From January 2011 I will be commencing the build of a Herreshoff 12 1/2 by Joel White at the Lyme Regis Boat Bulding Academy on the beautiful 'Jurassic Coast' in Dorset, England.

For those of you out there who are unfamiliar with these boats, let me give you a very short intro. The original Herreshoff 12 1/2 was designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff in the late 20th century as a deep keeled yacht with a 12.5 foot water line and manufactured in his boat yard in Bristol Rhode Island. In 1987, the late Joel White re-designed the boat with a shallower lead ballast keel allowing the boat to be easily transported and launched without the assistance of a crane.

To me this is an ideal boat to own as it is a relatively small boat to sail and launch off the back of a car and provides the stability of a large yacht where all the crew can feel safe and not have to wear wet suits as you do when a sailing dinghy of similar size. The Haven is 16ft long with a 12.5 ft waterline. Apart from the practicalities of this boat I also fell in love with it's lines which are so typical of Herreshoff's larger boats.

The plans for the boat have been purchased from The Wooden Boat Store in Brooklin Maine. The build spec on the plans is for carvel planking but I am not going for this type of build. A Haven was built last year here at the Academy under the supervision of Mike Broome in sheathed strip plank which turned out absolutley georgeous. This time the build will come under the supervision of Justin Adkin who has years experience in building ocean going racing rowing boats in modern lightwight foam and fibreglass construction. Under Justin's guidance I am going to build the Haven's hull in this modern manner to provide a lightweight fast boat but finish the decks, cockpit and rigging as per Joel White's plans to provide that classic look. I am still undecided but might use Carbon Fibre & Kevlar with a foam core should the budget stretch. For me ths will provide the boat to tick every box of my current requirements.

I arrived here in Lyme Regis along with 17 other students at the start of September from all over England and Scotland with others from Germany, France and Australia to complete The Academy's long 38 week course programme, City and Guilds Level Three in Boat Building, Maintenance and Suport. Since then we have been working almost 12 hour days completing an intense foundation course in wood work for the first eight weeks culminating in building a clinker section then moving on the boat lofting for 2 weeks, template and mould making for a week and last week building a stitch and glue dinghy by the end of the week. Before Christmas we have various City & Guild Projects to complete along side other tutorials, lectures and practicals. In the last week of term we move down to the main workshop where the moulds will be completed and set up for the build next year. Alongside my Haven, 8 other boats will be built along with 3 canoes, the largest number ever built at the Academy........Yikes!! Challenging times ahead.