Learn about the 40 Week Boat Building Course at Course at Lyme Regis – Debbie’s Experience
When the pandemic shut down Classic Sailing in 2020, I found myself staring at an empty calendar and wondering what to do next. Rather than sit still, I signed up for the 40 week professional boat building course at the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis. I’d maintained wooden boats before, mostly through trial and error, but I had never trained properly. Nine months later, I walked away with new skills, my own boat, Wild Boy, built as part of a team, and a very different outlook.
Who the Course is For
The Academy attracts a mix of people. My group ranged from 17 to over 70, with engineers, artists, sailors, ex-military, and complete beginners. Some were retraining, some on sabbatical, and some simply chasing a long-held dream. What unites everyone is commitment. You don’t need woodworking skills to apply, but you do need stamina and the willingness to learn at professional standards.
The teaching is intensive. It’s full time, five days a week, and many of us worked evenings and weekends too. It’s not an exaggeration to say it’s the equivalent of two years at university packed into nine months.
What You Learn
The course is built around the City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Marine Construction, Systems Engineering and Maintenance. That’s the technical side. In practice, you’ll tackle:
- Lofting, joinery, and laminating.
- Traditional and modern wooden boatbuilding.
- GRP repairs and composites.
- Sail making, ropework, rigging, and spar making.
- Yacht joinery and finishing.
- Diesel engines and marine systems.
The first weeks focus on joinery—oars, toolboxes, laminated stems—before you move downstairs into the main workshop. From there, it’s all about group builds. My year launched six very different boats into Lyme Regis Harbour, from a clinker dinghy, a carvel sprit sail lugger, Wild Boy, to a strip-planked diesel launch. Nothing sharpens your standards like knowing your work is about to float, publicly, for the first time.
Funding the Dream
The course is a big investment. When I did it, it was just over £17,000. Today it’s nearer £19,000 plus living costs. I used money we’d set aside for house repairs, plus furlough allowances for training. Others secured bursaries, sponsorships, or employer support.
The Academy fundraises to offer bursaries, with specific schemes for women as well as broader help for anyone serious about the trade. If you’re determined, there are routes to make it possible.
Life at the Academy
The Academy is set right on Monmouth Beach. Tea breaks with the Jurassic Coast in front of you are part of the rhythm. Lunches are cooked on site. Lyme Regis itself is busy, salty, and never far from view when you need a breather.
The days are long. There are frustrating times when joints don’t fit, and golden days when you realise you’ve built something solid and beautiful. It is obsessive, practical, and immensely rewarding.
Where it Leads
Boat builders are in demand. Some of my classmates now run their own workshops, some are in boatyards, and some work in restoration. Others have taken the skills into furniture making or allied trades. For me, it built the confidence to look after wooden boats properly and to keep working afloat with Classic Sailing.
The Academy has produced over 600 graduates since it opened, and nearly everyone I trained with has found a future shaped by wood and boats. You won’t come out as a master craftsman, but you will leave with the skills and standards to start on that road.
Should You Do It?
If you’ve been harbouring the idea for years, the real question is: how long are you going to sit on that dream? In 40 weeks you will build boats, learn professional skills, and prove to yourself that you can.
It’s not about becoming a finished boat builder overnight—it’s about starting properly. For me, it was the most intensive learning I’ve ever done, and I’ve used what I gained ever since.
If you’re tempted, visit the Academy. See the workshops, talk to the tutors, and imagine yourself at the benches. It might just be the step that changes everything.
The course starts twice a year, in January and September.
40 Week Boat Building Courses with City & Guilds Professional Qualification.
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