Have you ever considered a career in boat building?

It is perhaps not surprising to know that men dominate the boat building industry and currently there are very few boat builders who are women. This is changing very slowly with the community interest company Women in Boat Building (WiBB) leading the way in encouraging women to become boat builders.

there are very few boat builders who are women

One of the WiBB’s founders and current director, Abbey Molyneux, has described her own experiences of first becoming an apprentice as a boat builder then securing a position in the boat building industry.  She said that many obstacles were put in her way to achieve her aim in joining this male dominated sector. She found that it was hard to be taken seriously as a woman and she was at one stage the only woman in boat building in the UK.  It was only the reference of her male mentor when she was an apprentice which propelled her forward in achieving her goal of running her own boatyard, now well established in Reedham, Norfolk.

One aspect of the WiBB’s work is to commission research into different topics relating to boat building. One of these recently highlighted the inadequacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) for women, which is essential to wear in certain processes involved in boat building. They found that PPE is not designed for women. Excessive sized shirts, with even the smallest sizes, get caught in machinery, gloves have fingers too long and lack dexterity and face masks are too large for small faces and have poor seals. The WiBB is calling for coordinated industry action with respect to improving PPE which is specifically designed for women.

The WiBB is also attempting to build an international community of boat builders

The WiBB is also attempting to build an international community of boat builders who can share their experiences to encourage women to enter the profession. The qualifications or skills required to build boats are many and varied and are not only restricted to carpentry. Women are applying their training as electricians, engineers, interior and exterior designers and even rope making to contribute to the many aspects of making boats.

There are many opportunities for women to make a career in boat building. It is work where creativity is the driving force, every day is different and would never be dull. If you would like more information look at the WiBB website at: https://www.womeninboatbuilding.com

By our society correspondent