A background in amateur cabinetmaking, retirement, a move to the South Coast and a return to dinghy sailing all came together in 2013. This was quickly followed by a decision to build a wooden boat, something I had never done before.
Deciding on which boat to build, however, was far from easy and took well over a year. When I first started looking I was overwhelmed by the sheer number of designs and was initially captivated by many beautiful boats without any consideration of how practical they were for me . For some time I had an idea of a big boat, nineteen foot, taking friends and family up and down the south coast. It took a while before reality kicked in and I was able to see that a number of problems were associated with this sized boat. At this stage I knew I couldn’t go by looks alone but didn’t have clear ideas of the questions needed to help me choose the most appropriate boat. I researched more and read a lot. Slowly I learnt there were some fundamental questions that should be considered. I changed my choice three times and was pleased when I thought I had the right boat. At this time Phoenix III still wasn’t on the radar although I had seen the articles in Wooden Boat magazine. I started corresponding with a local wooden boat builder and enthusiast Brian Pearson and arranged to meet. This was enormously helpful, we discussed what I really wanted, formularised the important requirements a boat needed to meet and considered a number of potential designs. Amongst the huge amount of advice Brian gave me, two themes stood out: build a boat that is going to be used and , in this respect, small is better. Phoenix III was now on my shortlist and after finding out as about her as much I could including some enthusiastic correspondence from her designer Ross Lillistone I made my mind up and ordered the plans.
Building Phoenix III 