Ben Wakelin takes German exchange student Naomi Doffing for a spin on Lake Hood in his homemade boat. Photo suppliedYour average 17-year-old boy might be handy with a tool or two, and may have built or fixed bits and pieces.

But not many teenagers would have built a bright green fibreglass boat mostly by themselves, but that’s what Ben Wakelin has done.

In 2015 Ben finished a two-person boat in little over a year.

He’s been interested in building, fixing and pulling things apart for as long as he can remember.

So when it came to deciding what his next challenge would be, Ben decided to build a boat.

It took half a year of research to determine if he should build it and what methods he would use.

He then bought the plans from America and started building.

It took little over a year to build the boat in his parents’ shed.

He used general building skills and turned components on the lathe.

Some parts of the boat required welding and he taught himself how to build with fibreglass.

When it came to fibreglassing he called in two friends to help and another to help him build the trailer.

Once his masterpiece was completed and tested, the bright green boat was fully functional and was taken to Lake Camp.

It proved its worth when it towed a waterskier.

Along with building the boat as a hobby, Ben used this project for his Queen Scout award as a new skill.

He’s also interesting in providing lighting and sound for stage events and this hobby started while he was at Ashburton College where he worked with the tech crew.

That saw him play a crucial role in assemblies and college productions.

His skills have also been used with the Mid Canterbury Children’s Theatre shows.

Last year Ben supplied and set up the lighting at the Ashburton Volunteer Fire Brigade’s fundraiser, the fireman’s ball which took place in early October.

This year Ben heads to Canterbury University to study engineering.

By Maddison Gourley - Student © The Ashburton Guardian - 4 January 2017