Course: Lofting Theory

On our Lofting Theory course you will learn how to interpret designers’ drawings and tables of offsets to produce an accurate scaled down version of a full-size loft drawing. Partly theoretical in approach, you will also learn how to correct any minor design errors to ensure fair hull lines from which patterns and moulds could be taken.

Also available is a practical lofting course which can be tailored to suit the student’s needs. The practical version of the course takes designers’ drawings and develops them directly on the loft floor. You will learn how to make softwood patterns from which to construct a new boat. The length of this course is flexible depending on the complexity of the craft to be lofted. As such, please contact us to discuss fees and start dates.

The IBTC Concept of Training Experience has shown that training opportunities limited to just two or three boats is totally insufficient – which is why the IBTC always has a wide variety of boats, both large and small, at different stages of construction at any one time. This ensures that there is always a boat available and at a stage which will enable trainees to build skills in a truly systematic and properly structured way. You do not have to wait for a boat to reach a certain stage of construction before you are able to move on, and you are always able to continue to the next stage of learning once you have satisfactorily completed each exercise. It is a very important concept of IBTC training that the boats built, repaired or restored as training exercises are only worked on whenever they present the opportunity for appropriately timed exercises for students. High standards of accuracy and finish are set from the start of each course. Our concept of training enables our students to cover and learn the wide range of skills in our training programme in the shortest time possible. It ensures, too, that by the end of their course, you will have the ability and confidence to build, repair or restore a boat. Almost all learning is through practical exercises, (learning by doing), with the essential knowledge element fed in by instructors at the relevant moment. This huge amount of practical experience is one of the many reasons why IBTC students remain head and shoulders above others.

Interested in our Boatbuilding course but not sure if you can commit for a whole year? Get in touch with us to discuss options for doing the course in agreed learning blocks over a timescale that suits you.

Bursaries of up to 50% are now open for UK citizens between the ages 18 to 40. To apply please fill in our bursary form.

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