WaterCraft

22/12/2024

Tall ships and small ships…

Kathy Mansfield looks forward to the week-long celebration of international seamanship next May, as the La Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan returns.

More in our January/February issue, out now.

For stockists and subscriptions: www.watercraft-magazine.com

Photograph: Kathy Mansfield

19/12/2024

In the Gweek mid-winter, the new year begins early with our January/February issue of WaterCraft in the mail to subscribers from 13 December and in the best newsagents from 19 December.

• TALL SHIPS & SMALL SHIPS… will be returning in May to the inland sea of the Gulf of Morbihan in Brittany for a week-long celebration of seamanship. Kathy Mansfield looks forward to joining them at La Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan.

• LEAPING ROUND THE LIZARD – Jude Brickhill, co-owner of the 113 year old engineless lugger GUIDE ME, recalls a lively voyage.

• WHAT MAKES A BOATBUILDER? – Colin Henwood meets fellow Thames boatbuilder and member of the Wooden Boatbuilders' Trade Association, Jack Livesey of Paradise Boat Co, creator of a fleet of modern electric versions of a classic Bugatti runabout.

• BUILD YOUR OWN 17’6” (5.3m) GAFF SLOOP – Designer Paul Gartside refreshes William Atkin’s delightful pocket cruiser Perigee for engineless wandering along the Adriatic coastline.

• ‘WE’RE GOING TO NEED A BIGGER BOAT!’ – Boatbuilder Dick Phillips begins setting up to build the latest and largest of his Willow Bay Boats.

• BRINGING BACK THE CAT – When the first American catboat arrived in Cowes, locals thought it: ‘A little too marvellous to be real’. Over 100 years later, Andrew Wolstenholme was inspired by its simplicity.

• THE SAIL AND PADDLE PHILANTHROPIST – Jean-Yves Poirier celebrates the flamboyant Victorian adventurer John MacGregor who with his Rob Roy canoes – and books about them – invented ‘sailing differently’.

• PLUS…

Anthony Dew begins ‘fixing the holes’ in the clinker planking of his classic Finesse • Cat Holman has seen the movie and read the book Wind, Tide & Oar • Continuing his series on scantlings for amateur dinghy designers, Julian Wolfram considers strip plank hulls • While fellow naval architect Ian Nicolson makes them more comfortable for seat of the pants sailors • Moray MacPhail continues to assess the advantages of carbon spars for small craft • And Mr Cat Holman – Si – reviews the latest of Paul Gartside’s design collections.

Cover photograph by Tom Bolwell: On the upper Thames, boatbuilder Jack Livesey leads the little fleet of electric replicas he built of Bugatti’s You-You tender.

17/12/2024

We are very sorry to hear this sad news from the IBTC Lowestoft. It’s been a pleasure to feature the IBTC in WaterCraft over the years and the closure of the college is a huge loss. We wish Lyn and Mike, the IBTC instructors, support staff and students past and present the very best for the future.

IBTC to Close
It is with immense sorrow that we announce the closure of the International Boatbuilding Training College Lowestoft (IBTC).
Following 50 years of training people in the craft of traditional boatbuilding and joinery we will close the doors for a final time on Friday 20th December 2024.
This difficult decision comes after a series of negative economic events alongside a continued shift in perception of what constitutes quality training in the UK. These events include Brexit, COVID and the Ukraine war. All have had an impact on material costs and general overheads; this, linked with falling student numbers leave the college economically unviable.
IBTC has long been recognised as the UK’s premier boatbuilding college offering the most comprehensive syllabus in traditional boatbuilding available. This has been achieved through operating a ‘true to life’ boatyard with a range of 20 plus boat projects for students to train on. These projects range from building new 9ft dinghies through to building a new Folk Boat and restoration of yachts up to 40ft. A unique training environment where the syllabus is expertly delivered by time served boatbuilders and joiners with an amassed experience of over 150 years.
These factors are so important in delivering quality training because learning traditional boatbuilding and joinery is about applying a good deal of skill to a wide range of technical processes, processes that rely on a person understanding a whole range of varied subjects – how trees grows and how this affects grain and therefore the use of the wood, how to cut the perfect dovetail or craft the seamless plank scarf right through to applying the last coat of varnish.
This broad approach of understanding as much of a subject as possible, even if it is not part of an official syllabus, results in the development of the highest quality crafts people possible. We call this approach to training ‘teaching in the round’ a process that cannot be shortcut.
Unfortunately, we live in an economy that demands shortcuts, that demands cost savings at the expense of quality.
We, as a nation, are accepting mediocrity and more worryingly we are mistaking this mediocrity for quality. The national loss of skills and high-quality skills training in the artisan sector are deeply concerning.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing students and publicly pay tribute to a group of brilliant instructors and staff whose experience, knowledge, expertise and patience have changed so many lives for the better.

Thank you,
Lyn & Mike

16/12/2024

Santa hats and Silmarils!

Roger Barnes tested out these capable sail and oar dinghies one frosty December in France for our May/June 2023 issue. Designed by Francois Vivier Architecte Naval, both the standard and Grand Silmarils are available from Arwen Marine as complete kits or finished boats.

Back issues £7 or £8 per copy including postage anywhere in the world.

For stockists and subscriptions: www.watercraft-magazine.com

Photograph: Roger Barnes:

13/12/2024

There are a few tickets remaining for this weekend’s screenings of this unique film at Newlyn Filmhouse.

More about Wind, Tide & Oar in our in our January / February issue of WaterCraft. Plus Jude Brickhill, co-owner of GUIDE ME recalls a lively passage round the Lizard – all in W159, in stores from 19 December.

