Boat Building Academy's largest female cohort launch their boats in Lyme Regis
by Debbie Granville 12 Jul 21:57 NZST
Boat Building Academy students launch their boats in Lyme Regis © BBA
Students on the BBA's most gender diverse course to date have launched their stunning new boats. The latest 40-week boat building course run by the Academy enrolled 15 students, of which seven were women. Prior to this, the greatest number of women on a course was two.
The class led their new boats - a British wood-made 14ft Gartside Lug-rigged Traditional clinker, an 18ft Carvel Diesel Launch, a British wood-made 12ft traditional Clinker Dinghy and a restored Firefly Racing Dinghy - the short distance from the Academy to the harbour slipway where they were greeted by the town's Mayor Cllr Philip Evens MBE and cheered by the crowds of well-wishers before taking to the water for the first time.
Student Hannah Lovett was excited to begin a trial with the female-led yard of Abbey Boat Builder in Norfolk, within days of graduating from the BBA.
She said: "There were so many excellent and inspiring women on the course, and I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to learn and grow alongside them."
Student Sophia Harding, 18, left Sixth Form education in favour of learning a traditional trade and was able to join the BBA course thanks to one of its women's bursaries.
She said: "It's been hugely enjoyable to work with such a mixed group of people, and I am pleased to have been a part of a group with an equal number of men and women. I hope this will inspire more young women and men to enter the boat building industry.
"I feel proud to be able to call myself a boat builder."
Student Edmund Morgan commissioned and built an 18ft Carvel Diesel Launch and praised the "camaraderie and passion" of the diverse group, adding: "I spent five years at university prior to this, two of which at post-graduate level. I have never learned more in such a short amount of time than I have at the BBA."
Edmund's boat is now at his family home in Guernsey, where he intends to start his own business building, maintaining, and restoring wooden boats, in partnership with fellow 40-week students George Bisbas and Joe Croger.
He explained: "There is a rich heritage of wooden boat building on Guernsey, but the industry died off in the 20th century. Guernsey is changing quickly - the growing finance industry and rising gentrification have had a big impact on local culture and traditional skills. Through this business, I hope to preserve some of the islands cultural identity and offer something meaningful to the island's future by contributing to a more diverse local economy, hopefully encouraging others to do the same."
This latest course takes the total number of craft produced by the BBA to 289, with 644 graduates introduced to the boat building industry.
BBA Director Will Reed said: "This course was particularly special because of its equal gender split and I am thrilled to say that many of the students have now started their new jobs as boat builders.
"The group was focused and cohesive from the start and they all worked incredibly hard to learn the skills and then to build their beautiful boats to completion. Every detail was finished with care and to a high professional standard.
"The training we provide is about education first and foremost, but the boats demonstrate the incredible standard that can be achieved with dedication and 40 weeks of careful tuition.
"We must also offer a huge thank you to Belinda Joslin Founder of Women In Boat Building (WIBB) who played a huge part in encouraging so many women onto this course. "The relationship continues of course, and we must do all we can to keep this cultural shift moving and to ensure it reaches the industry that we're feeding."
Belinda Joslin agreed: "Watching the launch day of this student cohort reinforced the central pillar of Women in Boat Building - that we all just want to be 'boat builders' working in an environment where gender is irrelevant.
"Whilst we had a moment of gender parity in this wonderful college, the real test will be in 10 years - and re-visiting all the students to see if the industry has been inclusive and enabled the women to fulfil their potential in yards, in the same way that the men have. In the meantime, we're really lucky to have the Boat Building Academy who are so committed to inclusion and building futures for everyone in our industry. The more diversity becomes the norm, the less we need to talk about it."
Enrolment is now open for the BBA's next 40-week course starting on September 1, 2025. For more details visit: www.boatbuildingacademy.co.uk
The BBA will also be at the Thames Traditional Boat Festival from 18-20 July and Southampton Boat Show from 19-28 September, on the first ever Wooden Boat Stage along with Women In Boat Building and the Wooden Boatbuilders Trade Association.