Mackenzie Marine Pty Ltd was founded by Director and Shipwright, Ian Begg.
 

From an early age Ian had an incredible passion for boats of all shapes and sizes. He was literally sailing as soon as he could walk, spending all spare time at the local Sailing Club and building his first boat at the age of 14.
 

In fact, Ian has come from a rich family history seeped in both professional and amateur boating. His grandfather Keith Kershaw was a commander in the Australian Navy, while his father Stan Begg was the Commodore of the Lane Cove 12ft Sailing Skiff Club and represented Australia multiple times in the inter-dominium 12ft sailing championships. During Ian’s childhood his father built numerous
skiffs in the backyard and at the local Skiff Club, as well as a Bruce Farr designed yacht with Ian’s Uncle, Pete Kershaw – a respected shipwright, Marine Surveyor, and sailor.
 

Ian began his career at Northbridge Marine Services Sydney where he was apprenticed to Alan Weightman (originally trained on Garden Island). Ian gained a range of skills from the 2 shipwrights employed at Northbridge: traditional timber man, Duncan Ritchie, well as stainless steel specialist Tim Gordge. He gained the Educational Excellence Award when graduating with his ticket from Tafe, and throughout his apprenticeship always participated (and often won) the Build-a-Boat competition as a part of the annual Sydney International Boat Show. From Northbridge, Ian moved on to work with his Uncle Pete at P&F Kershaw where he helped to finalise the rebuild of 1911 classic yacht Uteikah II (a 30+ year project). Ian worked with P&F Kershaw on Uteikah II fulltime for 8 years and
was able to complete many aspects of the internal fitout in line with Pete’s design and vision of a traditional ocean sailing vessel. This time with Pete was almost a second apprenticeship, a Master Class building on the skills he had learnt at Northbridge. Ian’s sailing career continued, including participating in the 2008 Sydney-Hobart yacht race, which was able to assist Ian with a true understanding of how boats perform in race conditions, open waters, and under stress.

While he had been assisting for some years at Gonsalves Boatshed, Ian took over the full operation of the slipway and shipwrighting services there as Mackenzie Marine in 2011. The ensuing years saw Ian able to take on young and enthusiastic apprentices with a passion for boats, paintwork and especially marine carpentry, and slowly create and cement the reputation of Mackenzie Marine as Pittwater’s premier wooden boat destination for any repair or rebuild requirements.