During the 40 week boat building course at the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis (UK) I built this 16ft daysailer with the help of my fellow students.

The design is derived from a gunter yawl rigged dinghy by Paul Gartside. I commissioned Paul to redesign the rig to a gaff sloop with a bowsprit.

The construction method is glued carvel in yellow cedar with a sapele centre line. The hull is glass sheathed inside & out whereas the inside is bright finished. The deck is swept yellow cedar strip planking with sapele covering boards, coaming & king planks and also glass sheathed. The spars are spruce and the rudder as well as the centre board & case are each again a combination of yellow cedar and sapele.

The first 20 weeks of the course was the foundation part in which we learnt the basic woodworking skills creating different joints and a tool box. We were also taught boat building specific techniques by creating a small section of a clinker boat with keel, planks and timbers riveted together with copper nails. The foundation also comprised a lot of theory as well as business improvement techniques and all about health & safety in the marine industry. The practical assignments for the City & Guild diploma saw us creating a 3 part stem and a companion way sliding hatch.

for the second half of the course we went through the whole process of building the commissioned boats: lofting, mould making, setup, creating the centre line, planking, glass sheathing, fairing, painting, decking, fit out, varnishing and sail making.