From The Garage to the Water: BYRA's Youth Timber Boat Building Programme
Ian Ward has been one of the most popular contributors to SWS over the years. His series of articles on the work of yacht designer Wally Ward, created interest worldwide and are still being commented on as they are discovered by a particular niche of wooden boat aficionados.
So we were delighted to receive an email from him a couple of weeks ago outlining a new program run by the Bayview Yacht Racing Association, of which Ian is the Commodore.
Part of his email included a letter from non other than Glen Ashby, Australia’s three time America’s Cup winner.
I just wanted to reach out to you and the club to pass on my best and congratulations to those kids and families who have just completed the builds of their Northbridge juniors.
They are fantastic little boats and I hope they enjoy sailing them as much as I did, and relish in their achievements of building and launching a boat.
I started my sailing journey at age 7 in a NBJ and actually have my original boat in my garage still after my Mum and Dad found it again by chance on a property in central Victoria. I saved all my own money and paid $150 in 1985 and again also in 2015…. I still take it for a sail from time to time believe it or not…
Black Bart is now just over 50 years old.
The advantage of not having to bail water out on the windy days and being able to plane off the wind and sail with friends at the club that are still my life long mates have been a highlight. They are great little boats that teach you the fundamentals of high performance sailing.
Please pass on my best wishes and congratulations to the club and all those involved.
You never know where a Northbridge Junior can take you!
Best Regards Glenn Ashby
The program he mentions ticks all the boxes that we here at SWS consider important in the current sailing world…. things like authenticity, adventure, craft and inclusion!
At first glance what’s happening on the shores of Pittwater it seems delightfully old-school. At the Bayview Yacht Racing Association's clubhouse, a group of kids — most of them not sailors when they started — are building their own boats from scratch. Not model boats. Actual, sail-away Northbridge Juniors that they'll launch and race once the sawdust settles.
The Idea behind it
The program is the brainchild of Paul Chudleigh, BYRA's Treasurer and a self-described timber boat enthusiast. His pitch is a bit of a throwback: plenty of people who grew up sailing in the 1960s and 70s got their start building timber boats in the family garage, which made the sport affordable to get into. That pathway has mostly disappeared, replaced by ready-to-sail fibreglass boats you just buy off a dealer's floor. Chudleigh's view is that this shuts a lot of people out — not everyone comes from a sailing family, and not every family has room at home to build a boat. So BYRA decided to bring the garage into the clubhouse.
The result is a genuine come-one-come-all setup: it's explicitly built as an entry point for kids who've never sailed before, and — refreshingly — there's no programme fee at all. That's no small thing for a hobby that can otherwise feel like a rich-kid sport. It's only running for the first time this year, but the club's already planning to make it a regular fixture, especially since interest has been strong from the get-go.
How the sausage (boat) gets made
None of this happens by accident. BYRA has a boat builder among its members, plus someone who can CNC-cut the timber panels — which takes a huge amount of the guesswork out of getting started. Add sponsors and grant funding into the mix to keep materials affordable, and you've got a genuinely sustainable little program rather than a one-off feel-good stunt.
The crew isn't just building one or two boats — they're working on nine brand-new Northbridge Juniors, alongside restoring three older boats the club has picked up along the way. Supervising boat builder Shane Greaves has been overseeing the young builders, guiding them through the process step by step
Want to help?
The club's putting out a bit of a call for gear donations — old-style Laser vang systems, for instance, would apparently suit the Northbridge Juniors perfectly. So if you've got one gathering dust in a garage somewhere, this might be its second act. Anyone interested in helping with fittings, equipment, or just learning more can reach out through BYRA directly, or look for the program's "Expression of Interest" page on the club's website.
It's a nice reminder that sailing doesn't have to start with buying a boat — sometimes it starts with building one, sanding your own splinters out along the way.
And if you need more proof of the value of this initiative look no further than this letter recieved from non other than
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