Gorran Haven Crabber built by Debbie Purser in October 2020


Increased market for restoration/repair


“While there are a great many financially successful boatbuilders/ repairers/restorers, there are fewer successful traditional wooden boat builders,” says Johnson.


He says there is a place for West System epoxy products even in the most traditional of wooden boat building companies and, like Heritage Crafts, bemoans the lack of practical education. “Boatbuilding in general has little coverage in education yet it encompasses design, engineering, art, maths,” he says, “let alone the hands- on training that can lead to expertise.


“The ability to loft, measure, scribe, cut and use the correct tools to machine accurately are skills that are imperative to the successful


traditional wooden boat builder, expertise that translates well for GRP or modern composite constructed vessels.”


Johnson says he is witnessing the increasing market for restoration/ repair but says: “The skills required of a sound seaworthy repair, or an outstanding restoration are those of a well-trained and skilled traditional wooden boatbuilder. The ability to build a new boat reflects entirely on the techniques required to repair.”


Mary Lewis, who led the overall research project on behalf of Heritage Crafts, says: “The effect of the energy crisis, inflation, Covid-19 and Brexit have been tough on everyone, not least the craftspeople who possess our most fundamental craft skills.


“We know that heritage craft skills operate like an ecosystem; if we lose one part it can have devastating


consequences on other parts of the system. If we allow endangered crafts to disappear then we seriously diminish the opportunities for future generations to create their own sustainable and fulfilling livelihoods and deal with the challenges of the future.”


Whilst the UK has been a world- leader in the preservation of tangible heritage (museum collections, buildings and monuments), it has fallen behind the rest of the world when it comes to the safeguarding of intangible heritage (knowledge, skills and practices). Of 193 UNESCO members, the UK is one of just 12 that have not yet ratified the 2003 Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Heritage, and government responsibility for heritage crafts falls in the gap between agencies set up to support arts and heritage.


Read the survey findings in full at https://bit.ly/3Bt0Eym.


The Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis offers a selection of practical courses in traditional skills, including wooden boatbuilding. More information is available at https://boatbuildingacademy.com/


134 | The Report • June 2023 • Issue 104


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