Open day for traditional boat building

9:29am Wednesday 9th April 2008

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The Traditional Boatbuilding course at Falmouth Marine School is holding an Open Day for anyone who is interested in the construction, repair and restoration of wooden boats. On Friday April 18, 10am - 4pm at Ponsharden Boatyard, visitors will have a chance to talk to tutors and students about the course as well as see their progress on the boats.

Visitors to the Falmouth Marine School website can also check on the students' progress through the boatbuilding webcam. The webcam, which is also linked to a screen at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth can be accessed via www.falmouthmarineschool.ac.uk.

As well as building a new clinker dingy and a number of restoration projects this year students are stepping back in time by building a replica of the Clovelly Picarooner Little Mary'. They will complete the entire construction of the boat from lofting to launching, before spending the summer sailing the waters of Falmouth Bay. In keeping with the ethos of building West Country boats, the lug rigged Little Mary II will be constructed alongside a traditional 21' Cornish boat that will be gaff rigged.

Successful students on the one-year City & Guilds Level 3 course enter the boatbuilding industry with valuable experience gained from being involved in building a number of traditional wooden boats from start to finish. The course attracts people from far and wide, with two students on this year's course from Inverness and the Isle of Mull.

Mark Harris who graduated from the course in 2006, moved down to Falmouth from Yorkshire where he was a self-employed woodworker. He said: "The practical nature of the course was extremely useful. It was great to work on a single project from start to finish, bringing together people with different skills and interests. The course gave me the ability to think through a problem and find a solution." Mark has gone on to set up his own workshop building, sailing and selling traditional wooden craft. He completed his first wooden boat, taking the lines of the 1920 Percy Mitchell built Mevagissey Tosher - Dolphin, in June 2007.

Andrew Gill who is currently on the course from Perranarworthal didn't have to travel too far: "It has been a long term ambition of mine to get back to working with wood. The course offers a very stimulating working environment."

Other former graduates are working all over the country with quite a few concentrated in boatyards in the Bristol area employed at amongst others Butler & Co, The Bristol Classic Boat Company and Underfall Boatyard.

Recently the students had a taste of how wooden boatbuilding is taught across the channel when a student from Jean Moulin Marine School in Brittany joined them for a two-week work placement.

Dave Martin, Course Area Manager, Boatbuilding at Falmouth Marine School said: "This is a great opportunity to work with a marine school in France sharing good practice. Laurianne will be experiencing wooden boatbuilding training and also have the opportunity to go sailing in Luggers built but the students on last year's course."