A novice boat builder from Greenwich has set sail on the Thames.

The hand-made dingy that took two years to make has been named 'Greenwich Jack' and is a 2.8m pram-bowed vessel.

Gerry Amies launched the boat this weekend (June 9) from the slipway of Greenwich Yacht Club on a rising tide at 5pm.

The boat, designated as a Coot, has a hull built of cedar cove and bead strips bonded with solvent-free epoxy coatings, shaped, sanded and coated to a sleek sculptural finish.

Consequently, it was meticulously constructed in its own cocoon on the mezzanine floor of the Construction Shop of the club’s boatyard.

It has taken Gerry two years and 100 visits to Peartree Way to finish the boat as he is in high demand as a Theatrical Production Electrician.

He is currently involved with the World Tour of the National Theatre's production, War Horse.

The craft was built using full-sized plans and the book ‘Building Strip-Planked Boats’ by Nick Schade who has refined modern strip planking for boat-building to the extent his majestic creations are featured in modern art museums.

Nick Schade operates Guillemot Kayaks and teaches boat building at Wooden Boat School and Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, USA.