NEWYD MARINE

Lorenzo, one of my good friends that I have met only over the internet, has come up with a great concept.  Under the name of NEWYD MARINE he is designing and selling CNC kits for John Welsford Boats.  And of course he is starting out with John's finest design (in my opinion), the Pathfinder.

When I mention Lorenzo, you might recognize his name from the beautiful John Welsford Pathfinder ASTRID, one of the best Pathfinders ever built.  

Or you might remember him from MIRIVAR Sailing Raid, a multiple-day group sail he organizes every year on the Mediterranean coast.  (Click here for a video by Enrico, another good friend,  about the raid.)

Or you could recall his name from his taking ASTRID on a tour of Europe, doing some wonderful sailing in Belgium, Denmark and Norway.

Lorenzo is a skilled boat builder and sailor, and now he is sharing his skills and experience with other like-minded people.  

Lorenzo's concept is for a one-stop shopping for building Welsford designs.  From his base on the coast of the Mediterranean, he offers plans, CNC kits crafted on site, plus assisted boat building with those kits.  

(I gotta ask Lorenzo, where were you 17 years ago when I could have used all this help??)

According to NEWYD's website, kits are available now for Pathfinders and Scamps.  More Welsford designs will be available this fall, including the well-known Navigator.  And then even more designs in 2025.  No doubt John Welsford is pleased to have a representative like Lorenzo in Europe.

An interesting innovation that Lorenzo's kids include is the use of tongue and groove cuts to align all the pieces, taking a lot of the guesswork and measuring out of assembling all of the pieces.  This makes a lot of sense to me.

As I said at the top, I have never met Lorenzo in person, yet I still consider him a great friend.   We have exchanged emails for years about Pathfinders, cruising and simply the joy of being on the water.  Lorenzo has kindly extended several invitations over the years to come and visit him on the coast of France.  I look forward to the day when we can make that work.

In the meantime, Lorenzo, I want to send my congratulations on this great new venture!  You have my best wishes for well-deserved success!