Category: Designs and designers, boat plans,books of plans

Plans for boats, sailing yachts, motor yachts, rowing boats, sailing boats, dinghies, dories, canoes, skiffs, oars, sails – may be free or paid-for

BBA students build 15ft strip-planked Ted Moores-designed canoe

Photograph by Rebecca Joseph

Photograph by Rebecca Joseph (2) Photograph by Rebecca Joseph (3) Photograph by Rebecca Joseph (4)

Photograph by Emma Brice Photograph by Emma Brice (3)

Boat Building Academy student Ryan Gostick built this 15ft strip-planked Ranger canoe with help from fellow student Don Smith.

I gather Ryan stuck closely to the original Ranger design from Ted Moores’ book Canoe Craft, and used western red cedar strip planking, and American cherry inwales and gunwales – and his own hand-made canework seats.

Before starting at the BBA, Ryan worked and travelled for 10 years building big tops and structures for theatres and concerts.

After spending some time using canoes in Canada, Ryan dreamed of one day of owning his own canoe, and after restoring a small fibreglass boat he developed an interest in boat building.

When he joined the course the opportunity to build his own canoe as part of his boat building training was too good to miss.

Ryan, who has now returned to Oxford, has named his craft Néla after his friend’s daughter. He’s very proud and happy with the boat and plans to keep the canoe and to enjoy her with family and friends.

His goal now is to combine his new skills and love for travel by working as a boat builder in either Australia or New Zealand.

Former green keeper Don studied English, film, psychology and environmental science at college, but instead of going to university, chose to look for a more practical course and went to the BBA instead, after finding out about it on the Internet.

Since graduating, Don has been working for Beautiful World Tents at Horsham, West Sussex, where he makes giant hat kata tipis, yurts and Native American tipis.

There’s a photo log of Néla’s build on the BBA website.

2013 Finesse meet scheduled for Stangate Creek, 24th May

Ivy May, a gaff rigged Finesse 21 - Swale 2012 - Nick Ardley Mariette, a gaff rigged Finesse 24 in Benfleet Creek - Nick Ardley.

The mate tickles Whimbrel's bottom... Nick's Finesse 24 on the hard. Nick's Whimbrel heeling well, sailing near Southend Pier - picture, Ian Kemp

Author and Thames Estuary sailor Nick Ardley tells me that Finesse yacht owners are planning a gathering for all sizes of the timber-built craft in the Medway area during the late May Bank Holiday weekend.

Finesse builder Alan Platt also built a few one-offs, and these are also welcome too.

The plan is to gather at Stangate Creek on the Friday, and then head up river on the Saturday morning to berth at Chatham Marina, where the events pontoon and marquee have been booked. An evening BBQ is planned.

Sunday is to be a dock day, with dispersal on the Monday 27th May. For details, contact
Nick using the email form at his website: www.nickardley.com.

Tides for the River Medway are a little after noon on the Friday, and the hope is that this will give East Coast boats an opportunity to attend – there is currently a growing fleet of Finesses in the Leigh and Canvey Island area, and another around the Swale and Medway’s creeks.

Some 12-13 owners are already expected, and one South Coast-based Finesse 21 owner has also indicated his intention to sail up and use the meet as an opportunity to explore the swatchways of the Thames Estuary.

Nick’s latest book Jottings of a Thames estuary Ditch-crawler contains a chapter about the Finesse yachts based on an interview with Alan Platt, that includes the story of Platt got his business started in a yard in Hadleigh Woods, by the side of the Thames Estuary.

I gather from Nick that the original Finesse 21 hull was designed by Laurie Harbottell, with a deck structure and fit out by Platt. The F21s were either gaff or bermuda rigged, sloops and cutters. All had centre plates and a shallow long keel.

The F24 was stretched out from the F21, and that there were no official drawings – it was all done by eye, Nick says the design works well.  [There’s a boat designer’s saying that almost all existing hull designs can be improved by simply making them 10 per cent longer, so this seems to make sense – Ed.]

The F24s were also gaff-rigged, but most were Bermudan sloops and cutters. They have a fairly deep long keel that makes them great ditch-crawlers, and many also had centre plates that take their draft to around 7ft when right down; however, some had plates and bilge keels or no plate and bilge keels…

Platt then built a F27, the Tugela. She was a one-off: following further demand for the larger boat, Alan asked another well designer, Maurice Griffiths, to re-design his F27 – and she came out as the F28. All of these were long keeled with no centre plate.

Nick tells me he’s had Whimbrel, F24 number 64, from her build in 1983/4 (she was launched in April 84) and has enjoyed her ever since – he believes his boat is the longest in same ownership, though there is apparently an F21 that has been in the same hands for even longer.

Many of the boats have been owned for lengthy periods: for example F24 number 1 has been in the same family since her build in 1969, and passed from father to son some years ago.

For more information about Finesses, see the Google Finesse forum and the brand new Finesse Owners Association website.

Teignmouth and Shaldon Museum opens Morgan Giles exhibition ‘Launched in Teignmouth’

Morgan-Giles exhibition at Teign and Shaldon Museum 1 Morgan-Giles exhibition at Teign and Shaldon Museum 2

A special exhibition at the Teign Heritage Centre is celebrating the people and work of the Morgan Giles shipyard from 1921 to 1968.

The exhibition will be held at the Teign Heritage Centre from Friday 8th March to Friday 5th April 10am to 4.30pm from Tuesdays to Saturdays.

On display will be some Morgan Giles plans including some from pre-1914 days, racing yachts in the ‘20s and‘30s, and luxury motor cruisers of the ‘50s and ‘60s.

Other items will be specialist craftsmen’s tools, archive photographs, models and oral histories. There will be a featured display about the Lady Cable built in 1923, and other important boats, such as the Hispania yacht built for the King of Spain.

On Saturday 23rd March at 11am there will also be a free talk about the Lady Cable from Lyn Yeoman of the Lady Cable Trust. The Lady Cable is a pleasure boat that went to Dunkirk and was apparently the last small boat to leave the beaches.

Morgan Giles were internationally famous for the elegant design of their boats and very high quality of workmanship, having employed highly skilled craftsmen, shipwrights, engineers, joiners and riggers, many of whom are remembered in Teignmouth today.

For visitor details please see the Teign Heritage website www.teignheritage.org.uk or phone 01626 777041.

I’m grateful to the Boat Building Academy folks for letting me know this was going on. Never ones to miss an opportunity (good for them) they added that BBA student Benjamin Charny is currently building a Morgan Giles-designed clinker-built dinghy – there’s a photographic record of the boat going together here.

Benjamin’s project was recently mentioned by a piece in the Western Morning News: ‘In another corner Benjamin was making a tiny rowing boat: ”It’s eight foot long and I have taken it from a West country design by Morgan Giles. He built the original in the 1930s for his kids and I got the lines from the Falmouth Maritime Museum.

”This will be the only copy around. I have loved doing it.”