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6 of the best yacht design courses to kick-start your career

Yacht design and production beng.

Although many of the world’s top superyacht designers had no formal training, taking a yacht design course can be a great way to kick-start your career and make vital industry connections. We round up five of the best.

Southampton Solent University’s Yacht Design and Production Course has an international reputation and for good reason, as it features guest lectures from BMT Nigel Gee and work experience placements at Sunseeker International . Students on this three-year course study the engineering science behind great yacht design as well as the fundamental principles of naval architecture. A foundation year is available, as well as opportunities to study abroad. Notable successes include the class of 2014, who built the foiling catamaran Solent Whisper (pictured above).

Yacht Design Diploma

Based in the American town of Arundel, Maine, the Landing School offers a wide range of courses in marine technology. Its Yacht Design Diploma boasts a 100% employment rate for former students and bursaries are available via the Women in the Marine Industry scholarship. Alumni have gone on to work for the America’s Cup team Artemis Racing (pictured above).

Yacht Design 1st Level Masters

Offered as a postgraduate course, the Yacht Design 1st Level Masters at Milan’s ISAD design school is intended for students who have a degree in architecture, engineering or design. Taught in both English and Italian, this one-year course culminates in an industry placement, and guest speakers include  Mario Pedol  (who designed the 180 metre  Azzam  — pictured), and  Andrea Vallicelli .

Yacht and Boat Design Diploma

The Westlawn Institute has been teaching yacht design for more than 80 years, and currently offers an online distance-learning programme. The Yacht and Boat Design course is taught by tutors based in the USA and Australia, and is accredited by the Royal Institute of Naval Architects in London. This one-year diploma features modules on construction, engineering and CAD. Famous alumni include Douglas Zurn , Tom Fexas and Geoffrey Van Aller , who is responsible for the design of many of the top 50 largest US-built yachts , such as the 73 metre Cocoa Bean (pictured above).

Automotive and Transport Design MDes/BA

A slightly left field option perhaps, but automotive design is one of the key fields that influences yacht design . This three to four-year undergraduate course at Coventry University is held in particularly high regard for its strong industry connections. Former students who have gone on to make a name for themselves in the superyacht world include Jonny Horsfield (whose H2 Yacht Design studio created the exteriors for the 123 metre Project Jupiter  — pictured above), and Steve Gresham.

Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering MEng

In recent years, there has been a trend towards students using naval architecture courses as a route into yacht design, as James Roy from BMT Nigel Gee explains: "It used to be that if you attended a traditional naval architecture degree then you would spend most of your time learning things about big merchant ships, but that is not the case anymore.

"Most university degrees are now geared to provide modular approaches, and the naval architecture and engineering of smaller and specialist vessels, such as yachts, are included."

This four-year course at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow is a case in point — providing a broad basis for understanding how a wide variety of vessels work, from luxury yachts to commercial ships. The faculty also owns a 10 metre sailing yacht called Catalina (pictured above), which students can hire for as little as £30 per day.

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Welcome to the IBTC Lowestoft

Welcome to the IBTC International Boatbuilding Training College Lowestoft where we are proud to offer a wide range of traditional boatbuilding and joinery courses together with shorter courses exploring additional woodworking skills and maritime crafts.

Boatbuilding

Our flagship course leads to the internationally recognised and coveted IBTC Diploma in boatbuilding along with City & Guilds 2473 level 3. This comprehensive course covers all the skills required to build and maintain boats.

Woodworking & Joinery Skills

An intensive 12-week course focusing on a range of woodworking skills. Suitable for all skill and experience levels. Option to continue on to our full time boatbuilding course upon completion.

Bench Joinery C&G Level 2 Diploma

An intensive 12-week course focusing on a range of woodworking and joinery skills leading to a Level 2 City & Guilds Diploma in Bench Joinery.

Short Courses at the IBTC

We have a range of short courses here at IBTC that encompass many of the individual skills essential to maritime crafts and general woodworking.

