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January 11, 2008

ME boat yard vies for Navy contract

Maine Marine Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Hodgdon Yachts in East Boothbay, launched a new military speedboat this morning in the local harbor that it hopes will attract a $200 million contract with the Navy.

The 83-foot vessel, called Mark V.1, includes a composite hull made of carbon fiber and Kevlar and was built in partnership with the University of Maine's Advanced Engineering Wood Composites Center. The hull is designed to cushion passengers from wave impact more than the aluminum speedboats currently used by Navy SEALs, according to the Portland Press Herald.

The Mark V.1 project was initially given $15 million in funding from the Office of Naval Research. Within the next two years, the U.S. Special Operations Command plans to purchase a new fleet of speedboats. If Maine Marine Manufacturing wins the Navy contract, it could double or triple its 80-person staff, UMaine's assistant director of composites and boatbuilding, Robert Lindyberg, told the paper.

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