For stockists and subscriptions: www.watercraft-magazine.com

12/12/2024

The Fêtes maritimes de Douarnenez team have launched a poster design competition for their 2026 event, when the festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary:

The Fêtes Maritimes de Douarnenez team have launched a poster design competition for their 2026 event, when the festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary.

09/12/2024

Rather be sailing than shopping?

Why not give a subscription to WaterCraft this Christmas?!

Print subscriptions available, postage free, to anywhere in the world from www.watercraft-magazine.com/subscriptions/

Digital subscriptions from Exact Editions: https://shop.exacteditions.com/gb/water-craft

Our January/February issue is in stores from 19 December. For stockists: www.watercraft-magazine.com

06/12/2024

If your workshop’s more wintry than you’d like, maybe it’s time to move the boat indoors….

… or perhaps you’re safer sitting by the fire with a copy of WaterCraft?!

Either way, find out why Ian Duffill brought his build of an Iain Oughtred Snipefish in from the cold in our May/June 2021 issue.

Back issues £7 or £8 per copy including postage to anywhere in the world: www.watercraft-magazine.com/back-issues/

Photograph: Ian Duffill

03/12/2024

Planning your next adventures on the water? 👇

www.watercraft-magazine.com/boat-festivals-2025/

The 2025 boat festival calendar kicks off with the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart, Tasmania from 7-10 February. Held biennially since

01/12/2024

“There can be few 11’ (3.4m) boats, still being sailed enthusiastically by both children and adults, which offer an easy introduction to sailing to the beginner but are surprisingly challenging to sail really well, even for the experienced sailor.”

Kathy Mansfield headed to the Solent to discover the enduring appeal of the Lymington River Scow. Read the full story in W151 (January/February 2022).

Back issues £7 or £8 per copy including postage to anywhere in the world: www.watercraft-magazine.com/back-issues/

Photograph: Kathy Mansfield

25/11/2024

Too cold to get out on the water? Wintry weather might have some of us heading indoors, but in Wisconsin currach rowing continues until ice on Lake Michigan stops play!

Cat Holman found out how the Irish Currach Club of Milwaukee contended with the cold climate – and Covid restrictions - back in W152 (March/April 2022).

Back issues £7 or £8 per copy including postage to anywhere in the world: www.watercraft-magazine.com/back-issues/

Photograph: Kristen Scheuing

21/11/2024

Here’s what’s on in the world of boats and boatbuilding for the next couple of months.

If you have an event of interest to WaterCraft readers, let us know at [email protected]

Here’s what’s on in the world of boats and boatbuilding for the next couple of months.

19/11/2024

Women outnumber men on the Boat Building Academy’s flagship 40-week course for the first time in its 28-year history.

19/11/2024

“It has always been obvious to me that anyone will learn more about boat design in a day afloat – ideally in Force 8 – than in a week of technical lectures.”

Sound advice from legendary boat designer, surveyor, author and WaterCraft contributor Ian Nicolson when we interviewed him back in W108 (November/December 2014), a mere seven decades into his career.

And the next best way to learn? Ten years on, now with more than 80 years of industry experience, Ian is still writing for WaterCraft, passing on his wisdom in his ‘Design Your Own Boat’ feature each issue. Ian recalls the simplest of diesel engine installations in our November/December issue, out now.

Stockists, subscriptions and back issues available from www.watercraft-magazine.com

16/11/2024

Sail and oar adventures in the Netherlands and dinghy cruising in France, plus an insight into the work of the Amateur Yacht Research Society.

Find out more in our November/December issue’s ‘Join the Club’ feature.

W168 is out now. For stockists and subscriptions: www.watercraft-magazine.com

Photograph: John Perry

12/11/2024

Fast, well balanced and easy to handle under sail, oar or outboard, Grace Harwar – named after one of the last windjammers – is a little schooner for big adventures.

Paul Fisher of Selway Fisher Design introduces his design for this 21’4’’ (6.5m) dayboat in our November/December issue, out now.

For stockists and subscriptions: www.watercraft-magazine.com

Drawing: Selway Fisher Design

10/11/2024

Great job opportunity going at the Pioneer Sailing Trust.

You can read more about PIONEER and Harker’s Yard in W136 (July/August 2019). Back issues £7 or £8 per copy including postage to anywhere in the world from www.watercraft-magazine.com/back-issues/

*JOB ALERT*

Pioneer Sailing Trust are seeking a Boat Builder/ Project Manager for their boat yard in Brightlingsea, Essex.

The Trust is a UK charity established in 1999 to facilitate learning opportunities for young people in the maritime environment. Now fully established, PST is widely recognised for its leadership and leverage in the maritime sector and has demonstrated sustainable operating models.

Over a 5 year period, a The National Lottery Heritage Funded project will:

Extend and improve Harker’s Yard (the training and restoration facility owned by the Trust).
Restore two iconic wooden historic vessels.
Assist with the development of new learning pathways that increase community access and engagement.

Main purpose of role:

This post will be responsible for ensuring that outcomes outlined within the Heritage Fund project are delivered on time and to budget. You will lead the restoration of two iconic historic vessels, Jinnie and Jassa, working alongside apprentices.

For a full Job Description and how to apply, see the link below.

Closing date Tue, 12/11/2024

https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/ship-shape/job/boat-builderproject-manager-wooden-boat-restoration-projects

09/11/2024

“For Proust it was a madeleine; for me it’s the incomparable aroma of the inside of an old wooden boat mingled with the stink of bilge water. It gets me every time.”

An encounter with an old yacht reminds Tony Dew of his love of boats and sailing. Read all about how he found MISTY in our November/December issue, out now.

For stockists and subscriptions: www.watercraft-magazine.com

Photograph: Anthony Dew