My Father Nick worked most of his professional life as a Naval Architect and later manager, in the defence industry. He worked on the designs of Swiftsure and Trafalgar class submarines, as well as the Invincible class aircraft carrier, but I am pretty sure he always harboured dreams of becoming a boat designer and builder, certainly judging by the number of wooden boats he built at home during our childhood. In 1995, aged 52, he finally quit the “proper job” and started Swallow, designing a range of boats that could be supplied in kit form and built at home by competent amateurs.

The business went well and became respected for elegant, easily driven boats with a classic appearance but built using modern techniques. As a teenager I became interested in all aspects of the business and on leaving university I worked for Dad during a fashionable “year out” before starting my own proper job. 3 years later I knew that designing and building boats was what I wanted to do with my life, and after yet another year out, this time working for the famous yacht designer Tony Castro, Dad welcomed me back where I gradually took over the helm.