- Founded
- 2003
- Headquarters
- 23 Merrill Dr, PO Box 584, Rockland, ME 04841, United States
- Shipyard location
- Rockland, Maine, United States
- Official website
- https://www.backcoveyachts.com/
Brand Overview
Maine builder of Downeast-style motor yachts and Sabre's sister brand since 2003 — four models from the 12.1-metre 34O to the 14.1-metre 412, on a single inboard diesel or twin and triple Mercury outboards, built in Rockland.
YachtCodex Analysis
AI-generatedAn independent reading of this builder written by AI. Unlike the specifications and descriptions elsewhere on this page, it is interpretation rather than a sourced fact — treat it as a starting point, not a citation.
What this builder is
Back Cove began, the yard says, when a group of Sabre dealers imagined a smaller Downeast-style cruiser that kept the charm of Maine's lobster boats but ran on a single diesel engine; that boat became the Back Cove 29, and the brand has been Sabre's sister since 2003. Together, Sabre and Back Cove call themselves the largest recreational boatbuilder in Maine. Back Cove builds in a 240,000-square-foot plant at 23 Merrill Drive in Rockland, using production-line methods and vacuum infusion, says it leads the 34- to 41-foot class, and counts more than 1,000 of its boats cruising from Greece and Norway to Japan, Australia and New Zealand; Daniel Zilkha is chairman and Aaron Crawford chief executive. The current range is four boats: the 372, a reworked Back Cove 37 on a single 600 hp Cummins QSC 8.3 or Volvo Penta D8; the 412, successor to the 41, with a Volvo D8 600 hp as standard and a D11 725 hp option; the 34O on twin Mercury V8 300 or V10 400 outboards; and the 39O on triple V10 400s or twin V12 600s. Each model page prints a short specification table, links a model-year standard equipment sheet and posts the builder's own performance reports.
Who sails them
Back Cove owners are couples and small families who run their own boat along the New England coast and beyond — owner-operators who want classic Downeast lines, a boat that is easy to handle and maintain, either single-diesel economy or outboard speed, and a builder that refines its layouts from owners' feedback.
Signature models
The 39O, which the yard says reaches a 45-knot top speed on triple Mercury V10 outboards with a climate-controlled enclosed helm deck, leads the outboard line; the 372 and 412 carry on the single-diesel Downeast cruisers that began with the Back Cove 29.
Strengths
Back Cove is known for Downeast styling with owner-operator ergonomics, vacuum-infused hulls with PVC foam cores, its TRELIS trailing-edge lifting-surface hull on the outboard models, efficient single-diesel power on the inboards, a design rule that each boat must 'be a boat first', and published standard equipment sheets and performance reports for every model.
Considerations
The 372's performance reports are tests of Back Cove 37 hulls, which the page calls the 372's predecessor; the outboard reports give no recommended cruising speed, so only top speed is stored; displacement is the equipment sheet's full-load figure; the 412 page carries no CE category line while the others say CE Category B; cabins come from the listing and page text, and the 34O, which names a single island berth, is left without a cabin count.
Analysis generated 10/18/2026
Part of
Also in the catalogue
Fleet at a Glance
Calculated from the models in the YachtCodex catalog, not from the builder's claims.
- Models in catalog
- 4
- Length range
- 12.06–14.05 m
- Hull forms
- Motor Monohull 4
- Cabins
- 2
Models by this brand
4 models
History
Back Cove says it began with a group of Sabre dealers who pictured a smaller Downeast-style cruising boat, one that kept the charm and tradition of Maine's lobster boats but offered the simplicity, reliability and fuel efficiency of a single diesel engine. That boat became the Back Cove 29, and with it a new brand was born; it has been Sabre Yachts' sister brand since 2003. The company says that Sabre and Back Cove together are the largest recreational boatbuilder in Maine, the state where America's maritime story began with the first ships launched from the Kennebec River as early as 1607. Back Cove builds in a 240,000-square-foot plant in Rockland, Maine, using production-line methods and vacuum infusion, says it leads the 34- to 41-foot class, and counts more than 1,000 of its yachts cruising from Greece and Norway to Japan, Australia and New Zealand, as well as on almost every coast and inland lake in the United States. Its design rule is that every boat must 'be a boat first', balancing Maine heritage with innovation and refining layouts and systems from owners' feedback.
History written frombackcoveyachts.com/about-us· Practical Elegance. From Maine.read 10/18/2026