Thanks to Judi for sharing this news with OnTheWight readers. In her own words. Ed
Helen Warren is the Vice Chair of the local Motor Neurone Disease Association (MNDA) and she and the Group is celebrating the generous donation of £20,000 from CTruk in memory of her late father Nigel Warren who died from MND in 2011.
Nigel Warren who lived in Ryde on the Isle of Wight for over thirty years was one of the world’s leading naval architects. He designed and built a multitude of fast ferries, patrol boats and other vessels through a career of 50 years.
Innovative maritime designer
One of his proudest successes was designing the Red Jets 1, 2 and 3, built and used on the Isle of Wight. He was also responsible for designing the world’s fastest passenger catamaran and the world’s first, and still fastest, SWATH – an innovative type of catamaran.
He appeared on Tomorrow’s World as a finalist in the Prince of Wales Awards for Innovation and companies that he worked for included Vosper Thornycroft, Vosper Hovermarine, Fairey Marine, FBM in Cowes and South Boats.
Published author
Nigel was also an avid writer penning over 150 articles for nearly 45 years for the magazine Practical Boat Owner. He also published four books relating to motor boats, outboard motors, marine conversions and his best seller on metal corrosion in boats.
He was an exceptional man as he also became a local school governor and a trained foster carer.
Helen, his daughter explains what happened to Nigel: “
We first saw the signs something was wrong in the winter of 2010 and he went to his GP in January 2011, then for tests at Southampton and Motor Neurone Disease was diagnosed in April. He rapidly deteriorated and the changes were hard to keep up with. It is such a debilitating and cruel disease. Dad kept going for as long as he could, but once he was not able to go on his beloved boat or look after the children and play football in the park then frankly he just wanted it to be over. I am pleased it came to a peaceful end when it did. He had Progressive Bulbar Palsy so swallowing quickly became an issue, he didn’t eat for months, only able to drink high calorie drinks which he hated. He lost his voice and then his breath and passed away at home on the 18 September 2011 aged 68.”
CTruk’s donation
Nigel clearly touched many lives and is fondly remember by many. None more so that the company CTruk who built and sell the innovative boat that Nigel was heavily involved in designing at the time of his illness. Sadly Nigel died before the boat launch but Helen, Mark his son and grandchildren Sally and Jed were guests of honour at the naming ceremony in 2012.
Amanda Cetin, Marketing Manager at CTruk Boats says:
“Nigel was heavily involved in the design of the first-in-class CWhisper SWATH, CWind Astute. In dedication to Nigel, CTruk subsequently pledged £20,000 for every CWhisper SWATH sold to support the MND Association in continuing their important work.
“We are also actively encouraging our suppliers to donate through our JustGiving page. A third CTruk CWhisper SWATH is currently in production.”
CTruk will exhibit at Seawork 2014 on stand B9 and berths V10 & V25 from 10-12 June in Southampton
