NEWS
It surprised the marine industry in the United States when the
bastion of traditional boatbuilding, the International Yacht
Restoration School, launched its Composites Career Training
programme nearly a decade ago. The vision of the school’s
president, Terry Nathan, and his board and staff has borne fruit,
however, and now the school is expanding the Newport, Rhode
Island campus and putting composites students and shipwright
students side by side.
Currently the composites
campus is in Bristol where
carbon boatbuilding and spar
building is prolifi c. In 2014, IYRS
bought the series of wharf
buildings adjacent to the brick
and iron waterfront facility on
Newport Harbour and is
planning to renovate, and move
the composite school next door.
“Students from both
programmes are working with
resin and fi bres: wood is resin
with fi bres,” said Nathan on a
recent tour of the school. “We
encourage the students to use
the facilities after hours to work
on their own projects.” Nathan
The Ancient Mariners’ Sailing Society, based in San Diego, is
looking to reinvent itself as the number of classic yachts left to
restore dwindles. With new membership levelling off , society
sparkplug Greg Stewart, a principal at Nelson Marek Yacht Design
and owner of the vintage Clinton Crane 6-Metre Sprig, says:
“We’ve talked about being more inclusive. We don’t want to go
full Spirit of Tradition, but we are considering including the
Shields one design (glassfi bre-hulled sloop designed by Olin
Stephens) and the local glassfi bre Kettenburgs.”
The 42nd Annual Yesteryear Regatta is the marquee
classic yacht event for the society and is scheduled to
be held on Saturday, 7 May.
EAST COAST
Restoration school merges students for growth
WEST COAST
Southern California classics in SoT twist
BRUCE KERRIDGE, SYDNEYCB ARCHIVEThe spring and early summer is fi lled with lectures including
one from a member returning from a recent Cuba trip titled,
“From Cuban cigars to Cuban cars”. Chris Freemen, from Mystic
(Connecticut) Seaport’s Charles W Morgan Tall Ship project, is
also heading West to discuss the history of Alert, a 58ft (17.7m)
Alden built by California’s famed WF Stone and Sons.
Still there are a few signifi cant restorations ongoing and the
primacy of stewardship has kept yards dedicated to the craft, like
Koehler Kraft, busy. Dauntless, a stately 1930 Alden schooner, is
at Koehler and is being improved before it is off ered for
sale. The owner wants to make sure she is ready for
another 86 years before “passing her along”.believes there will be natural synergies between the students once
the composite facility is built over the next two years. It’s all part of
an IYRS goal to move beyond relying solely on donations.
“We have a successful hands-on education model with over 90 per
cent of graduates getting jobs,” says Nathan. “We are leveraging that
and the associated values to build the school into an economically
sustainable, world-class builder and restoration school.”
The new 20,000 square-foot building will house the two six-month
composites programmes
currently in Bristol. The synergies
between the composites and
traditional boatbuilding students
will likely begin with the CAD
and 3-D imaging programmes.
The systems document the
current shape of a boat and
overlay that with a 3-D model
created from original
construction drawings. With a
composites student and yacht
restoration student talking in the
lunch room, with full access to
traditional and modern
techniques and tools, the future
of IYRS and the marine industry
looks quite exciting indeed.
Wood and composite camps are thriving at IYRS