Edmund A. Cutts was no newcomer to the business of boat building and yacht design. Over a long and impressive career he accrued an abundance of knowledge and firsthand experience that set him apart in his profession.
His boats are beautiful in form and function whether sailing auxiliaries, fast powerboats or even small rowing boats for fun and exercise.
He has done them all and built them in his own shops where carefully monitored work produces a medley of specially designed and custom-built boats.
So impressed by Cutt’s work and designs, Jon Wilson, owner and editor-in-chief of WoodenBoat magazine, wrote in his editorial:
Edmund A. Cutts Sr. passed away in 2009, but his legacy continues in the boats, designs and philosophy at Cutts and Case, Inc., in Oxford, Maryland.
“...when I told him I was a small-boat builder in search of kindred souls, he smiled (tolerantly) and welcomed me in. It was Ed Cutts. I discovered immediately that I was not talking with an every day boatyard/marina operator; indeed, I got the feeling (fast) that I had met up with my first real genius...Ed pulled out beautiful drawings of beautiful boats, he pointed out full models and half models, showed me pictures, and spoke reverently of the mentors in his life.
More to the point, for me, was the fact that it all had to do with wood. In an industry full of businesses trying to distance themselves from wooden boats, here was a man inventing new ways of putting together, developing a system for which he would be awarded patents...He showed me how his frame/keel bolting system worked, and talked about his particular variations on plank-on-frame and strip-plank construction.
On the boats afloat, he elaborated upon his philosophies regarding such elements as cockpit design, interior and exterior joinerwork design and construction, and his standards of finish...I like to believe that Ed Cutts is one of those individuals who, by his example, caused WoodenBoat to be born. His commitment to wood’s potential seems to be without limit; he continues to be challenged by it. For all of us who care about traditional wood construction brought forward into the future, his work is an inspiration” (WoodenBoat #78, 1987).
