Traditional boatbuilding gets a larger platform
The Wooden Boat Stage will return to the Southampton International Boat Show in 2026 with a larger programme built around practical demonstrations, talks and career guidance. British Marine says the second-year feature is intended to make traditional boatbuilding more visible to young people while still celebrating the craft, skills and heritage behind wooden boats.
The stage is being delivered by the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis, the Wooden Boatbuilders’ Trade Association and Women in Boat Building. Their programme runs throughout the show and places working boatbuilders, apprentices and training organisations in front of visitors rather than treating traditional construction simply as a static heritage display.
Routes into the marine industry
A central session on 24 September will examine different routes into boatbuilding and the wider marine sector, with young professionals describing self-taught, college-based, apprenticeship and on-the-job pathways. The Boat Building Academy will also run career-focused talks during the show, while Pioneer Sailing Trust is scheduled to discuss the Level 3 Heritage Engineer Marine Technician Apprenticeship.
Another session will look at how UK yards can work with schools to introduce practical marine skills through the curriculum and local partnerships. British Marine says the participating organisations want more yards and marine businesses to build grassroots links with schools so that students can see boatbuilding as a realistic technical and creative career.
Hands-on work as part of the show
Younger visitors will also be able to take part in a new model-boat workshop, building and decorating a small gaff cutter and fitting handmade sails. That practical element gives the stage a direct link to the kind of craftsmanship still found across dinghies, day boats, small cruisers and restoration projects throughout the leisure-boat sector.
The Southampton International Boat Show runs from 18 to 27 September 2026, putting the expanded stage in front of a broad boating audience rather than a specialist trade-only crowd. For Leisure Boat Guide, it is a useful reminder that small-boat news is not only about new fibreglass models and electronics; the skills needed to build, maintain and restore boats are part of the industry’s future as well.