The Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis will welcome its first female tutor in February. Emily Stokes will join tutor Mike Broome in guiding students through the intensive 40-week flagship course. 

Will Reed, Director of the BBA, says, ‘We are thrilled that Emily is joining the teaching team this year. Our tutors are selected not only for their excellent boat building skills, but also for their ability to communicate, educate and bring out the best in people – Emily has all of this in spades.’

‘I can’t wait to start,’ Stokes comments. ‘It will be a privilege to help students launch their own careers in boat building. As well as producing fantastic boat builders, the BBA is committed to the conservation of boat building, and I feel proud to become part of that.’

Incoming tutor Emily Stokes (centre left) with other students of the BBA. Credit: Boat Building Academy, Lyme Regis.

Stokes speaks glowingly of her own time experience as a student of the BBA. 

‘I felt fully engaged and ‘on purpose’ for the first time in a very long time […] Looking back, it didn’t just give me practical skills, it helped me build physical and mental skills like resilience, stamina and determination, which are vital for boat builders.’

Individualised mentorship will be a key part of her approach to the learning process. 

The course has, ‘A huge range of different ages, backgrounds, levels of experience and ambitions […] Some people arrive and simply fly,’ she explains. ‘Others, like me, need to develop their skills and confidence more slowly.’

‘I hope I can support each student on their journey so that like me they can be amazed by just how much they can reach their potential at the BBA.’

The BBA is preparing to purchase and improve on its building  in the new year. Photo: Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy.

Since graduating from the programme four years ago, Stokes has worked for Spirit Yachts, in Suffolk and on luxury yachts.

Most recently she was part of conservation efforts for Victory Live, the historic flagship of the Royal Navy, in Portsmouth.

Before becoming a boat builder, Stokes worked as a school teacher and for different environmental charities. She was already passionate about woodwork and the sea.

It was a walk along the Devon coast during the pandemic that ultimately prompted the career change.

‘Something just clicked,’ she says. ‘The bay was full of boats, and I knew I wanted to see boats that I’d built on the water.’

She signed up for the 40-week course, and the rest is history.

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