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Modern Sailmaking Techniques
10-14 February 2025 / 11-15 August 2025
Design and cut shapes, machine and hand sew, and maintain sails for anything from a small dinghy to a round-the-world yacht. It may be possible to make sails for yourself, please contact us for details – there will be an extra charge for materials used.
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Taster Days
07 March 2025 / 09 June 2025 / 10 October 2025
A perfect opportunity to explore the Academy, speak to the team and ask any questions. You’ll have a tour of the workshops, learn practical woodworking skills and make your own wooden mallet.
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Traditional Sailmaking
17-19 March 2025
Learn the art of traditional sailmaking on this 3-day course. This course will focus on hand-sewing using a palm and needle, and will include traditonal finishing techniques, such as rope edging, roped grommets, corner rings and leather edging works.
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Joinery – Make a Table
14-18 April 2025
Set solid foundations in tool sharpening and maintenance, timber preparation and joinery. You will make joints including mortise & tenons and halvings. Using your new found skills you will make a wooden side table to take home.
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Make a Tote Box
21-25 April 2025
Dovetail joints demystified. Learn the setting out and cutting of handmade dovetails and use your new found skills to make a useful wooden tote box to take home with you.
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The Women’s Workshop: Introduction to Woodworking
28 April - 02 May 2025
Try you hand at woodworking in an inclusive and relaxed environment, led by boat builder Amy Stringfellow.
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Make A Scrumpy Box
06-08 May 2025
Get into woodwork or expand your skills with this three day course that takes you through the construction of a wooden trug with a steam bent oak handle. You will discover the pleasure of working wood with hand tools and learn an array of techniques from sharpening and using hand tools to steam bending and copper riveting.
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Beginner’s Woodwork
16-20 June 2025
On this practical course you'll cover some basic joints such as mitres, halvings, and mortise & tenons. We will provide all the tools you will need to learn the skills and produce joints of your own to include tool sharpening, marking out, sawing, planing, chiselling and joint cutting You’ll learn how to sharpen your tools, how to select timber and practice some basic joinery with the option to make your own picture frame to take away.
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Introduction to Boat Building
03-04 July 2025
This introductory course looks at how boats are shaped and why, terminology, construction methods, materials, propulsion, and sails and rigs/rigging. This is a classroom-based course, but workshop walkabouts and strolls to the harbour and the gig shed mean legs are regulary stretched.
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Traditional Wooden Boat Building
07-11 July 2025
Learn and practise tool sharpening, scarfing, shaping and fitting planks, riveting and steaming. Set-up theory and lining off planks is also covered.
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GRP Repairs
07-11 July 2025
Start with the basics of working safely with polyester-based glass reinforced plastic (GRP) and understand the functions of components (e.g. resin, catalyst, pigments). Tackle practical hands-on activities from gel coat repairs and colour matching to larger hull repairs requiring temporary moulds and formers.
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Modern Wooden Boat Building
14-18 July 2025
Learn the skills for glued clinker, cold moulding, strip planking and stitch & glue boat building.
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Ropework
14-15 July 2025
Learn ropework techniques using three-strand, double and single braids. Learn whipping and make grommets, back, eye, and other useful splices.
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Make A Paddle
17-18 July 2025
A two-day course allowing you to learn some new skills and hand make your own paddle using UK grown ash. Begin by choosing the blade shape which best suits your needs, before settling on a suitable length for your paddle. Next, using a variety of modern and traditional techniques you will shape and then finish the paddle ready for oiling or to take away for varnishing. Tools and materials are provided.
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Wooden Boat Restoration
21-25 July 2025
Practical activities include tool sharpening, timber preparation, scarfing, gluing, removal and refitting of planks, riveting and steam bending.
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