Ever wonder who built your sailboat? Not the manufacturer or the boatyard that branded your boat, but the actual men and women who layed up your hull, faired your keel and installed your systems? At The Landing School in Arundel, Maine, we’re training people from around the world to build modern boats using creative, contemporary techniques and materials. In other words, we are producing the builders who are producing your boats.

The Landing School is a post-secondary, accredited educational institution with full-time, 10-month-long courses of study in Boatbuilding, Composites, Yacht Design and Marine Systems. Currently celebrating its 30th anniversary, The School has more than 1200 graduates in the worldwide marine industry. From Goetz Custom Boats in Newport, RI, to Black Feather Yachts in Juneau, AK, our alumni are working at the cutting edge of boatbuilding.

This year we’re stepping it up. Students in The Landing School’s class of 2009 will be trained in the art and science of boatbuilding using the most modern yacht design ever incorporated into the curriculum. Boatbuilding Program students will loft, build and fit out two 30-foot performance sailboats designed by Steve Dalzell and tentatively called LS-30s.

The modern, carbon-rigged, bulb-keel boats will go under construction beginning this fall, with an expected launch date of June 2009. The boat is a sporty club-racer design that doubles as a daysailer. Weighing in at just more than two tons, the epoxy composite hull has a narrow 7' 6'' beam and carries 1,825 pounds of ballast in a 6' lead bulb keel. The LS-30 will fly 506' of sail between a fully battened, fat-headed main and a 100% jib equipped with below-deck roller furling. A bowsprit flies an asymmetric spinnaker. The boat will easily maintain its stability so your crew can sit comfortably in the cockpit, not on the rail. The Landing School will submit the final LS-30 design for PHRF and IRC ratings before the boats’ completed construction.

The LS-30 is a practical divergence from the more traditional sail- and power-boats built by students in the past. The Landing School’s new model selection is a progressive strategy to ensure graduates remain in demand as skilled, professional boatbuilders throughout the recreational and commercial industries. There is more information about the LS-30 and The Landing School online at www.landingschool.edu.