacturing tradition.

Ouzel is therefore international in its intended cruising programme and professional team, while retaining a distinctly American construction identity.

Four years from concept to sea

The build timeline reveals how much work lies behind a custom yacht of this scale.

The project began taking shape in late 2021, when MCM Newport approached Langan Design Partners. Mark Whiteley Design and Rockport Marine joined the team in 2022. Plans were approved in August 2023 and construction began.

By December that year, the hull had been turned upright. The deck was fitted in September 2024 and the deckhouse followed two months later. The keel was attached and the mast stepped in autumn 2025, leading to the technical launch on 9 November 2025 in Rockport Harbor.

Sailing trials followed in June 2026, with delivery at the end of the same month.

More than 13 knots under a cruising sail plan

It was during trials in Penobscot Bay that the project finally left the yard and began telling its story on the water.

Using a relatively straightforward cruising sail plan consisting of mainsail, Yankee, staysail and Code Zero, Ouzel sailed comfortably at more than 12 knots in modest breezes and briefly exceeded 13 knots as conditions strengthened.

The figures are particularly interesting because they were achieved not in a racing configuration, but under what Rockport Marine describes as a simple cruising sail plan.

The yard reported a balanced and responsive feel at the helm, characteristics that matter on a yacht intended to cross oceans and sail at higher latitudes without turning every passage into an exercise in endurance.

29 metres for travelling, not simply arriving

Ouzel measures 28.96 metres overall, with a maximum beam of 6.25 metres and a draught of 3.66 metres.

These are superyacht dimensions, yet the project appears to pursue something beyond scale alone. The focus remains on sailing ability, control and the capacity to cover distance at a good pace.

In that sense, Ouzel belongs to a category of yachts where the journey is not simply the time required to reach a destination, but an essential part of the experience itself.

A modern classic looking forward

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the project lies in the contrast between what Ouzel appears to be and what it actually is.

Visually, it recalls a long tradition of classic sailing yachts. Structurally, it combines wood composite, carbon and contemporary materials. It was built in a Maine boatyard but designed to travel around the world. It offers the elegance of a traditional yacht while demonstrating speeds above 13 knots during its early sailing trials.

It is therefore not an exercise in nostalgia.

Instead, Ouzel shows how part of yachting tradition can remain relevant when it is reinterpreted rather than simply reproduced. Perhaps that is its most compelling quality: looking connected to the past while already being ready for the next passage.

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Rockport Marine, Ouzel

18 September 2026
© MED Yachting Editorial Team
Ouzel, 29 metres built to travel far
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