Photos by Emma Brice and Rebecca Joseph
Boat Building Academy students Kyle Paternoster and Rob Hounslow made a traditionally-built clinker pram dinghy to plans by Iain Oughtred and sailed it for the first time on their course’s student launch day.
The 7ft 9in dinghy made to Oughtred’s Humble Bee design is planked in sweet chestnut with a Dorset-grown oak centreline and fore and aft transoms, and green oak ribs.
Her name, Rubee, is a play on words based on Kyle’s grandmother’s name, Ruby, and Humble Bee. The red sails were made by students on a weekend sail-making workshop at the academy run by Jeremy White, managing director of Elvstrom Sails.
Kyle started work as an engineer on one of the biggest yachts in the world the week after leaving the Academy – the role is based on three-month rotations, and will allow Kyle to work as a boat builder in the months he is at home, building and selling his own boats.
He’s a qualified dinghy instructor and in his spare time plans to teach members of his family to sail in Rubee.
Rob, who worked with Kyle on the build, grew up around water on his father’s fish farm on the River Kennet. Rob had done almost every job there is around a fish farm, including making jetties and bridges and working with green oak, but he wanted to master a craft and so decided to join the Academy to learn boat building.
Rob will be using his newly acquired skills at Cockwells Modern and Classic Building at Falmouth, where he will be working alongside fellow BBA graduate Jack Livesey, who graduated in June 2012.
The BBA website has a photographic diary of Rubee’s construction.
