Jeff Schionning – An Introduction
I was born in South Africa in 1946. My father was from an engineering background and had a very competitive spirit. He raced motorcycles, powerboats and finally designed and built racing dinghies which he and I both sailed competitively. I grew up in a boat building environment from an early age and enjoyed working with boat design and building with my dad.
From school I trained as a land surveyor and enjoyed the combination of outdoor work and complex mathematics demanding high accuracy, while continuing to design, build and race yachts in my spare time. I was drawn to serious boat building and started a yard, Lucky Bean Yard in Knysna, and specialised in cold moulded and composite yachts and built a number of boats between 20 and 40ft. Having built some smaller catamarans and finding the concepts very exciting, I bought and rebuilt an old 34ft Trimaran, adding new style and engineering. I lived aboard her and sailed many thousands of miles up and down the South African coast and the Cape of Good Hope.
I specialised in multihull deliveries and repairs, and looking to follow this interest and seek a more peaceful ocean and country, I emigrated to Australia in 1986 with my 2 sons, Craig and Brett. Here I met my wife Lorraine Schionning who has made many ocean crossings herself and has had years of live aboard experience. She adds that feminine touch often neglected in yacht design. She also handles the administration and marketing of the business.
My sons both completed their boat building apprenticeships with me between 1988 and 1993. Together we built many multihulls. We started off building Aussie designs, then designed and built my own which ultimately led to the range of designs you are considering now. In 1994 I stopped building boats and starting only specialising in design.
The success of our Schionning designs I feel, stems from the practical commonsense approach of a boat builder, coupled with many years of live board experience and 60 000 miles sea miles in some of the worst conditions in the world. This experience makes you aware of the power of the sea and the need for a boat to be able to survive these conditions, protect her crew physically and psychologically as well as being a fast and comfortable vehicle for all the good times.
I am sure you will find our designs reflect our sailing, building and live aboard experience and will give you the offshore confidence to sail safely anywhere in the world. Multihulls are beautiful, safe cruising boats. I hope you found our designs as exciting as we do.
Jeff Schionning
