Left to right: Sir John Parker, Ian Benning, Rob Humphreys, Tom Humphreys, Sir Jock Slater, Michael Derrick
The first Shipwrights Lectures held recently attracted a full house audience from Apprentices to Admirals
Apprentices, students and young shipwrights were inspired, motivated and enlightened about the world of opportunities open to them in both the British and Global marine industry, at the first in a series of Shipwright’s Lectures, held in one of the world’s leading maritime cities.
The Turner Sims lecture theatre at the University of Southampton saw a packed audience for the lecture.
The event drew over 120 apprentices, from all over the UK, together with 100 graduates, university and college students aspiring to careers in the marine sector.
They heard introductions and welcome addresses from leading industry figures, including Admiral Sir Jock Slater and closing remarks from Sir John Parker, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering and himself a former apprentice.
The audience heard how the British marine industry, which encompasses numerous skills from boat builders to naval architects, marine engineers to interior designers, currently employs over 32,500 people in the UK, with £3billion annual revenue of which around 40% is exported.
The UK has developed some of the world’s leading talents in this sector, and the Shipwrights Lectures have been designed to give young students an insight into the opportunities and developments in this exciting industry.
The event attracted attendees from the UK’s largest marine companies with boat builders
- Sunseeker
- Pendennis
- Princess
- SYS
- Discovery Yachts
as well as specialist engineering companies such as Halyard, through to organisations including the RNLI and National Waterways Museum.
The designers of Ellen MacArthur’s round the world yacht Kingfisher, father and son team Rob and Tom Humphreys presented the first lecture, which gave a fascinating insight into the past, present and future of yacht design and technology.
Recalling how early designs were manually produced using pencil, wooden set curves, splines and weights drawings and shapes, purchasing his first calculator he required hire purchase finance, Rob illustrated to the audience how traditional skills have now evolved.