Situated in the fishing village of Hout Bay, 25
kilometers from Cape Town in South Africa, Sentinel Boats is a small
firm producing day sailers based on classic designs. Sentinel Boats
is named after the Sentinel, the angled mountain that guards the
western side of the bay. Hout Bay is surrounded by mountains, making
the views spectacular but the winds tricky. Owned by Peter Adamo
and Pierre Malan, Sentinel Boats has been building its day boat
designs for eight years.
Sentinel Boats builds two stock designs, both designed for them
by Hout Bay designer Dudley Dix. The Explorer is an 18 ft, gunter
rigged open day boat, while the Challenger, her 14 foot little sister,
can be rigged with either a standing lug or gunter rig. Other boats,
mainly those designed by Dudley Dix are built on a custom basis.
Pete
is the driving force behind Sentinel. He has been involved in boats
all his life and has been a member of the South African National
Sea Rescue Institute for thirty six years. He is presently the commander
of the Hout Bay Sea Rescue station. He and his assistant, Chris
are the boat builders and have built all of Sentinel's boats.
Pete is above all a people person who can be found at the Hout Bay
premises most of the time, ready for a chat and willing to share
his considerable local knowledge.
Pierre
is the ideas and theory man. A marine biologist and former naval
officer, he has been the inspiration of the boat designs and is
the rigger and problem solver. Pierre's involvement with Sentinel
is a part time one, when his scientific schedule allows. A lover
of classical and traditional working boats, Pierre is happy to share
his knowledge and experience of traditional boats, and will always
be willing to spin a yarn about his time in the Namib Desert or
the Antarctic. |
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