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Visit www.boatcraft.com.au

“Build Wooden Boats” is the Victorian promoter and builder of the Norwalk Islands Sharpies range of trailerable timber yachts. Plans, kits and building advice. Visit www.nisboats.com for pictures and details.

Much frustration with time spent setting up and taking down the 18’s pushed him to look for a solution to this apparently age-old problem with ‘portable boats’. Wanting to spend more time around boats and on the water rather than on the dockside, he settled on the Bruce Kirby designed “Norwalk Islands Sharpies” 18 footer – NIS18 - which could be built from a kit. With its unique ketch sail plan and folding mast system, he knew he was onto a winner.

As with many things, it is not the product alone that attracts you – it is the people and circumstances surrounding it as well, and the potential to do more or go further. So much so that over the past 12 months Phillipe has bought the NIS18 kit and started building, struck up a firm friendship with Rob Ayliffe from NISBoats.com, helped with the finishing touches to NIS18 ‘Clancy’ (AABB July 2009) and taken on the business of promoting, building and selling the Norwalk Islands Sharpies range in Victoria. He has acquired a largish factory and set up shop in Preston, Victoria, aiming to provide everything the amateur wooden boat builder (and the aspiring boat builder 8-) needs to successfully build wooden boats. Talk about dreaming it and doing it!

“Never do things by halves if you can help it!” would also be an appropriate motto! 8-)