Category: Techniques

Solid advice on sailing small boats from the West Wight Potters

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This little table was written for the US version of the West Wight Potter shows how very rapidly the pressure on a sailing rig rises with wind speed in mind – and similar tables could be drawn up for other sailing boats.

It comes from Many Ways to Potter, a handy guide to sailing these little centreboard sloops that includes lots of good advice for those sailing other small boats, including on how to manage in strong winds and rough water. Read it here.

Thanks for pointing this one out Paul Mullings!

Ship building at Essaouira, Morocco

Ship building at Essaouriaa

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My recently married friends Eve and Ed Birch very kindly took these striking photos of a shipbuilding yard at Essaouira in Morocco, where they travelled for their honeymoon. Thanks for remembering us Eve and Ed!

BBA student launch, December 2012

  

This is photographic evidence that this year’s winter student launch at the Boat Building Academy really did manage to take place in decent bright, if chilly, weather despite the variable autumn we’ve had.

Apart from the students and staff, the shots show the launch of an Iain Oughtred-designed Fulmar named Florence after the builder’s daughter born a week ago and also a Humble Bee pram dinghy also designed by Oughtred.

Eight boats built by the class of March 2012 hit the water, and details of the boats and the students who built them are here, and there are more photos here.

The BBC and ITV were in attendance, and their reports are here (the launch report starts about 21 minutes in) and here.