Upcoming Courses

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IBTC Bursaries 2024

Southampton International Boat Show Round-Up

IBTC are Winners at National Maritime SME Awards 2023!

Learn more about the ibtc lowestoft.

Situated in the coastal town of Lowestoft, perched on the edge of The Broads, the IBTC is ideally placed to promote the craft of boatbuilding.

IBTC offers a variety of boatbuilding, woodworking and boat maintenance  courses suitable for both those looking for a career in the industry as well as individuals wanting to develop new and existing interests and skills.

Testimonials

IBTC provided a great grounding in wooden boat construction, I think you get out what you put into it, for some students it was more of a hobby, for me it was always going to be my career.

Tony O'Connor

The IBTC is there to help you grow into the boatbuilder that is in all of us with an interest and passion.

Paul Langham

I found the weekends too long, the weeks too short and would wake up each day excited about what lay ahead.

Robert Tretheway

Yacht and Boat Building

The dream of anyone with an interest in the sea is to ultimately build their own boat. Trans-oceanic sailor Jimmy Cornell once wrote, “The planning stage of a cruise is often just as enjoyable as the voyage itself, letting one’s imagination loose on all kinds of possibilities. Yet translating dreams into reality means a lot of practical questions have to be answered.”

The Yacht and Boat Building training courses are constructed to guide those dreams to fruition and further educate you on the intricacies involved with building your own boat. Incorporating aspects of the decision-making, management and construction processes, you can be a step closer to achieving your dreams of building your own vessel.

“Whenever your preparations for the sea are poor; the sea worms its way in and finds the problems” – Francis Stokes.

With easy to follow steps, we will provide you with knowledge to differenciate between various boat building materials, and highlight the various skills that are paramount to the successful construction of your boat.

These courses are not intended to be the solitary element in the building of your boat but rather best utilised as an general guide as to what steps you need to take in order to pursue your ambition. Therefore, we would recommend that these courses would be most effective in conjunction with each other and with further knowledge and experience in building your own boat.

Who Is The Course Suitable For?

Whether you are in the early stages of your career, nearing the end and looking for a retirement project, on sabbatical leave or currently working within the Maritime industry, this course will stretch and challenge you and most importantly, bring you closer to completing a yacht or boat build project.

Call us on +44 (0)23 9228 7828   for more information.

Available Courses

All our Yacht and Boat Building training courses can be delivered at a training centre in the UK, or we are also able to deliver them on-site at your premises, onboard your vessel or in a suitable location of your choosing. Below are the ten Yacht and Boat Building training courses we currently have available, in addition we specialise in bespoke training and course design so if you do not see a course that fulfils your specific requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us.

• Deciding on a Boat to Build • Managing the Build Process • Documentation/Training • Construction in Steel/Aluminium • Mechanical Systems • Basics of Yacht/Boat Building • Constructing a Wooden Boat • Building in Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) • Fitting Out • Finishing the Vessel

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Distanced Learning Course

If you would like to complete a full 12 month distance learning diploma covering all the topics above, please click below for details.

The Training Academy © 2021 | Design by Digi Toolbox Ltd

Further Education and Training Certificate: Yacht & Boatbuilding NQF Level 4

Offered at this campus, about this programme.

The purpose of this qualification is to prepare students with skills and knowledge for a career in yacht and boatbuilding.

It also provides an opportunity for individuals currently employed in the industry to achieve formal recognition for their accumulated knowledge and skills and enable them to advance in a structured career and learning path and allow for the economic growth and development of the South African boatbuilding industry.

Students completing this programme will have developed advanced boatbuilding skills, knowledge and understanding, which include but are not limited to:

• An understanding of the basic principles of boat and yacht design
• A practical understanding of the installation of marine systems
• A thorough understanding of composite materials technology and advanced composite fabrication processes relevant to boatbuilding
• Discussing and describing the need for standards in boatbuilding
• Applying relevant standards to the different aspects of small craft construction and systems specification and installation

Minimum Admission requirements

Completion of the National Certificate: Yacht & Boatbuilding NQF Level 3

CAREER opportunities

The Boatbuilding curriculum is diverse, with job opportunities that are almost equally varied.

