History

See Traditional Wooden Boat Building

Techniques

• Traditional wooden boat building
• Laminated construction methods
• Composite materials
• Metal
• GRP

 

Local forms

Historically, there were many regional forms of boat building in the UK.

 

Sub-crafts

 

 

Issues affecting the viability of the craft

• Cost of training: there are three private colleges teaching boatbuilding – the International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC) in Lowestoft and in Portsmouth, and the Boatbuilding Training Academy in Lyme Regis. The Lowestoft course costs £16,000 for a full-time 47-week training course – this is a cost that many people can’t afford. For example, it is difficult to get young people into the industry not because they are not interested but because they cannot afford to get properly trained. Many people who do the course are mid-life career changers or retirees. There are some grants available from City & Guilds and the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights, but these do not cover the cost of the whole course.  Modest grants for the purchase of tools are awarded by the Worshipful Company of Shipwrights through its Billmeir Award Scheme.
• Lack of investment in training by the government: while the IBTC was established by the government in the 1970s, it is now a private college with no funding from the government, which is too reliant on trusts and charities to fund craft training.
• Lack of investment in training by the sector: the industry doesn’t invest in itself – it wants qualified boatbuilders but does not invest in their training, and boatyards do not subsidise the training of boatbuilders. It is this lack of investment that will cause the craft to die.
• Apprenticeships: The Boatbuilder level 3 apprenticeship standard, developed by employers for employers, is a comprehensive and quality 4 year programme which helps to provide the sector with qualified boatbuilders, covering all aspects of the trade including the use of composites, metal and wood. A government funded apprenticeship, means employers can train an apprentice for a minimal cost, and sometimes completely for free. Most SMEs will pay a 5% contribution (£1,350), with the Government contributing the remaining 95%, with no cost being passed on to the apprentice. The apprenticeship is also supplemented by the level 2 and level 3 City and Guilds 2473 certificates in boatbuilding, with the cost of this being included in the cost of the apprenticeship.
• Certification of courses: City & Guilds offers a Level 3 qualification in Marine Construction, Systems Engineering and Maintenance (2463) – this is the highest vocational qualification in boatbuilding. This is awarded as part of the course at the IBTC, in addition to an IBTC certificate which is industry-recognised, but not government-recognised. The IBTC course also includes three months of intense boat joinery, but City and Guilds have said that this is too niche a course to run and so there is no qualification available in it.
• Transferrable skills: there is more than enough work within the industry, and everyone who has done a boatbuilding course is able to find work if they want to. However, there are people who do the course who go on to work in other industries such as furniture-making or design, and also retirees who do the course because they want to spend a year making boats with no intention of going into the industry.
• Raw materials: some timber has increased in cost.
• Talent gap: the industry is making positive progress in addressing the knowledge and talent leaving the industry, by utilising quality apprenticeships and training courses to train our boatbuilders and workforce of the future.

 

Support organisations

• Wooden Boatbuilder’s Trade Association
• British Marine Inland Boatbuilding
• Anglia Boatbuilders Association
• Boatbuilding Academy
• International Boatbuilding Training College – Lowestoft
• International Boatbuilding Training College – Portsmouth
• Falmouth Marine School
• The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights
• Pioneer Sailing Trust 
• National Historic Ships UK
• Women in Boatbuilding

 

Craftspeople currently known

• A & R Way Boat Building
• Henwood & Dean Ltd
• Bristol Classic Boat Company Ltd
• Butler and Co Traditionla Wooden Boats Ltd
• Casse Tete Marine Ltd
• Character Boats (UK) Ltd
• David Moss Boatbuilders
• Devon Wooden Boats Ltd
• Gail McGarva
• H J Mears & Son
• M B Yachts Ltd
• R B Boatbuilding Ltd
• Spirit Yachts Ltd
• Stirling & Son Ltd
• W Howard Traditional Boat Builder

A national directory of skills and services is provided by the Shipshape Network, run by National Historic Ships UK.

Other information

Shipwrights per se have decreased in number with the UK’s shipping industry but continue to exist. Boat-building skills continue to be used and there are some boat-building schools and academies which keep those skills alive. However, boat-building in the leisure industry continues apace and the UK has some of the top leisure craft manufacturers.

Most general boat building apprentices will gain some traditional wooden boat building skills throughout their training and on the job – the Boatbuilding Standard can be found here, it would be worth a read through to see what it now consists of.

Scotland have developed a SVQ in Boat Building and Repair, the details of which are, as of January 2019, being finalised to be included in a Modern Apprenticeship.

 

References

Data supplied by British Marine.

• Institute for Apprentices, The Boatbuilding Standard
• British Marine, Scottish Vocational Qualifications