First Boat Names New Director

June 25, 2007 — First Boat recently named veteran rower and coach Woodfin Fagge as its new director.

First Boat is a two-year-old, start-up company that rebuilds previously owned boats with new parts. This novel concept in boat building offers rowing programs a whole new way to purchase quality, affordable racing shells.

“First Boat fills a void in the rowing marketplace and I’m excited to take the company to the next level, which includes adding an East Coast facility in September 2007 and upgrading our West Coast facility,” said Fagge.

Fagge rowed at the University of Vermont and coached at the high school and collegiate levels. He was also a competitive sculler for many years and has previous experience repairing and restoring racing shells for an East Coast boat builder.

New First Boat director Woodfin Fagge

First Boat offers quality racing shells with stiff, fast hulls from leading boat manufacturers, including Empacher, Pocock, Resolute and Vespoli. First Boat’s large inventory of eights, fours and pairs includes everything from reliable training hulls to top-of-the-line racing shells.

“We have dependable boats with sound hulls and parts that will last for years,” said Fagge. “In addition, we have a full-service support team that is available anytime and anywhere.”  

First Boat gives new rowing programs a practical alternative to traditional methods of purchasing boats.

“Nothing stings more then purchasing a used boat from a university or school, and days later having the foot stretcher break or the oar lock fall off,” said Fagge. “First Boat customers don’t have to worry about that happening because our boats are meticulously rebuilt with new parts where needed. Plus they come with the First Boat quality guarantee.” 

Established programs, that already have a large fleet of boats, can utilize First Boat’s novel revolving fleet contract. This program allows programs to refresh their fleet on a regular basis without having to buy expensive, brand new boats every year.