Editors Introduction
Over the past few years the success of River Deben craft in the annual Classic Boat awards has been outstanding. This year two new categories have been introduced – for Yards & Harbours and for Rising Stars. We are proud to see the Woodbridge & Waldringfield Boatyard shortlisted. Matt Lis, who writes this article, is the General Manager of Woodbridge and Waldringfield Boatyards, but importantly, he also represents all River Businesses on the RDA Committee. We feel a collective pride in this success and ask all River Deben supporters to consider voting for Woodbridge & Waldringfield Boatyards as they offer increasing employment opportunities and develop the young craftspeople of tomorrow – as well as building and maintaining a wide range of boats and taking great care of the river environment.
Woodbridge & Waldringfield boatyard team 2025
By Matt Lis
The Awards
Now in their 19th year, the Classic Boat Awards are run by Classic Boat magazine a British publication nowadays owned by the Telegraph, Each year, the magazine’s editors choose a shortlist of boats which have caught their eyes over the previous 12 months, within the magazine, at boat shows or perhaps by accident, and then that shortlist is put to a public vote to decide the winners. This decade a Woodbridge-built or -restored boat has been shortlisted every year but one and every year that boat has finished on the podium in its category. This may be the strongest showing of any single river in recent years.
In 2020, Deben Cherub ‘Ariel’, built in Woodbridge by Everson & Sons, and restored in 2019 by her owner Tim Everson with the assistance of Woodbridge Boatyard, won the Sailing Yacht Under 40ft Restoration of the Year award.
Ariel
In 2021, Sam Doman’s ‘Longshore’ won the Spirit of Tradition newbuild category.
Longshore
In 2022, the International One Design ‘Falcon’ restored by Woodbridge Boatyard came second in the Sailing Yacht Under 40ft Restoration of the Year award.
Falcon – Photo courtesy of Charmian Berry
In 2023, ‘La Mouette’, a traditionally-built clinker dinghy of the old Everson’s design, built by Woodbridge Boatyard, came third in the Spirit of Tradition newbuild category.
La Mouette
In 2024, the restoration of ‘Peter Duck’ by Woodbridge Boatyard came second in the Sailing Yacht Under 40ft Restoration of the Year award.
Peter Duck – Photo courtesy of Peter Willis
In 2025, the rest of the world was given a chance…
Now in 2026, with the introduction of two new categories in the Awards, the Deben is back in the shortlist and your votes are needed again please.
The first of the new categories is called ‘Yards & Harbours’ and sees the nowadays combined Woodbridge & Waldringfield Boatyards listed alongside six other boatyards from around the world.
Now, I am going to be childish for a moment and ask that you indulge me I am hoping to manufacture a rivalry that, as far as I am aware, doesn’t normally exist:
The Deben versus The Orwell!
The Deben’s great foe, the Goliath to our plucky, noble Deben (remember to indulge me please), the Orwell, is also a consistent producer of shortlisted boats. This year is no different; the Orwellians have two boatyards in the same new category, Suffolk Yacht Harbour and Fox’s Marina.
The truth is, of course, that Suffolk as a whole, not a single river or boatyard, is one of the beating hearts of the classic boat world and that is a fantastic thing.
To summarise this new category, I think it best to give you Classic Boat’s own words:
“The traditional boat world goes about its business quietly. There are few centres, instead its people are often found in the backwaters, creeks and harbours that dot our coastlines and rivers. Nonetheless, collectively it is a vast, diverse and hugely talented community, one that we champion as the beating hearts that both support the classic fleet and the local communities around them.
Recognising the value of customer service, the importance of sustainability and the environment and the need to promote skills and learning, this is an incredibly important and exciting addition to our awards.
In future years, this award will be an open category with votes deciding the shortlisted nominees. For this inaugural year we have selected a group of yards based on their recent work – but votes will still decide the winner.”
The four other boatyards shortlisted in this inaugural year are Pendennis Shipyard in Cornwall, Brooklin Boatyard, Maine, Rockport Marine, Maine, and Gannon & Benjamin Marine Railway, Massachusetts.
All seven boatyards have storied histories, and I have no doubt that all seven are equally honoured and pleasantly shocked to have been shortlisted.
When Carl, the magazine’s editor, called to explain this new category to me, and informed me that the CB team had selected Woodbridge & Waldringfield Boatyards for their shortlist, my impulse was that surely we were too small, our projects, as proud as we are of them, not grand enough for consideration of such an accolade but, as I was told, this is their shortlist, not mine.
Jubilee and La Mouette at Southampton Boat Show
About Our Boatyards
Founded in 1889, Woodbridge & Waldringfield Boatyards has always been at the heart of the community. In 1911, when the boat shed in Woodbridge burnt down, a new temporary shiplap workshop built from salvaged masts, off-cuts of timber and recycled photographer’s plate glass windows was erected with the support of the town to keep the business going… 115 years later, boats are still being built in that same shed, Woodbridge’s Pheonix Works.
The Nunn brothers, who apprenticed in Woodbridge at Everson’s, founded Waldringfield Boatyard in 1921 with a shed rented from their mentor. In 2023 the two yards amalgamated, completing the circle.
Both yards have strong boatbuilding histories, having each built a considerable number of dinghies, yachts, motor launches, duck punts and fishing boats. A tradition that is proudly continued.
