Fontaine Design Group

Situated 60 feet from the water’s edge, overlooking the east passage of Narragansett Bay, the Fontaine Design Group studio is based in one of the most legendary locations in America’s yachting history. In 1985 Ted Fontaine was appointed chief designer of the Ted Hood Design Group.

The following decade saw the Hood hull form concept refined, with a strong emphasis on the offshore cruising sailor seeking the optimum in both performance and comfort. During the 1990s, Fontaine expanded the Group’s custom yacht design capabilities into the superyacht market. In 2001 Ted Fontaine took the opportunity to purchase the assets of the Ted Hood Design Group and began a new company under his own name: Fontaine Design Group.

The Fontaine Design Group specialises in creating shallow-draught, wide-beam, deep centreboard hull forms that offer a unique design alternative that emphasise comfort and safety without giving up respectable performance characteristics. Today, the average cruising sailor wants to sail quickly from point to point, while feeling pride at the wheel when passing other boats of similar size. At the same time, they want to be self-sufficient for longer passages and retain valuable creature comforts.

Services offered:

• Naval architecture

• Marine engineering

• Exterior design

• Interior design

• Refits

Personality

Q : How were you introduced to the world of superyacht design?

In the early 1980s I sailed on the 27.4m Scotch Mist and the 32m Magic Lady while working for Ted Hood. He was often chosen as sail and mast maker for these designs, which provided me with a firsthand tutorial on many of the large yachts being built. In 1981 we received a commission to design the 35m sloop Teel, which won awards for being the most innovative sailing yacht in 1985. From there we designed the 40.2m ketch Anakena, 40.5m Surama and 34.4m Pamina, which were all built by Royal Huisman. From then on we were, as they say, ‘in the game’.

Q : Where does the inspiration for new projects come from?

Inspiration comes from the owner—without the dream and vision of the client there is no commission. Most owners are typically entrepreneurs who have an ability for assembling a team of overachievers. Having said that, I also started the Friendship Yacht Company where I seek to provide a solution to what I believe the market wants or needs. This is a character trait that I attribute my 20-plus years to working side by side with Ted Hood, who had a knack for being ahead of the market, developing and perfecting successful products that have stood the test of time.

Q : If there were an award for the best design of all time, which one would you choose?

A good design must be purposeful, beautiful to look at and admired by all. Good design invokes questions such as, how did they do that or how did they build that? Perhaps the most notable object to me is The Great Wall of China. It has stood the test of time, is functional, sturdy, impressive to see, imposing in its structure, useful by design and admired by all. If anything I designed lasted half as long and served its purpose for hundreds, if not thousands, of years then I would consider myself as having designed a successful award-winning product.