This months front cover is Katie Nurton and Nigel Ash in the harbour, from this angle a 14 hull looks tiny.

I have to say I really don’t think I have ever really done this class justice in photographic terms, they are so exciting to watch. Having said that I have tried but the conditions have never worked in  my favour. A couple of years ago we were in Hayling bay during  their  open meeting, the wind dropped and the clouds set in, we were left with a grey  boring day.  Just at the point of calling it a day  a mast came crashing down on  a boat almost in touching distance!!  It was a  father and son team in there new bright orange boat, we managed to get them back into the harbour safely without any real damage. I chose not to give them any rigging advice because they seemed to know what they were doing, however I did feel it was going to be a very lucky boat for them.

Finally good luck with your stag  do Tom!

At the beginning of this year we decided not to manufacture any more one off jobs, they are never profitable, generally take longer than you expect and it is difficult to get them right first time. With the onset of type approval and product conformity, it is always a good idea to stick to what you know.

Within a day of this decision Jamie Mears telephoned asking  can we make an upper deck to carry two Optimists initially and then possibly some Toppers on his Rib trailer. The problem is that Jamie and Stewart have been customers ever since we started  manufacturing trailers, so we could not possibly refuse.

So this image is of the last ever one off job, until of course the next one comes along!

Good luck with Duty man Hannah!

We have just finished the fitting out of Geoff Baylis’s lovely Proctor 9 beautifully varnished by Ben Dingwall. I photographed it in our exciting exterior sales facility  (yard) and the daily  throng  of punters have all admired this 60 year old boat. Most of them only familiar with white glass fibre dinghies  asked  what  it was. None of them thought it was a Merlin.

My son who works in IT came over and I asked him to explain  the mystery that is Social Media. I also asked him to check our progress in Face Book, he carefully went through it and after a while dutifully informed me that I still had no friends, all I had done was steal all of his. So to all  of Toms friends   THANKYOU!

Very lucky with the weather,  this was the Harp pretty much at its  best, good turnout, and the event was well run. Took loads of photos,  my image of the weekend is of Mr Taxi  looking behind, basically he was trying to  determine where  the next boat  was. I  really  would  like to know what he had for breakfast!

Well at least we didn’t have snow this year, Saturday was busy and Sunday was slow, but with all the economic turmoil it was frankly better than expected, credit must be given to the RYA and the centre staff  who once again provided us with  a very well organised show. I  could not decide  which was the Boat of the show because there were too many incredible looking dinghies. I was taken by the beautiful  Albacore, it still is a very good and possibly under rated racing dinghy, but hats off to the deck on the Synergy OK.  We had an Italian family come onto the stand to  buy boots and buoyancy aids, amazingly the 7 year old girl insisted that her father should  not take a plastic bag,  telling him that she was happy to carry her new jacket because plastic is hurting the fish in the sea. Perhaps there is a chance for the planet after all!

We are now operating from the yard area behind the existing shop, sadly 80 years after my father and uncle started on West Hendon Broadway, we are no longer a shop. We have a simple office and a massive store area, this has rather been forced upon us because of excessive running costs, so we are like a mini Screw fix. All the fittings, clothing, trailers, and rigging are all still available just go into the yard.

Well all the VX one trolleys were finished, we had dinghies in for a re-fit, and a break in thieves stole £2000  of Calor gas,  Christmas  2018 hasn’t been dull.

Still living the dream!!

Its that time of the year, clocks go back or forward I can never remember

which way it is, anyway  our steel order  arrives, and this is exactly what 100 combi trailers look like!

People often ask  what is the best way to deal with welding in a workshop in a heatwave.  Simple avoid it.

Today all the ally 49er trolleys left the works on route to China, (not the easiest item to secure on a van)  I hope they don’t start to breed out there.

Next  week  Flying Fifteens will be finished and sent off to the Lake District, I am confident  that breeding is out of the question up there.

I am not sure who invented Fathers Day, I have a feeling that it might have been Mr Clinton of Clinton cards, probably not Bill Clinton although in truth he should have just stuck to sending cards.

Both my sons did me proud my eldest came up to work on Saturday and helped with the latest metamorphosis as the business changes. We started as a small caterpillar  and developed into a butterfly during the 70’s we had five shop units full of everything you would need to go on the water. However as the new business rates takes effect and the total destruction of the high street gathers pace, we are turning back into a caterpillar, with very small premises.

My youngest son spent Sunday driving the rib for me and we photographed the Merlins, Fireballs, and Scorpions at Hayling Island Sailing Club. Conditions were bumpy with the short Hayling chop but in photographic terms perfect!

The most photogenic helm, and a man and who always looks brilliant in a Merlin is Mr O Turner. Hence the three photos,  Olly we salute you!!!!