boat building academy – Page 12

BBA student builds replica of 1916 Morgan Giles dinghy

Photos by Becky Joseph, Jenny Steer, Derek Thompson

Boat Building Academy Ben Charny built a replica of Pip Emma, a 7 1/2ft clinker built stem dinghy originally built by Morgan Giles for his children in 1916, and which is now part of the collection at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Falmouth.

The pictures above show Ben’s boat at the BBA’s class of 2012 student launch held a few weeks ago. A photographic diary of the boat’s build – Ben built it while on the BBA’s 38-week course – can be seen here.

The boat was built with sweet chestnut planking and a black walnut for the transom. Ben visited the museum to take the lines of the original Pip Emma and then lofted full-sized plans for his replica at the Academy, which is at Lyme.

The name Pip Emma is taken from the phonetic alphabet used by Royal Air Force signallers in World War I and means PM, or afternoon. In keeping with this, Ben has chosen to name his replica, Ack Emma, meaning AM.

Ben grew up just down the road from the Academy in the seaside town of Sidmouth, Devon, and has worked far from home as a deckhand and bosun in the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and crossed the Atlantic.

He has now returned to the Mediterranean as a ships carpenter aboard Eleonora, a 50 metre replica of a 1910 Nathaniel Herreshoff yacht, using the skills learned as part of his training in Lyme Regis.

Ben plans to sail Ack Emma with family and friends, when back at home in Sidmouth.

The launch

The launch took place on an unseasonably wet June morning, but joined by family and friends, Academy staff and Lyme Regis locals, on 12th June, students braved the weather to ceremonially walk their boats from the Academy workshop on Monmouth Beach, down to the slipway, where a crowd of well-wishers had gathered at the water’s edge to take part in the celebrations.

Following a few words from BBA director Commander Tim Gedge and town mayor Sally Holman, Ben’s little dinghy was the first boat to launch.

More information about the academy and the 38-week course can be found on the BBA website.

Jenny Steer photo exhibition features Boat Building Academy launch photos

An exhibition of Exeter-based photographer Jenny Steer’s work featuring Lyme’s Boat Building Academy and its boats and people is to be held in the town at The Malthouse in Lyme Regis from the 25th to the 30th May, from 10 to 5 o’clock each day.

Jenny’s title for the show is ‘Shot Across the Bows’.

Here’s my slightly edited version of the press release:

BBA principal Yvonne Green said ‘Launches are a very important part of the Academy’s calendar, celebrating the end of our ‘long’ 38-week courses and the beginning of students’ new careers as boat builders. Students’ families and friends, well wishers and the town come down to the Cobb to cheer as each boat, testament to the students’ new skills, goes into the water for the first time.

‘Launches are very happy occasions, but we are all very conscious that after them people who have worked closely together for nine months go their separate ways. Jenny originally came to a launch as the friend of one of our instructors, but when we saw how her photographs captured the beauty of the boats and the spirit of the occasion we asked her to be our ‘official’ launch photographer.’

The launches are now attended by hundreds of people, and Jenny’s photographs have illustrated articles on the launches in Yachting World, Classic Boat and Water Craft in addition to other magazines.

‘I absolutely love photographing the boat launches at the Boat Building Academy,’ said Jenny. ‘There are so many interesting and diverse boat designs from quirky to more conventional. The atmosphere is extraordinary and I feel privileged to be involved in such an important and special day.’

To complement the photographs two of the traditional clinker boats Jenny has photographed will be on loan from their owners for the exhibition. Witch of Weymouth is a replica of a 1902 Dorset crab and lobster boat, Witch of Worbarrow and was exhibited at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall following the December 2010 launch. Rubee is a very pretty little pram dinghy planked in sweet chestnut on oak, an was launched in December 2012.

BBA students launch an 18ft Paul Gartside-designed cutter

Photos by Andy Blundy, Charlie Couture and Emma Brice

This 18ft Paul Gartside-designed strip-planked cutter belonging to Boat Building Academy student Dominik Gschwind hit the water at the BBA’s student launch just before Christmas.

The boat is in Western red cedar, fitted out in Douglas fir and with its cabin and other parts finished bright.

Dominik, who is Swiss, chose the boat as a result of his passion for craft inspired by working boat, and modified the original open design by created a small cabin, complete with portholes and a neatly fitted heads – it’s said that this is the first boat to be built at the BBA with either of these features.

Named Gloéy – the name is Dominik’s daughter’s middle name – the boat will be used by for day sailing and cruising on his own and with his family.

To be moored on Lake Constance, which is bordered by Germany, Switzerland and Austria, Gloéy will also be used as a reference project for Dominik’s business, showcasing his new skills to prospective clients.

Dominik, who for the past seven years, has run his own architecture practice in Zurich, enrolled on the Academy’s 38-week training course with the aim of expanding his current business by combining his passion for boats and their construction with his architectural expertise.

Ivan Cavé was Dominik’s main partner in building the boat, and worked closely with him for long hours through the five month build.

Ivan grew up in South Africa but has lived in Australia for most of his life. His first significant boating experience was in 1978 when he joined the crew of Alvee, a John Alden schooner in Malta.

Ivan met wife Jacky after hitching a ride on a 40ft steel cutter from South Africa to Sydney, and consequently took Australian citizenship in 1980. Ivan joined the Academy after retiring from his job as a sales sdministrator, and aims to start a new career in Australia working as a boat builder.

Jacky will be missed at the BBA, she took full part in activities at the school and in Lyme Regis, including one night when she set up an impromptu bar in the workshops to celebrate the mast being completed. Alcohol is of course forbidden in the workshops for safety reasons…

Ivan and Jacky bought a motor home and are now driving round Europe and were last heard of in St Malo, no doubt bringing warmth and friendship wherever they park.

There’s a photographic diary of the build of Gloéy on the BBA website, and Dominik also kept a written online diary.

As always, my thanks to the BBA staff for providing information and photos.

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