Born in Tasmania, Australia, Ray lived most of his early childhood moving around sheep stations in NSW, South Australia and Queensland, where his mother worked as a station cook. He settled in Sydney, NSW during his adolescence and began sailing in various classes of dinghies.

He later did his apprenticeship as a rigger/sailmaker at Sydney’s Garden Island Dockyard, where he learned many of the skills he would later use in restoring traditional boats and their rigs. Ray restored two traditional boats whilst living in Australia, both with dipping lug rig.

In 1993, he and his wife emigrated to the UK to make their home in Cornwall. The restoration of their current boat,

‘Pet’, is now complete, and Ray and Ann intend to enjoy sailing her as often as possible. ‘Pet’ is a 32ft Mount’s Bay Pilchard driver, built in 1903, rigged as she was originally, with dipping lug foresail and standing lug mizzen.

For more information on ‘Pet’ and other luggers – see the website of the Mount’s Bay Lugger Association. www.mbla.co.uk

As a child, Ray began sketching in graphite pencil, and a love of traditional vessels, sailing and the sea made this the obvious choice as the subject of his sketches. He started working in colour in 1990. All his work is executed in pencil and pastel. Although he has no formal training in art, Ray uses his passion for the working history of traditional vessels as his inspiration and his experience and understanding of sailing traditional craft to achieve the end result.

His aim is to give a “window into the past”, and is often doing extensive research to achieve accuracy and detail for a particular painting, or to find inspiration for the next. Of those that have appreciated his work, the compliments that he is most delighted with are those that come from sailors, seamen and fisherman, and those who spend time at sea.