SHORT FACTS

Age: 44
Born: Alsager, England
Lives in: Gothenburg, Sweden
Nationality:  British
Hobbies:  Photography, surfing the internet

Biography

In his 21-year career, Batt Battison has worked the spectrum of tasks in a boatyard.  He started sweeping the floors during the build of a Whitbread boat, the race that is now known as the Volvo Ocean Race.

For his 52nd boat, the Ericsson 4, Battison runs Vac-land, so called because of the frequent use of vacuums there: it is a clean room in the dusty, noisy midst of the Ericsson boatyard.

“It’s mainly laminating that goes on there, so you need a dust-free zone.  All the bulkheads, the emergency rudders, steering pedestals, all the small bits and pieces that get attached to the boat are made in there,” he explains.

Battison describes the feeling of watching a race yacht that he had a hand in building:

“Sometimes you amaze yourself with what you can do. When it all goes together on the boat and the boat goes sailing, especially if they win, you can’t describe the feeling. It just makes you want to do it again.”

Personally, however, Battison says there are waves of job fatigue.  “I’ve one failed marriage behind me and I miss the kids too much.”  A 16-year old daughter and twin 12-year old boys live in England.   He has promised himself for 20 of his 21 years in the business that each boat would be the last.  “But this time, I think I mean it,” he says.

Professionally, Battison says he’s leaving at the top. “Each boat obviously progresses in technology, methods and design.  It’s good to work for Ericsson, because they are prepared to get the best people, best equipment, and tools to get the job done.”

In ten years he predicts he’ll live in a warm-weather climate, away from his current base in Gothenburg, Sweden.  Whatever his next career is, Battison will undoubtedly continue creating.   With a background in photography, he values artistic expression. 

“I like to see boat building as artistic.  When you’re making something with your hands you’re creating something – you could be following drawings but you still have an input into what you’re doing. It’s the same with photography,” he says.

PREVIOUS PROJECTS

Among being a build crew member for several America's Cup and Volvo Ocean Races between 1988 and the present, Battison has helped build fishing boats, work boats, provided internal parts for a submarine and worked on the nose cone for a Tiger Moth airplane in 1996.