Boat designer John Owles has written to say that he has set up a new website, Summer Boat Design.
John has had a lifetime with boats: he learned to sail at the age of six years and spent childhood summers exploring the creeks of North Norfolk, and has since had a working life as a professional seaman and boat builder working with many kinds of vessels.
He’s done a lot of traditional wooden boat building, including designing and producing small traditional dinghies, designing sailing rigs, and repairing classic yachts, smacks, bawleys and a German WW2 schnellboot (E-boat).
He’s been going through his old plans and re-working them digitally – which meand they can be cut using form. Being digitised, many of the components can be CNC cut, which makes construction much easier and quicker. He says:
‘After consuming considerable quantities of midnight oil, I have re-drawn, in digital form, a number of my archive of previously hand drawn traditional ‘sail & oar’ boat designs.
‘We will be building two of these designs, Owlet and Windchime, commencing in a couple of weeks’ time.’
He’s promised to send pictures when the two boats are completed.