For a relatively small boatyard, Woodbridge & Waldringfield stands out for the size, mix and relative youth of its team. Since 2019, when the yard was bought by Eric Reynolds, the team has grown from 3 people to 20 and includes 8 traditional boatbuilders and 5 apprentices. The average age of the team is just 33.
The relative youth of the team is no accident; a great deal of effort is put into introducing young people to the industry and developing talent. From collaborating on projects with Woodbridge Riverside Trust and Woodbridge Primary School, involvement with Woodbridge Regatta (which pre-dates even the boatyard), hosting Women In Boat Building’s Christmas Gathering and supporting visits from the Thames Barge ‘Blue Mermaid’ to apprenticeships and an in-house reference library of books and magazines for the team to access, the yard makes a point of showing young people that long, viable and rewarding careers are possible. The ethos is one of growing together.
Efforts are also made environmentally; the yard works with Dutch paint company Seajet to test biocide-free antifoul on the Deben and Leeds-based Vickers Oil to test biodegradable sterntube grease, the National Trust and local farmers to source and mill local timber and, of course, has a bank of solar panels to offset the power needed for the workshop.
As well as practicing the normal business model of offering mooring, storing, repair, maintenance and building of boats, the yards also hold a considerable and varied stock of classic boats within the literal and metaphorical ‘Tent of Dreams’. These boats, all of whom have been otherwise destined for breaking or burning, have been given a reprieve to allow them to be rehomed. Most are modest, locally-built clinker dinghies and pocket cruisers from the 1920s, 30s and 40s but the ‘tent’ also encompasses the 90ft Fred Parker motor yacht ‘Somerset’ moored at Waldringfield with which many of you will be familiar. Whilst proudly and predominantly providing full boatyard services for locals, it is no secret that a number of customers now choose to seek out and patronise Woodbridge and Waldringfield Boatyards from further afield, specifically because they like to support the young team. As I write this, a restored Loch Fyne clinker dinghy is being trailed back to Scotland.
The yard works to further the industry outside of ‘office’ hours too, sitting on the Wooden Boatbuilders Trade Association committee, the River Deben Association committee, the Kyson and Waldringfield Fairway committees, writing for local and international magazines (not just Classic Boat) and supporting the work of Women in Boat Building.
This year, work will begin to dredge much of the Woodbridge waterfront and relocate the silt to build up saltmarsh island at Loder’s Cut in a carefully designed project which will do much for a birdlife and flora which use the island.
The boatyards also play a part in the wider local sailing ecosystem, hosting a biennial Old Gaffers Association rally (the next is Whitsun weekend this May) and will see forty or more local and visiting classic and traditional boats spending three days enjoying the river between Woodbridge and Felixstowe Ferry.
Example of the wide variety of vessels currently supported by Woodbridge & Waldringfield boat yards
Current inhabitants of the Tent of Dreams
Beta III the oldest Thames fire boat in existence
Our local area
I would like to interrupt myself at this point to make something very clear, Woodbridge & Waldringfield would not be on this list without the other fantastic people and boatyards in the area. I have joked above about this being competitive but in truth the most important thing to take from this piece is the strength of all of the boatyards and associated businesses and people working within them in great harmony. A winter does not go by without me calling Larkmans for rigging help, Melton Boatyard to borrow or lend a cradle, the other fairway committees to moor something that I couldn’t. We also call those bitter Orwell rivals, Pin Mill, Fox’s, SYH, Spirit Yachts and more, for advice, a favour, or a cup of tea whilst passing.
Please, if you are still reading, do take a moment to visit awards.classicboat.co.uk and, if you could please place a vote in Yards & Harbours then that would be greatly appreciated
Rising Stars
I said that there were two new categories for 2026 and the second is the more important (but needs me to write less, I promise). The second new category is ‘Rising Star’. We have sponsored this award as part of our on-going commitment to the industry.
The ‘Rising Star’ award is your chance to tell the world about someone starting out on their traditional boating journey in superb fashion. This award exists to celebrate the next generation of conservators by recognising those new to the classic and traditional boat world, heralding achievement and showcasing passion and skill.
‘Rising Star’, unlike all of the other categories, does not have a shortlist and instead is an open call for nominations from the public. You may know somebody personally whose efforts should be recognised but even if you can only tell the magazine that ‘I do not know their name but the young girl working in XYZ Boatyard is fantastic because…’ then I still urge you to do so; word will almost certainly get back to them and knowing that somebody has noticed their effort can mean an awful lot.
A ‘Rising Star’ does not have to be ‘young’, nor do they have to be working commercially, with classic boats, perhaps they volunteer on an historic vessel or are restoring their own classic boat with no previous background in doing so, it is an open to your interpretation.
Thank you for indulging me and supporting us, and for reading about our niche but global industry, which thrives in Suffolk like almost nowhere else.
Voting closes March 15th
Matt Lis
Matt Lis (left) has been the General Manager of Woodbridge Boatyard since May 2019, when the yard moved into the ownership of Eric (right) and Maxine Reynolds. Matt, growing up in Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex, has sailed since he was 5 and comes from a boating family of marine engineers and professional sailors. Under Matt and the Reynolds’, the Woodbridge Boatyard has grown from a team of 3 to a fulltime team of 11 (6 boatbuilders, an engineer, a painter, two trainees and Matt) with more during school holidays.