• A job as a Boatbuilder in both luxury yachts (mostly fibreglass) or industrial application vessels (mostly fishing boats, barges, etc. worked mostly in aluminium)
• Marine Electrician
• Marine Deck Fitter
• Marine Systems Installer
• Marine Architect
• Manufacture of fibreglass swimming pools
• Manufacture of fibreglass bakkie canopies
• Manufacture of fibreglass playground equipment
• Manufacture of fibreglass custom car bodies
• Cabinetmaking

The National Certificate: Yacht & Boatbuilding course is offered over 3 years, 1 year per level, comprising the following:

• National Certificate: Yacht & Boatbuilding NQF Level 2
• National Certificate: Yacht & Boatbuilding NQF Level 3
• Further Education and Training Certificate: Yacht and Boatbuilding NQF Level 4.

Course content

• Demonstrate an understanding of boat design
• Demonstrate an understanding of boatbuilding standards
• Demonstrate an understanding of structural composites
• Install marine electrical systems

Fundamentals

• Accommodate audience and context needs in oral/signed communication
• Interpret and use information from texts
• Use language and communication in occupational learning programmes
• Write/present/sign texts for a range of communicative contexts
• Apply knowledge of statistics and probability to critically interrogate and effectively communicate findings on life-related problems
• Engage in sustained oral/signed communication and evaluate spoken/signed texts
• Read/view, analyse and respond to a variety of texts
• Represent, analyse and calculate shape and motion in two- and three-dimensional space in different contexts
• Use mathematics to investigate and monitor the financial aspects of personal, business, national and international issues
• Write/present/sign for a wide range of contexts
• Apply marine fairing and painting techniques
• Plan and produce two-dimensional (2D) Computer Aided Drawings (CAD)
• Use CNC machinery in the furniture production process

Maritime Studies

Quick links, career guidance, application process, back to course matrix.

40-Week Boat Building Course

Boat building, system engineering & maintenance, for many this leads to a professional career, for others a chance to follow a dream for the sheer joy of building boats surrounded by like-minded enthusiasts and our expert tutors..

Since 1997 we have trained over 2500 people. Many of these have gone on to work in the boat building industry across the UK and the world.

The course incorporates the City & Guilds Level 3 Diploma in Boat Building, System Engineering & Maintenance (Advanced) (2473-03). However, it goes far beyond the requirements of this qualification, providing comprehensive practical instruction in traditional and contemporary boat building construction methods and related skills.

The course is structured into two parts.

In the first half of the course, you will develop dedicated boat building skills and knowledge through the highly structured training programme.  In the second half, your skills are further honed as you build boats from start to finish using both traditional and modern construction: gaining the skills that only hands-on experience will bring.

The highly practical environment enables students to take full advantage of our facilities and expertise of the tutors. The course is full-time, five days per week from 0830 to 1730.  Each course has at least one dedicated tutor, with an aim of a minimum 40 hours of workshop time. All students are encouraged to work on several boats to give them a wide range of experience.

Course Content

As BBA founder Tim Gedge says:

“We set the bar high but it is the students who set the bar even higher, with a determination to achieve the highest possible level of professional skill during their 40 weeks”

The course focuses on traditional and modern boat building in wood. Overall, there is a balance of theory (10%) and practical (90%).

A thorough grounding in all the elements of boat building including joinery, lofting, planking, sail making, restoration, systems and engines. Students are now ready to continue their learning, working together to build a variety of boats of different construction methods.

This is where the magic really happens! Students work together to build boats from start to finish, using both traditional and modern construction: gaining the skills that only hands on experience will bring.

The ‘long’ course commences with a six-week joinery foundation course.

On the first day you are allocated a workbench and handtools. You get a thorough grounding in the use of various hand planes, saws, chisels and marking equipment. We teach you how to sharpen, maintain and care for your tools to industry standards – an essential habit that all professional boat builders employ.

