Fifteen centuries ago, St Piran sailed from Ireland to Cornwall in a coracle, or currach. Children can make their own version of his boat with the friendly and imaginative support of a small booklet, St Piran’s Currach. The author takes us carefully through the basic design of keel, gunwale and frame, the choice of materials, and, with the help of photographs, the processes of construction. An attractive and unusual feature is the degree of free choice recommended to young designers.
Boat-building is shown to be a happy marriage of technology and intuition.
St Piran’s Currach by Rory MacPhee costs pound;2 from Rory MacPhee Designs, 11 Langton Terrace, Falmouth TR11 2NA.
