BOAT builders showed off their creations as they launched their vessels amid celebrations in Lyme Regis.
Pupils from the Boat Building Academy's 38-week intensive course enjoyed their first taste of the sea when three boats were launched at the slipway on Thursday (9) morning.
Two further boats were not ready to be launched, but were on display for members of public to view in the workshop.
The event was delayed by an hour as finihsing touches were made to a daysailer boat.
Tim Gedge, director of the Boat Building Academy, paid tribute to the "culmination of a huge amount of work", prior to the boats being launched.
He said: "It's lovely to see so many people here and I make no apologies for the delay.
"What we do at the Boat Building Academy is teach people to build boats of all types. The actual boats we build are a by-product of the training.
"We have now built 202 boats and quite a number of dingies and little ones as well. It is coming up to 20 years since we started."
He added: "I do want to say how very very impressed I have been by the staff input.
"There are two more boats in the workshop that have not been completed but they are all worthy of close attention. Well done to everybody on the course and all these helpers and staff who put in such an effort to get the boats to this stage."
First to launch was Regine Frei’s clinker rowing/sailing dinghy – designed by Ian Outghred. The boat is planked in larch on oak timbers with a chestnut stem and oak centreline. The transom is made from a piece of apple.
Next up was Max Bentley’s international sailing canoe, designed by Phil Morrison. Max bought a defective resin-infused foam core hull and repaired it.
The final boat to take to the water was Jon Lloyd-Davies’ 20’ daysailer, designed by Paul Gartside. This was the first boat of this specific design to be built – initially commissioned by academy graduate Mark Bestford. The hull is planked in western red cedar and sheathed inside and out in glass fibre and epoxy.
The students, who started their course in September 2015 are from a range of backgrounds - from Canada, Abu Dhabi and Venezuala and Uplyme.
One pupil has already left the academy after securing his dream job with spar makers Collars, while another is retiring and will never build a boat again.
For more information on the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy, please visit boatbuildingacademy.com
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