You will be working with your hands, getting in-depth knowledge and skills of the different types of joints within the key categories – halvings, scarf joints, dovetails, mortice & tenons. You then use these newfound skills to build your own apprentice toolbox.

In week six you acquire other practical skills such as steam-bending, copper riveting and laminating.

After three weeks we decide which boats will be commissioned. 

Once people have their joinery skills in place the syllabus covers the following skill areas:

• Lofting & Mould Making
• Traditional boatbuilding
• Modern wooden boatbuilding
• Fibre reinforced plastics
• Yacht joinery
• Oar and Spar making
• Engine beds and stern tubes
• Painting and finishing
• Rigging, chandlery, and cordage
• Sail making and repair
• Marine Systems – 5 days at ‘Rob Perry Marine’ – a local marine engineering company, where you service a diesel engine and outboard, as well as learning about propulsion, water and electrical systems. An RYA ‘Diesel Engine’ certificate and Rob Perry Marine certificate are awarded at the successful conclusion of the week.

Groups move from the upstairs workshop and become the ‘downstairs’ group in the main workshop after five months. It is at this stage that you will use all you have learned to start building the group boats.

On the last day of the course, the boats are launched in Lyme Regis harbour in front of friends, family, the BBA team, wide-ranging supporters and the local community.

The launch provides a very real deadline and gives students a taste of the commercial world where deadlines are key.

Course dates

There are two start dates per year and we allocate places to students on a first-come-first-served basis on receipt of a completed application form. Both courses have a 2-week break during the course.

17 February 2025 to 5 December 2025

1 september 2025 to 26 june 2026.

Included in the fee are materials for all the foundation training elements, including those used when making your clinker section, toolbox, bollow plane, joints, an 8ft oar, and your City & Guilds assessment pieces, all of these are yours to take home. The only extras you might pay are for any non-training related personal pieces, an additional oar, and (last but not least) a boat should you decide to commission one. We receive good discounts from many of our suppliers and are therefore able to offer a range of materials to students at discounted prices.

Bursary assisted places

Bursary assisted places are available for this course, please click here for further information

How to book

Potential students are asked to visit the Academy and send a simple CV. This process allows you to get a feel for the life and work at the Academy and enables you to make an informed decision. If you are unable to visit, we will conduct a telephone/zoom interview at a mutually agreed time.

About this course

How to apply.

This course is suitable for beginners and advanced. There is no upper age limit, and the course is open to young professionals (regardless of age) and school leavers. You don’t need any carpentry skills to apply (the starting point is the same for everyone). We do not consider formal qualifications or tests of any kind to be helpful in assessing a candidate’s ability to successfully complete the course. We look for positive attitude, drive and a clear passion and willingness to pursue the highest standard, as well as a basic knowledge of English and Mathematics (equivalent to Functional Skills Level 1).

All prospective students are asked to send a short resume and attend the Academy. You will be taken on a workshop tour to see what work is being produced and what boats are being built. You will aso be introduced to staff and students. You will then be interviewed to discuss why you are taking the course, what you hope to gain from it and how you hope to use your newly acquired skills after the course.

Can I commission my own boat?

Some students have the opportunity to commission their own boats as part of the course. The boats built by the group, will be decided in arrangement with students, tutors, the training manager and the director. The builds must cover a range of construction methods due to the education value and practical experience of working with as many different boat building techniques as possible.

The 40-week Boat Building course provides students with the skills to find employment in the marine industry, although some students take the course for a sabbatical or retirement and do not have any plans to work in the industry.

You don’t have to want to work in the marine industry to study this course, but we teach according to industry standards.

See what our students have built

To browse the range of boats built here at the Academy see our Boats Archive. Follow the build of boats that are currently in the workshops on the Current Boats page.

Meet the team

Find out more about who joins our courses by taking a look at our Boat Building Students page. The paths students take after the course are as diverse as the students themselves – take a look at our Graduate Case Studies page for details on what a representative sample of our graduates are doing now.

Spaces available on Our Flagship Boat Building course

Enquire about our 12-week furniture making course