Mike Softley

Mike Softley has sailed dinghies since he was seven years old and regularly spent his summer vacations living aboard a 30ft sloop exploring the islands of the West Coast of Scotland. He still sails with his family on the Solent.

He first learned about silversmithing whilst studying art at Oxford in 1968. He knew then that he had found the medium he wished to adopt. He went on to take his degree in silversmithing and three dimensional design at Hornsey College of Art in London.

In 1974 the opportunity came to build a silver model of a dhow. He found the research and problem solving of model making to be fascinating and has concentrated on this aspect of silversmithing for the past twenty five years.

On teaming up with Gordon in 1984 it was agreed immediately that the partnership should concentrate on ship modelling to make best use of their joint experience and capabilities.

Gordon Evans

A physicist, now retired, he has sailed boats since university days and owned progressively larger ones over the last twenty five years including a forty two foot ketch which returned to the UK after its maiden voyage - down the eastern seaboard of the US to the Bahamas and to the Caribbean - with more than 10,000miles on the log and the experience of a mid -Atlantic dismasting. He now owns a motor cruiser.

His business experience has included being Chief Executive Research for a major oil company, in particular in the late seventies supporting the then fashionable business diversification theme at both corporate and research spin-off levels, and a spell as Chairman/Managing Director of the company’s S.E.Asia operations.

As a partner his function is to allow Mike Softley to devote himself wholly to exercising his craft and artistic capabilities as free as possible from any concerns over administration, finance or marketing; to assist with data research and to add his experience to the authenticity of the models such as the coherence of sea state/sail plan/ship’s attitude, and on occasion a hands-on involvement, for example in sculpting waxes for production of silver seas.

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