Category: Tuition and training

Replica 18th century shipwright’s workshop to be built at Buckler’s Hard

Buckler's Hard

This year sees the building of a new replica timber-framed 18th century shipwrights’ workshop at the old shipbuilding village of Buckler’s Hard by the Beaulieu River.

Once built using local timber, the workshop will become a centre for the teaching and study of traditional shipbuilding, working in partnership with the Portsmouth branch of the International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC).

The school’s aim is to ensure the continuation of shipwright skills for the restoration of historic ships, and to support the traditional boatbuilding industry.

Nearby woodland will allow students to be taught about timber felling, conversion and storage.

The building project will also be used as a learning exercise, with students taught to use traditional tools and methods, and the building is planned to be raised in in early August 2014 using the traditional gin pole and block and tackle, and then pegged together with cleft oak trunnels.

Read more here and here.

BBA student builds striking retro speed boat

Photos by Janine Cashin, Paul Dyer, Becky Jacobs, and Jenny Steer

Boat Building Academy student Brian Reford built this jet ski powered speed boat during the course of his 35 week course, and launched it during the college’s big student launch in December. (Click here for more posts about BBA launchings and news.)

After some vigorous champagne popping Brian and his brother slowly steered the boat, built in just six months, out of the harbour. As the boat passed through the narrow channel leading out past the Cobb, the rest of the newly launched boats fell in line behind and followed Brian out to sea.

Then, Brian put his foot down. A Western Morning News article described the boat as a ‘bullet-shaped’ and her performance matched her looks – the crowd moved to the harbour wall to see her perform watched as she shot across the bay.

Some 16ft in length and built using three layers of marine ply on western red cedar frames, she was built from plans based on a classic American power boat, the Donzi Sweet 16, from plans obtainable from the website Classic Wooden Boat Plans.

The design appealed to Brian because of the exaggerated shape and its spaciousness comparative to its size. He added a 130 hp engine for a touch of excitement via a jet ski engine bought from an online auction site.

Brian has been interested in making things for as long as he can remember, learning woodworking skills from his late father and building his first Land Rover at just 13 years old. After school he went on to work for a haulage company mending lorries, but a period of school work experience at Henwood & Dean inspired him, and he joined the Academy to learn to build boats.

As a way of remembering his father, who at one time was a gunsmith in Kenya, Brian named his speedboat Bunduki, the Swahili word for ‘rifle’ and also the name of the gun shop his father used to run.

Colin Henwood, who came to the launch, has offered Brian a job at the Henwood & Dean yard.

BBA students build Herreshoff Biscayne Bay sailing skiff

Photos by Jenny Steer and Becky Joseph

This Nat Herreshoff-designed Biscayne Bay sailing skiff was built by Boat Building Academy student Nick Roche and launched at the BBA student launch day at Lyme Harbour last month.

Sadly there wasn’t much of a breeze, but Nick still rowed, with his sails set, out into the harbour to join the other Academy boats.

The skiff is 14ft 5in in length and of multi-chine construction and with a drop keel.

Nick chose the elegant 1912 American design because its lines and classic appearance appealed to him.

The sails were made at the Academy as part of a sail making course taught by Jeremy White of Elvstrom Sails; Jeremy was also on hand at the launch to help Nick with rigging.

Nick joined the Academy in March with the aim of making a career change after spending the past 19 years working in forest management and conservation in the UK, Asia and Africa. He is a qualified PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2) practitioner and has worked as a co-ordinator for the Nepal-UK Community Forestry Project in Nigeria and for the Mersey Forest.

Nick will now find work in the marine industry, preferably in wooden boat building and will use his skiff for day sailing with family and friends.

Tom Oughton worked closely with Nick on the build as well as helping others with their build projects. Keen kayaker, Tom from Weymouth has worked as a lifeguard and activity instructor for PGL in France. He was inspired to learn boat building after his father built a strip-planked kayak and he decided to join the Academy looking for a new skilled based career.

Tom’s long term goal is to develop the traditional and modern skills he has gained from the Academy. In the future, when he has gained more experience at a yard, he would like to set up his own small business building wooden and composite boats.

See BBA student profiles here, boat diaries here, and photos from the launch here.