An Islay skiff, a stripper canoe and a model Folkboat – three more summer BBA launches

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Martin McMahon Islay Skiff

Martin McMahon Islay Skiff

James Downs - strip-built Canadian Canoe

Model Nordic Folkboat Tim Price - model Nordic Folkboat

The final three boats launched by Boat Building Academy students this year are a 16ft 5in Selway Fisher-designed Islay skiff built by Martin McMahon, a 14ft 3in Canadian canoe built by James Downs, and a 1m remote controlled model Nordic Folkboat made by Tim Price.

After 40 years of sales and marketing, the lure of boat building training could wait no longer for Martin, who is an experienced sailor. Like a number of other BBA students in the past, he chose to build a Selway-Fisher design, and this time it was the strip planked Islay skiff in red cedar.

James joined the Academy straight from college where he studied carpentry
and joinery.

Originally from South Africa, Tim came to the BBA via Alderney in the Channel Islands.  He built his 1m remote control model of a Nordic Folkboat in his spare time.

The next Boat Building Academy student launch will be 9.30am on Thursday the 9th December. Up to five boats will be launched from the class of march 2010.

The builds include a replica of the traditional clinker-built Dorset crab and lobster boat Witch of Worbarrow (see more of this project here), a 13 ft 6 in cold-moulded electric motor launch, a 14ft Whitehall skiff, a 15ft Chestnut canoe and an 18ft strip-planked, gaff-rigged daysailer.

The latest on these builds can be seen at the BBA website.

Boat Building Academy summer 2010 student launch

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Youngest student on the course Alasdair Grant (18 years) launching his Beer Beach Boat

(L-R) Tim Price and Tom Trevessey and boat owner Lachlan McKenzie in the background - bringing 14’ ‘Tailwind’ Yachting World Day Boat to the harbour Foreground – Dominic Frankis in his 12’5” Mallard Dinghy, with James Downs in the background celebrating with champagne in his 14’ 3” Canadian Canoe Martin McMahon’s 16’5” Islay Skiff with student Jim Walsh and BBA Graduate and woman gig-builder Gail McGarva in waders

18 year-old Alasdair Grant launching his Beer beach boat; Tim Price, and Tom Trevessey and  Lachlan McKenzie bringing Yachting World Dayboat Tailwind to the harbour; Dominic Frankis sails his Mallard dinghy while James Downs in the background celebrates  in his Canadian canoe; Martin McMahon, Jim Walsh and BBA graduate and woman gig-builder Gail McGarva in waders with Martin’s Islay skiff

Back in early June June 2010 six full-sized boats built by students at the Boat Building Academy workshops were  launched at  Lyme Regis.

If that seems a long time ago,  I apologise – I should explain that as a one-man band and I’ve had rather a lot to keep me busy lately!

The full-sized boats were joined by as surprise additional contender – a remote-controlled model of a Nordic Folkboat built in student Tim Price’s spare time.

Among the boats launched were a 14ft Yachting World Day Boat, a 12ft 5in Mallard sailing dinghy, a 16ft 5in Beer beach boat and a 14ft skiff with a polyester and glass hull, and a wooden fit-out. The sun shone, as usual – I really don’t know how the BBA does it.

Among the students were a management consultant, a builder, a product designer, an architectural technologist, a snowboarding instructor and a handful of school and university leavers.

The selection photos above come from BBA staffer Emma Brice, who has promised more of the individual boats over the next weeks. Thanks Emma!

Nov-Dec Water Craft magazine preview

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Water Craft Nov-Dec 2009 320

Water Craft’s latest issue marks the beginning of the boatbuilding season, which editor Pete Greenfield says begins when the sailing season ends.

It has pretty well ended here in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere, but I’m not so sure that the boat building starts quite yet. But I do think November and the run up to Christmas is a time when many of us get into some serious boat-dreaming and boat noodling – my name for the delicious process of thinking through what kind of boat we want, what we’re capable of building and what would use it for?

As usual, the latest Water Craft is full of interesting crumbs to feed our obsession.

Designer Paul Gartside presents the first of a series of complete plans, including offsets, for boats you can build; this time it’s a shapely double-ended 12ft  rowing boat for traditional carvel (or clinker) construction.

Fancy strip planking? Read how Nick Paull built the Canadian canoe that won him Water Craft’s special prize for the most professional-loooking home-built boat at the Beale Park Thames Boat Show.

More, Patrick Curry explains how he made hollow wooden spars for his traditional Dutch yacht, Bob Lloyd shows how to make a razee.

Pete  is still working on his Phil Bolger-designed Chebacco boat in the outdoors (brrr! – rather him than me!) and Dick Phillips has been sailing a Chebacco built by Connie Mense that many of us saw on show at Beale. (For an intheboatshed.net post on this boat click here.)

Jo Moran has been sailing another boat we saw at Beale, the electric day-sailer Cirrus and Kathy Mansfield has been to Portsoy’s Traditional Boat Festival.

Subscribe to Water Craft now – the drawings for that Gartside pulling  boat alone will make your investment worthwhile!