WOMEN BOATBUILDERS
Polly making dovetails. Bench joinery is just one of the skills taught on the course.
More women than men enrolled in this year’s 40-week boat building course at the BBA.
at wooden boat shows and even on magazine covers.
Increasing participation Belinda therefore had the network the school needed to spread the word. Together, the BBA and WIBB forged a diversity strategy aimed at increasing female participation. ‘It was promoting the fact that
women make great boat builders,’ Belinda says. ‘The Academy was already an inclusive place, but we made sure it helped all employees to align to the strategy, which I had faith they’d do because I knew their ethos.’ Representation is a big part of inclusivity – a woman seeing only men in the yard can be a barrier, so having visible female staff was a first step, and they also introduced a five-day women’s woodworking workshop. To tackle another key barrier,
the Academy created bursaries specifically for female students, providing both financial and practical support to encourage more women to apply for the BBA’s 40-week course. ‘This sort of business is expensive
to run,’ Will admits. ‘So, five years ago, we became a charity, actively fundraising to give more people the opportunity to learn boat building.’ The bursaries are funded by trusts
and foundations. Bursary candidates are robustly interviewed to analyse their financial position, passion, determination and aspirations.
‘For some, it’s about the love of boats,’ Will explains. ‘For others, a love of making. Some have no sailing experience, or no woodwork, but they still have a calling. A range of short courses are available, which some students use as a taster. ‘We made a big effort,’ Will says.
‘And it worked. Lots of people came forward. We started with more men than women, but this year we enrolled more women than men.’ A student in the 2025 cohort is
Polly Ferrari, RYA Yachtmaster of the Year in 2023. Polly grew up sailing, on holidays in Greece with her parents and at her local dinghy sailing club on the Firth of Clyde. She later completed sail training on a historic ship around the Hebrides. It was this that made her feel sailing could be a career. ‘It gave me an interest in traditional boat building.’ At last, she found the BBA, and the women’s bursary and started in February. ‘The bursary has helped me attend
the college – without it I couldn’t afford it. I was really lucky to have this chance,’ she says.
Life in the boatyard The first part of the 40-week course teaches the foundations, where
students learn bench joinery skills, lofting, and different aspects of boat knowledge. Then, for the last 19 weeks, they build boats from scratch in the workshop, ranging from clinker dinghies to motor launches. Students work 40 hours a week, more than 90 percent of it in the boatyard. And they love it. ‘The last few months have been
so busy,’ Polly says. ‘We started with some weeks of basic woodwork and joinery skills, but quickly moved on to more specialised topics such as lofting (drawing full-size plans of the boat they’ll build), planking, marine engines and sail making.’ After learning the tools and
techniques of the trade, and completing an RYA Diesel Engine Course offsite, the students create a project plan, working backwards from the launch date to schedule each stage of the build. They work in small groups, always focused. Will has noticed a shift in the air
with the gender balance levelling up. ‘The atmosphere tends to be a bit calmer with more women in the workshop,’ he muses. ‘It’s a sweeping observation, but I find that there’s a slightly more considered approach.’ Down on the yard floor, meticulous
care is being taken over every sweep of the plane, lathe or saw. ‘In a few weeks, my cohort will start
building the boats,’ Polly says, ‘which will be completed by the end of the
“There’s a lot to learn in a short space of time, but it’s been fantastic so far”
rya.org.uk AUTUMN 2025 53
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