Boat Building Academy students Phil Ambler and Mark Ashman built a cold-moulded Andrew Wolstenholme-designed open motor launch, which first went into the water at the December student launch day.
The original design was altered only slightly by fitting a 10hp Nanni diesel engine rather than electric motor specified by the designer, and this meant the design of the boat had to be changed slightly. However, the photos show the boat’s interior still has an open, spacey sort of feel.
Phil came to the academy as a student following a lifetime of sailing and a career as a GP in Oxfordshire. He first visited the academy in 2006 when his son was thinking of joining the long course, but after his son decided instead to go to university and retirement came close, Phil came to feeling that he would himself enjoy the BBA’s 38-week course.
Phil and his wife are now trying to decide where they will settle down, but his requirements for a new house now include a big workshop…
Mark, who was Phil’s main partner during the build of the motor launch, worked in the pub industry for 13 years before attending at the BBA. In his case, Mark found out about the academy when his partner, a teacher, visited a student who was on work experience at Lyme. Mark then decided on a dramatic change in lifestyle: he sold the pub at Sherborne and relocate to the Dorset coast to start a new career.