Ellis Engineered

Great to be back out on the water for another season of 16ft skiff racing at Belmont 16s Sailing Club.

Black Jack 100 continues her winning form with a new aft rudder.

Ellis Engineered provided the composite structural engineering for the rudder, including first-principle calculations to the DNV Yacht Rules and detailed finite element analysis.

Since the rudder was fitted, Black Jack 100 has claimed Monohull Line Honours and a division overall victory in the 2026 Newport Bermuda Race, followed by Line Honours in the 2026 Palermo–Montecarlo Race.

Congratulations to the owner, skipper and entire Black Jack 100 team.



Photo: Circolo della Vela Sicilia / Studio Borlenghi

NextGen 16ft Skiff boat #3 for Hugh Stodart is now complete.

The boat follows the recent completion of Bosker Build and Shade to Order, with all three NextGen 16ft skiffs built by Ellis Engineered for the upcoming 2026/27 season.

We’re looking forward to seeing all three boats on the water and racing this season.
A big thank you to Brett, Liam and Cameron for their hard work and attention to detail throughout the construction of all three boats.

The NextGen 16ft Skiff was designed by the Club Partnership between Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club and Belmont 16ft Sailing Club, with the production tooling funded by the partnership and manufactured from that design. Ellis Engineered manufactures the boats under licence using the Club Partnership’s tooling.

Ellis Engineered is proud to have provided composite engineering to Monuments for Fishes by Mikala Dwyer at Watermans Cove, Barangaroo South.

Recognised as one of the largest floating kinetic artworks in the world, the project brings together public art, marine engineering and large scale composite construction.

Constructed from carbon fibre and fibreglass, the five sculptural monuments rise from Sydney Harbour and move with the tide, wind and currents.

Congratulations to Mikala Dwyer, Event Engineering, Innovation Composites, Lendlease, and the wider project team involved in bringing this ambitious work to life.

Ellis Engineered uses Finite Element Analysis to predict composite strains and deflections before a part is ever built. Recently we analysed a skiff dinghy structure using the client’s specified laminate schedule. The model predicted 2.1 mm of bending deflection. The independent survey measurement recorded 1.9 mm.

If your next composite structure relies on assumed laminates, you are accepting unknown performance. Ellis Engineered provides quantified behaviour before manufacture, so design decisions are based on evidence, not assumption.

Great to spend time at Sydney City Marine this week visiting SHK Scallywag 100.

Since 2014, Ellis Engineered has provided engineering support to Scallywag and the team led by David Witt.

It’s always valuable to step aboard in person and see how the platform has evolved, particularly the modifications we’ve contributed to, including the 5.2m bowsprit that we designed and engineered.

A fun week at the 16ft Skiff Nationals with Ethan on the bow and youngest daughter, Meg on the helm!

Wishing all of our clients the very best of luck in the 80th Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

Proud to have been involved with the following campaigns:
Antipodes - Antipodes Racing
Bacchanal (JPK Pacific )
Happy Wanderer Wandering Warriors
Highly Sprung
Jupiter
Koa
Law Connect LawConnect
Lucky
MRV (Margaret Rintoul V)
No Limit
Oroton Drumfire
SHK Scallywag 100 Scallywag
URM
Fair winds and fast passage.

Great to be back out on the water yesterday in our 16ft skiff.
This season we’re welcoming two new crew members, Meg on the helm and Ethan up front. Ellis Engineered is privileged to support these two youth sailors as they step into the 16ft skiff class and we’re excited for the season ahead at Belmont 16ft Sailing Club .

Thank you to and Phillips Marine Engineering for their ongoing support of our 16ft skiff team.

The Prototype 16ft skiff is complete!
A huge thank you to Liam, Cameron and Troy for their hard work and dedication over the last few months.