When New Zealand made its America’s Cup debut in 1987 it eschewed traditional wood or aluminium for a fibreglass yacht, soon nicknamed the "Plastic Fantastic".
Nearly 30 years on, the mulit-million pound world of super yacht construction is dominated by carbon fibre, but at the, relatively, more modest end of the market, timber remains popular. And regardless of hull construction, boats will often feature a wooden deck, and timber joinery in the cabin interior gives a touch of class and tradition.
For Robbins Timber, which has its roots in the Bristol Docks going back to 1750, the boatbuilding sector is an key niche.
It accounts for around £1.25m in sales and Robbins has a dedicated marine sales team and its own range of branded marine plywoods. It also stocks ancillary products such as stainless steel and silicon bronze fastenings, caulking, adhesives and resins. Managing director Richard Bagnall said the company was well-known for its knowledge of this specialist area.
"Our other advantage is that we do a lot of machining, so can pre-machine components such as gunwales and mast sections," he said.
As well as the Robbins branded marine plywood, the company’s boat building range includes sheet materials for interiors, and durable hardwoods such as oak, teak and mahogany for exterior use.
"We also carry more specialist grades of Douglas fir, and Sitka spruce, which is very good for masts as it’s lightweight and a very clean timber," said Mr Bagnall.
For Swallow Boats, based in Cardigan, which makes traditional-style boats using modern techniques, timber remains an important part of the process.
Around 80% of its boats are glass fibre (GRP), but the remainder is timber and all have wooden gunwales.
"Wood adds to the appeal," said director Matt Newland. "It’s always the part that people stroke at boat shows."
Swallow’s wooden boats are made in plywood due to its strength-to-weight ratio. It also allows designs to be customised.
"GRP boats come out of moulds, so once you’ve make the mould, everything comes out identical. If a customer wants something a bit longer or shorter, it’s hard work," said Mr Newland. "And the mould typically costs twice as much as the boat so it’s a big investment. We often develop boats in wood and, if they sell, then we’re pretty confident we can sell them in glass fibre and it gives us confidence to invest in a new mould."
Despite the cost of the mould for a GRP boat, the price tag of a wooden boat is 20- 30% higher because of the labour involved in ensuring the timber has a perfect finish.
Wooden boats, said Mr Newland, are "lovely to build", but traditionally have not been considered so lovely due to the maintenance, with interiors full of ribs, frames and stringers, which catch leaves and dirt and can act as a rot point.
However, Mr Newland thinks this high-maintenance image is now changing thanks to modern construction methods.
Truly traditional methods use nails and rivets, and no glue, and once the boat is in the water the planks expand to close gaps.
Modern methods, however, also bring in latest glues and glass fibre sheathing or epoxy resins to keep timber dry.
Timber has also never lost its popularity for boat interiors.
"In our market, people would expect to see wood in the cabin," said Mr Newland.
"We put a lot of effort into the joinery; it’s a feature of the boat."
Swallow Boats favours American white oak because of its consistent appearance, and western red cedar is used for its "lovely smell". Its durability also makes it suitable for inaccessible places.
Utile and UK sweet chestnut are often used on the exterior, and teak is the traditional timber for decks, although Mr Newland said customers also ask for "synthetic teak", manmade finishes that do a good job of imitating the real thing.
For Barry Lovell of TLC Boat Repairs in Glan Conwy, teak remains first choice for decks.
"If you have a Rolls Royce you’re not going to stick a bit of plastic on the dashboard; you’ve got to go for walnut. If you’re restoring a boat and the rest is teak, you have to use teak," he said.
Many decks he replaces are 30-40 years old and he expects the replacement to last as long.
"They need to be fitted well, so water doesn’t get under them, and cleaned regularly, especially if you have ropes on deck which will hold water and encourage algae," said Mr Lovell.
When repairing boat structures, he uses a full menu of hard-wearing timbers, including mahogany, oak and ash, and pitch pine, larch and marine plywood for the exterior.
A few years ago, Berthon Boats managing director Brian May bought a boat designed and built by his grandfather in 1925 to ensure the company’s apprentices learned the skills of working on a wooden boat.
The apprentices are rebuilding the Ripple, a 33ft West Solent One racing yacht, replacing the original frame with laminated iroko.
"Rather than bending or growing a piece of oak to the hull’s shape, they’re cutting iroko into strips and gluing them round the frame," said marketing manager Chris Whatley.
Although synthetic materials are widely used in boat building, woodworking skills remain important and in its Lymington workshops Berthon has an entire floor devoted to woodworking. It is here that the company carries out teak deck repairs – three large contracts in the past six months and two more in the pipeline.
