This is to test the image galleries
I spent my early years sailing and playing on the beaches in Gisborne, a beachside town in New Zealand. A lot of my spare time was spent in our back shed helping my dad and making model sailboats from balsa wood. Coupled with the dinghy racing every weekend and playing at the beach I developed a love for the sea and sailing in particular, a love I have never lost. The designs varied but generally got bigger until in later years I started designing the bigger versions you see on my web site today.
Our family later moved to Auckland and that gave me the opportunity to sail in the larger keel boats on the Auckland harbour and Hauraki Gulf, my grown up playground.
I sailed a lot in Auckland, sometimes racing up to 5 days a week. In those days there was a lot of coastal and offshore sailing out of Auckland, Coastal Classic, Auckland-Gisborne race, Auckland -Suva, Sydney Hobart and racing in the Hawaii Kenwood cups to name a few. During those times I built or had built for me a number of keel boats, ranging in size from 7.0 meter to 10.5 meters and was always involved in the engineering and build process. With my construction and engineering background I was always hands on and interested in how things are put together.