Jack Firth started the 40-week course in March 2022 and found a ‘sweet spot filled with knowledge’ where he could learn the skills he needed for a successful career in boat building.
“I finished my degree in furniture making amidst the Covid pandemic and still felt there was more to learn out there. I had always played on boats as a kid and loved it, so it seemed a suitable choice to study boatbuilding.
During the course I was mainly involved in the building of the Droleen clinker dingy, but I was also involved in the Shunning Proa and the Switzer Bullet which were being built alongside it.
Highlights of the course for me were of course the final launch of our boats, but also the moment we took all the frames out and were able to see the lines of the boat uninterrupted.
-A low point was staple removing duty on the Proa and digging out the ones that snapped off!!
The teaching team at the academy were simply epic and it felt just like a lovely big family – but with a crazy amount of knowledge.
Since leaving the BBA I have joined Spirit Yachts based in Ipswich, working on their all-wooden modern classics.
I would absolutely recommend the BBA to other people, and I have – many!
Boat building is such an amazingly complicated problem-solving endeavour. From visualising and breaking down complex 3D shapes, to the skill and dexterity to replicate them in the real world, and after all of that it’s still got to float and live up to the harsh conditions of the sea!
The BBA is an amazing place, either to be introduced to tackling these things, or to add to your existing skills and knowledge. All the while as part of a big family of like-minded people in a pretty sweet spot by the sea.”
