From their first attempts to sail or row beyond the horizon thousands of years ago, men have been building boats from timber. David Binks's childhood dream was to float and sail, making his first craft from a single wooden plank. When he began his boat?building apprenticeship at 17, David learnt the age-old technique of working with plank and rib. But within a year, the possibilities of fibreglass gripped his imagination and changed the boating world. David was at the forefront of the international revolution of boatbuilding, and the coming of age for boatbuilding and racing in Australia.Introduced by one of Australia's most famous sailors, America's Cup and Admiral's Cup legend Sir James Hardy, Casting Off Tradition is a story of vision, ingenuity, drama, champion sailors, colourful characters and adventure.