Stung by the recession's effect on the recreational-boat market, EdgeWater Power Boats is shifting focus away from fishing vessels and family cruisers, adding a line of yachts to be sold under the Summit brand.

With business down 50 percent from 2007 and the company payroll shrinking from more than 100 workers to 62, EdgeWater Power Boats President Peter Truslow looked for ways to keep the company afloat.

"Clearly we needed to diversify," Truslow said. "We needed to find ways to use our technology for other types of products."

Enter Summit Yachts, a Mamaroneck, N.Y., company that specializes in high-performance sailboats. The company was searching for a builder for its new Summit 35 Racer/Cruiser.

"We needed a supplier who could meet our exactly construction standards for this project," said Barry Carroll, one of Summit's principals. "After reviewing a number of potential manufacturers, we found EdgeWater and its SPI (single-piece infusion) process more than fit the bill."

The process, which Truslow said is exclusive to his company, allows the hull and deck of a boat to be built in one piece, making it stronger and more suitable for rugged racing and offshore cruising.

"Attention to weight was crucial to the project, and SPI's strength-to-weight ratio is significantly higher than you would get using a traditional open-molded construction," Truslow said.

The first Summit 35, which took about two months to build, was finished about three weeks ago and now sits in Newport, R.I., where it was introduced at the Newport International Boat Show last weekend.

McMichael yacht brokerage in New York reviewed the new boat and concluded ". . . we are extremely impressed with the finish quality inside and out. Based on the success of designer Mark Mills' other recent IRC builds, the Summit 35 will be a formidable opponent on the race course."

Work on the second Summit 35 hull should begin in a couple weeks, Truslow said.

"EdgeWater has manufactured many semi-custom recreational and commercial projects since we opened our doors in 1992," Truslow said. "However, this is the first time we have built a completely new design with an outside client. The Summit 35 is a beautiful, efficient design and the type of world-class product we like to build.

"The project has helped us to refine our technology," he said. "The knowledge we've gained has helped us with development work we are doing for the U.S. Navy, as well as to improve our existing EdgeWater line."

Production of the company's "existing line" has been reduced, even though the international market for EdgeWater products remains strong," Truslow said.

"We have had to change our business model," he said. "We still have our commercial business, including the Navy contract, but we are going to be producing more niche products. And customs."

Summit has announced it plans to move production of its King 40 -- Sailing World magazine's 2009 Boat of the Year -- from Argentina to EdgeWater.

"With the move comes a series of performance enhancing modifications that will make the best IRC 40-footer even better," Carroll said. "In recognition of the model upgrades, the new boat will be called the Summit 40."

The King 40 owned by Dan Woolery won the IRC-C division in the 2009 Rolex Big Boat Series US-IRC National Championship Sept. 10-13 in San Francisco.

Truslow is looking forward to the new line.

"Our company has done better than most boat builders," he said, "because we didn't put all our eggs in one basket."

jim.witters@news-jrnl.com