Mark Siddle of East Coraki in Australias New South Wales built his Penguin “Pingu” (a cartoon featuring a penguin called Pingu) over a period of several years, and has very recently launched her into the river near his home. We had several exchanges of letters over the time he was hammering away and by all accounts he has enjoyed the building process.

He has been good enough to send me a number of photos which I will be using along with fellow Aussie Greg Pullens photos of his “Little Wing” (right and below) to start a Penguin Builders archive at this website.

Mark tells me that he is amazed at the space inside. He compares her very favourably with a 26 foot long keel yacht that he knows well, and has sent me a photo of his Daughter standing with comfortable headroom under the main hatch of this 22 ft (6.4m) Gaff rigged trailer yacht.

Greg Pullen’s photos of Little Wing under sail on a seriously windy day (above) and on the river in Hobart (left) show that the design can stand up to a bit of adverse weather. Mark is away on a long trip, wont be home until after Christmas but you can bet that I am looking forward to hearing about the first cruise on Pingu.