In the early 1970s sailing boats, both new and old, were very expensive and way outside my budget. The only way to get the boat was to build one. I liked the simple Wharram catamarans and decided to build a 27ft Tane. Stormalong was built of plywood and I remember buying the complete list of materials, top quality marine plywood and clear sitka spruce for stringers and mast, for £245. I built her while living at home, on a smallholding plot. It took 2 years of part-time work. After sailing her to the Caribbean and back we needed a boat with much more accommodation to live aboard. 

After a summer cruise to the West Coast of Ireland Annie and I decided that Sheila (ex 6m racing yacht) was not really suitable for long distance voyaging.  I had seen a small sketch in a yachting magazine describing a Benford plywood dory plan. This looked easy to build, roomy, seaworthy and would enable us to try a junk rig. Badger took us three years to build, in the open, in Lancashire. We both had jobs to pay for the materials and work whenever we had free time while living on the incomplete boat.  She proved to be an excellent choice and took us to many remote places over the years. We were enrolled with the junk rig. 

After nearly 20 years on Badger I wanted a change.  Reading about Dragonwings, a 34ft bi-plane junk rig catamaran that Gary Lepak designed, it looked possible to have a multihull and junk rig. We decided to build in South Africa with its good climate, readily available materials and cheap cost of living. It seemed ideal.  I designed China Moon and she was built of plywood and epoxy, taking 3 years before the launch.  While the project started as a big experiment she had since proved herself. I consider her the best boat I owned.