“Friendly, approachable expertise”

The Woodbridge Boatyard is a traditional boatyard in Woodbridge, Suffolk, dating back to 1889.

We are very proud of our long history and are strong advocates for traditional craftmanship and skills but also embrace new technologies.

Whether you are looking to caulk a classic, need a custom timber mast, want brightwork that will draw a crowd, need electric or diesel propulsion experts or are just looking for a friendly place to keep your boat, give us a call and we will be very happy to help.

History

1889 - 2026 - Beyond

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 two of his sons, Cyril and Bert, and two of his daughters, Molly and Ethel, joined him, they became Everson & Sons Ltd. as the yard was called until 2010.

The current boatshed dates from 1912, after the original structure burnt down. It became known as the “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’, 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 20 currently including 8 experienced shipwrights, an engineer, 3 dedicated finishers and a yard team that includes 5 Boatyard and Marina Operative apprentices. Together we take care of all aspects of the mooring and storage, maintenance, repair and restoration of boats and yachts.

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 (Summer 2025) stands at 8 boats (at least 4 more are known to survive in the Netherlands, Scotland, Isles of Scilly and Lowestoft).

Also in 2020, Woodbridge Boatyard acquired the 120ft Thames Lighter ‘Lasher’ and added her to the Woodbridge waterfront where she serves as a floating workshop capable of housing several small boats inside and boats too large to be craned ashore, alongside. At the same time, the boatyard commissioned and installed ‘The Sisters’, a sculpture by Andrew Baldwin, to recognise and celebrate the integral roles of Molly and Ethel Everson in the history of the yard.

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’.

In the Summer of 2022, ‘La Mouette’, the first of the reborn Everson 11 dinghies was launched as part of the first biennial OGA Deben Rally hosted jointly by Woodbridge and Waldringfield Boatyards. Later that Summer, Woodbridge Boatyard exhibited for the first time ever at the Southampton International Boat Show as part of the Wooden Boatbuilders’ Trade Association stand. The recently renovated Deben Cherub ‘Jubilee’ and newly built Everson 11 ‘La Mouette’ stole the show for many.

In the Spring of 2023, the newbuild replica Everson 11 was shortlisted for the Classic Boat Awards in the New Sailing Vessel category and was voted third in her category.

In Summer 2023, Woodbridge Boatyard bought Waldringfield Boatyard. By unifying the yards, facilities were improved and expanded for existing customers of both and an historical circle was completed.

Waldringfield Boatyard was founded in 1921 by the Nunn brothers, Harry and Ernie, Ernie having apprenticed in Woodbridge at Everson’s. In 1921, Alfred Everson rented a piece of land in Waldringfield to the Nunns for them to set up a workshop. Soon after, the Nunns were able to expand into the former cement works site next door and the boatyard has been busy ever since.

The first boats were forerunners of the National 12 class, later developed by Uffa Fox. A Waldringfield boat won the first Class Championship. Other classes followed. Dragonflys are still sailed at Waldringfield. Nunns built most of the seventy or so Morgan Giles-designed Aldeburgh Lapwings, and a number of Loch Longs, now sailed locally at Aldeburgh. Several International Dragons were built, designed in 1929 and are still going strong. The largest craft built was the 42 foot Fred Parker-designed ‘Fortuna II’.

‘Fortuna’ was not the only Fred Parker-designed yacht to be built by Nunns, and ‘Amarapura’ speaks volumes for the high regard in which the Nunns were held:

“Richard Courage, king of beer in Britain, dynamic heir to the family business founded in 1787, commissioned the famous naval designer Fred Parker in 1954 to design a medium size boat to be built by the best shipwrights and with the best materials and able to sail around the world even at the high latitudes of the Northern and Southern Oceans. She was christened "Barleycorn" - a very apt name.

"Barleycorn" was built as an One Off at Waldringfield on the River Deben near Ipswich in 18 months by the Nunn Brothers who were then considered by Fred Parker to be superior shipwrights to Lallows in Cowes and C&N in Gosport, and so the small yard was chosen by Courage. Ernest Nunn was a phenomenally well regarded builder of racing boats, especially International Fourteens, International Canoes and Dragons. She was launched in 1956. In the same year and in 1957 the boat took part in RORC offshore races and came second in the Harwich-Hook (Holland).”

In 2024, ‘Peter Duck’, was shortlisted and voted Runner Up for Classic Boat Magazine’s Restoration of the Year (Under 40ft) Award. ‘Peter Duck, built by Harry King’s of Pin Mill for author Arthur Ransome but kept for most of her life by the Jones Family, had rudder repairs, deck beam replacements, a new main mast tabernacle pad, new keelbolts, remodelling of her cockpit, a new mizzen mast, and new standing and running rigging, all of course finished with new paint and varnish.

2024 also saw the 40th year of Deben Cruises, the very popular and successful river cruises that run from Waldringfield Boatyard.

‘Jahan’, our purpose-built trip boat has carried 3,000 - 4,000 passengers per year over that time, giving visitors from across the UK and the world a view of the River Deben otherwise preserved for the sailors. A regular feature of many coach operators who tour to Suffolk, the appeal of Deben Cruises shows no sign of decreasing.

As we enter 2026 (at the time of writing), Woodbridge & Waldringfield Boatyards has a team of 20, including many young and talented people in all departments, we have become the inaugural sponsor of Classic Boat’s new Rising Star category to support newcomers to the industry, we have been shortlisted for another new category of the Classic Boat Awards, Yards and Harbours, and we have a busy and varied order book with lots of exciting projects that the team is eager and proud to work on. We strive towards a future as interesting, busy and long as our past.

Above - The original workshop of A. Everson. Captioned “Au Revoir and Mimsey ashore”. Pre. 1912

Right - ‘Beta III’, the oldest surviving Thames fire float, built 1926, moored alongside ‘Lasher’ in 2025 to receive a new iroko on ply laid main and aft deck.

Below - ‘The Sisters’