mann award
LAS VEGAS, NV – Paul Mann Custom Boats’ entry of an 81-foot sportfishing yacht, Georgia Girl, won the Cabinetry category and grand prize in the seventh annual Veneer Tech Craftman’s Challenge, one of the most highly respected and well known design and craftsmanship competitions in woodworking. Hand selected plain-sliced cherry sheet veneer accented with figured cherry were used for the custom cabinetry throughout Georgia Girl, an “elegant yet lightweight solution in a marine project where weight is a significant consideration,” commented Bill Esler, board member of WoodLINKS USA and associate publisher/editor in chief for Vance Publishing/Woodworking Network, publisher of Wood and Wood Products and Custom Woodworking Business, and one of three judges for the 2011 competition.
“The quality of the work was remarkable,” said Keith Yow, also a judge for this year’s competition that rewards excellence in woodwork featuring natural veneer and wood product applications. “The craftsmanship was exceptional, especially in the case of fitting cabinets with so many radiuses into the cabin of a yacht.” Yow is department chair of the Career Technical Education Program at Cedar Ridge High School, Hillsborough, NC and a nationally known woodworking educator.
“We are thrilled! All of us are pleased and proud that this distinguished panel of judges recognizes the superior quality of our work,” stated Robin Mann of Paul Mann Custom Boats. “It’s nice to go up against the best woodworkers in the country and come out on top. But while the recognition and prize money are nice, we remember that our goal is simple-to provide our customers with the finest Carolina-style custom sportfishing boats in the world.”
Impartial third-party experts from the fields of woodworking media, education and architectural woodworking judge the Veneer Tech Craftsman’s Challenge. Along with Esler and Yow, the 2011 panel included Robert Lang, executive editor, Popular Woodworking, and well-known woodworker in his own right.
Other category winners were some of the nation’s most well-known companies and names in fine woodworking including Fetzer Architectural Woodwork, Salt Lake City, UT; Craig Thibodeau, CT Fine Furniture, San Diego, CA; Rob Milam of VeneerImages, Atlanta, GA; and Paul Schürch, Schürch Woodwork, Santa Barbara, CA.
Paul Mann Custom Boats, located in Manns Harbor, NC, has been building custom Carolina-style sportfishing boats and sportfishing yachts since 1988.
Veneer Technologies Incorporated, located in Newport, NC, is one of the industry’s largest manufacturers of high quality face veneer, sheet veneer and wood edgebanding products. Veneer Tech sources wood species worldwide.
