SEE OUR YARD

Gallery

Woodbridge Boat Yard 1889 - 2022

A.A Everson began boat building in Woodbridge at this yard in 1889.  As well as building boats and running the yard, Alfred Everson was also the official Starter and Timekeeper for the Deben Yacht Club from 1889 to 1933, starting many races from the end of the old jetty with a 12 bore shotgun and (usually) blank cartridges.  When his sons, Cyril and Bert, joined him, they became Everson & Sons Ltd. as the yard was called until 2010.

The current boatshed is believed to date from  c.1912, presumably after the original structure burnt down, since it became known as “Phoenix Works”

Indeed some of the charred timbers are visible in the supporting structure. The reconstruction involved materials from a number of sources including ships spars and telegraph poles. Although a “temporary” structure, it has somehow survived two world wars and the 1987 hurricane.

The older brickwork beneath the sea wall level probably was part of buildings associated with the use of the area as a coal yard in the mid nineteenth century.

Well known for a number of “one-off” yachts and motor launches, just a few of which include “Clytie” in 1922, “Foy” in 1932 , “Black Cat” in 1938/39, “Glee” in 1960, “Maleni” in 1962 and “Golden Samphire” in 1963. Everson’s also produced one of the first series production yachts on the East Coast, the 21ft. “Cherub” Class, of which 17 were built between 1924 and 1937.

The 1939 war brought contracts for building rafts for the Royal Navy to paint their ships from, and enough material was “liberated” from this project to produce a prototype sailing dinghy, “Beaver 1” and then a second version “Red Beet” (with one less plank) which became the first of the 14ft. Kingfisher class. A total of 29 Kingfisher dinghies (+ one more in the ‘90s) were produced between 1943 and 1963, and several examples of both Cherub and Kingfisher classes may be seen on the Deben today, still looked after by the yard that built them. As well as these, there has been a regular flow of small rowing and sailing dinghies produced by the yard throughout its life.     

In 1969 the yard passed from the Everson family to Peter Darby, who had a great interest in steam power with his yacht “Myra”. A number of yachts were fitted out here from mouldings and equipment on behalf of the Pegasus Yachts Company. In the ‘90s it then passed to Frank Knights shipyard until 2001, and to a small group of local yachtsmen who continued the tradition of individual care for many traditional and modern yachts, providing moorings, winter storage, maintenance and repair.

From 2010 the name was changed to ‘The Woodbridge Boatyard Ltd.’ to make the business more readily found by search engines on the Internet.

Many improvements were implemented, including replacement of tractors and cranes, installation of a new pontoon for dinghies and dayboats; and refurbishment of the jetty, including a set of pontoons alongside the jetty creating marina-style finger berths for up to ten yachts.

In April 2019, The Woodbridge Boatyard was acquired by Eric Reynolds, Founder of ‘Evolution Yachts’, current Chairman of ‘Save Britain’s Heritage’ and trustee of the National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark and the SS Robin Trust. Already well known for its high standard of traditional workmanship and friendly atmosphere, the new investment of time, energy and finance has allowed the yard to build upon these traits.

Since 2019 the team has grown from 3 full-time, 1 part-time to 8 full-time and 3 part-time including 4 experienced shipwrights, an engineer and a dedicated finisher. Together they take care of all aspects of the mooring and storage, maintenance, repair and restoration of boats and yachts.

Whilst boatwork never slowed (indeed the opposite), works quickly got underway for the sensitive restoration of the 100+ year old ‘Phoenix Works’ shed, seen by many as a landmark of the Woodbridge waterfront. At the same time as re-roofing, wiring and shoring up the older building a new, purpose-built shed with space to accommodate larger craft was also constructed behind the Phoenix Works Shed with a dedicated clean-shop for finishing and space to work on a pair of 30+ft boats concurrently with smaller boats fitted in around.

In 2020 the Deben Cherub ‘Ariel’ was voted winner of Classic Boat Magazine’s Restoration of the Year (Under 40ft) Award following works at Woodbridge Boatyard. ‘Ariel’ and her enthusiastic owner proved to be a catalyst for the revitalisation of the Cherub Class at Woodbridge Boatyard which at present (August 2022) stands at 7 boats.

Also in 2020, Woodbridge Boatyard acquired the 100ft Thames Lighter ‘Lasher’ and added her to the Woodbridge waterfront where she serves as an additional workshop capable of housing several small boats inside and boats too large to be craned ashore alongside.

In 2021 alongside several significant repair and restoration projects the yard saw a return to building new boats with the construction of a small ply tender ‘Satsuma’ followed in 2021 and 2022 by a Ken Hankinson Barrelback 19, a 20ft Venetian-style Sanpierota and ‘La Mouette’, an 11ft replica of an Everson sailing dinghy from the first half of the 1900’s.

In early 2022 ‘Falcon’, an Aas Bjorn designed and built International One Design restored at the yard in 2020/21, was nominated for the 2022 Classic Boat Magazine’s Restoration of the Year (Under 40ft) Award and was voted into second place being awarded ‘Highly Commended’.

We strive towards a future as interesting, busy and long as our past.