Compared to their popularity in the car world, restomods—restored classics modified with the latest tech and trim—have arrived late to yachting. “Ten years ago, most boaters didn’t even recognize the term, but we’ve seen it gain legs,” says Bill Morong, owner of Yachting Solutions, a boatyard in Rockport, Maine, which has completed more than a dozen such transformations.

The restoration of older boats typically involves salvaging as many original parts as possible, including engines, for historical accuracy. It’s this authenticity that factors into the judging at shows and buoys standing within the small-but-fastidious classic-boat circles. But things are changing.

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“Those boats are quaint but not very practical,” says Morong. “Few people want 1930s gas engines or wire-and-sprocket steering systems; they like boats with the appeal of yesteryear but want modern systems and propulsion. They usually ask us to create something different from the shells of their grandparents’ boats.”

Interestingly, vessels handed down within families comprise the majority of inquiries Yachting Solutions receives, though there can be a tendency to balk at the cost of the restomod process. “I often tell them that the cost of the project, as a rule of thumb, will be more than the cost of a similar-sized new production boat, but less than a new custom project designed from a fresh sheet of paper,” says Morong.