Faculty & Staff
Mark Bowdidge, MRINA
Professor
An honors (cum laude) Graduate of The Westlawn Institute of Marine
Technology, Mark Bowdidge began his career in boatbuilding 30 years ago in
construction and repair of vessels ranging from 10 to 120 feet. He built his
family’s 42-foot catamaran, and then cruised it for eleven years, logging over
40,000 nautical miles in Australian waters and overseas. Based on these real-life
cruising experiences, he designed the Oceansky 52 sailing catamaran,
which was voted Best Multihull Design by Cruising World magazine.
Mr. Bowdidge worked for Tom Fexas
Yacht Design, specializing in the design of luxurious motor yachts for Mikelson
Yachts, Kadey Krogen, Morgan Yachts, Choey Lee and more. He has been a naval
architect at Aluminum Boat Australia (ABA), where vessels were built from 24 to
38 meters (78 – 124 feet). Bowdidge formed his own design office, Bowdidge
Marine Designs, specializing in sportfishing and family cruising boats, with
worldwide customers building BMD designs from 10 to 50 feet (3.0m to 15.0m).
Holding a commercial master's
license, Mr. Bowdidge is also a member of the Royal Institution of Naval
Architects (RINA). While studying at Westlawn, he was awarded the Owens
Scholarship Award, based on academic achievement, creative ability and design
presentation excellence. He graduated with the highest grade ever awarded by
Westlawn for his final design thesis.
Eric Holohan
Professor
Graduating Westlawn in the shortest
time of any student in the past decade, Mr. Holohan has spent three years
living aboard a 40-foot sailboat, and has 20 years of experience in
restoration, construction, and maintenance of small craft. He is a Lloyds
certified marine surveyor and an ABYC Marine Master Tech, with ABYC diesel,
composite construction, and electrical certificates.
Mr. Holohan has his Yacht Master
Offshore and Ocean certificates, with a radar license, and SOLAS certificate.
He has been working as an assistant designer to McCurdy & Rhodes, naval
architects, and continues to assist in ongoing projects. Holding a U.S. Coast
Guard 6-pack license, Mr. Holohan was awarded the Westlawn Hargrave
Scholarship.
Mary Ann Gesner
Student Services
Coordinator
Mary Ann
Gesner has been a Board member and volunteer chair of administration at
Midcoast Senior College, where she created course brochures and managed all
aspects of the office, including training. She was a risk/compliance manager at
Peoples Heritage/TD Bank, where she was responsible for compliance with rules
and government regulations for all business products and where she was also the
online business banking supervisor responsible for training the case-management
sales force and customer services representatives as well as creating training
documents. She additionally held several leadership positions in commercial
loan servicing and document creation. Mary Ann further brings boatbuilding
experience with her, having worked hands on in fiberglass boat construction at
Sabre Yachts.
Edward
S. “Ted” Brewer
Adjunct
Instructor
A graduate of
The Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology, Ted Brewer began his career in the
boating industry in 1957 working for George Cuthbertson, who later founded
C&C Yachts. In 1960, Brewer moved to Connecticut to work as assistant
designer to A.E. “Bill” Luders Jr., where his work included assisting
in the modifications to Weatherly
for the successful 1962 America’s-Cup defense and doing the drawings and
construction supervision for the Luders-designed 12-meter American Eagle.
In 1967,
Brewer formed his own design office, in Brooklin, Maine, joined in 1969 by Bob
Wallstrom. Together, they produced almost 100 custom and production designs.
That year, Brewer and Jim Betts to found the Yacht Design Institute (now
integrated into Westlawn), which taught boat design via distance learning. In
1979, Brewer moved to Washington State where he produced 150 more designs.
Brewer has written three books
and scores of magazine articles. One of the books,
Understanding Boat Design,
has been a standard design primer for
30 years.
Robert
E. “Bob” Wallstrom
Adjunct
Instructor
Bob Wallstrom
has 43 years of experience in small-craft naval architecture, working in the
offices of Luders Marine Construction, Philip L. Rhodes, and Atkin & Co.,
before establishing Brewer, Wallstrom & Associates with Ted Brewer. In
addition, Wallstrom took over YDI co-founder Jim Betts’ share of Yacht Design
Institute (now integrated into Westlawn) and eventually became YDI president.
In
1979 Wallstrom formed Small Craft Design & Survey, which became Wallstrom,
Watkins & Associates, and in 1986 became Delta Marine Small Craft Design
& Survey. Work encompassed sail and power, commercial and pleasure, in
wood, steel, aluminum and fiberglass, on vessels from 18 to 123 feet. A member
of SNAME and NAMS, Wallstrom has published numerous articles on small-craft
design, marine surveying, and maritime history. He also wrote Surveying
Small Craft in North America, a companion piece and translation of the
original UK edition of Ian Nicholson's Surveying Small Craft.
Bob
Turcotte
Adjunct
Instructor
Bob
has over 30 years of experience in boat building and design including yachts,
fishing vessels and commercial passenger boats. He owns Turcotte Yacht Design,
LLC and is an adjunct professor at Southern Maine Community College at
Brunswick Landing, where he teaches composite manufacturing and non-destructive
testing. Previously, Turcotte was the director of The Boat School, in Eastport
ME. He is a graduate of Westlawn Institute and is also a graduate of The Boat
School, where he concentrated in wooden boatbuilding and design.
Advisors
Robert H. Perry
Yacht Designer
Robert
H. Perry Yacht Designers, Inc.
Bob Perry has brought cruising sailboat design into
the realm of performance cruising beginning with the Valiant 40. Primarily a
designer of racer/cruiser and long distance cruisers, Mr. Perry reviews
requirements pertaining to sailboats.
Pete Melvin
Designer / Engineer / Partner
Morrelli &
Melvin Design and Engineering, Inc.
Pete Melvin is
certainly one of the world's top multihull yacht designer, with the foiling
America's Cup catamarans of Emerites Team New Zealand a notable breakthrough.
Pete is working with Westlawn on new course material related to multihull and
hydrofoil vessel design.
Randy Smyth
Multihull Champion
Smyth Sails, Inc.
Randy Smyth has
won more international, continental, and national sports championships than
anyone in history: over 57 and still counting. The first multihull sailor to
win the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, a two time Olympic medalist, and the
designer and builder of several boats including the innovative trimaran record
setter for the Everglades Challenge, Sizzor, Randy will be working with
Westlawn on new course material related to multihull, rig, and sail design.
Board of Directors
Tony Lawson,
Chairman of the Board, Chancellor
David Smyth, President, Treasurer, Vice Chancellor
James Tangorra, Secretary, Provost