Global brand, Cornish creek: Cockwells Modern & Classic Boatbuilding celebrates 20 years of
building beautiful bespoke boats.
By Jilly Easterby
Nestling beside the tranquil banks of Mylor Creek in West
Cornwall is the bustling hub of a Cornish boatbuilding
business that is making waves across the globe.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Cockwells Modern & Classic
Boatbuilding is flying high. Its custom-built superyacht
tenders, Duchy Motor Launches and sailing yachts turn heads
from Norway to New England. A £1m refurbishment of its
Mylor Creek Boatyard reflects its burgeoning order book and
reputation. Its recent win of a much-coveted Neptune at the
prestigious international 2017 ShowBoats Design Awards has
resulted in a recruitment drive for more artisan shipwrights
and other skilled craftsmen to fulfil demand.
It is these artisan shipwrights and skilled craftsmen combined
with innovative designers, ingenious engineers and the
entrepreneurial tour de force that is Founder and Managing
Director, Dave Cockwell that sets this company apart.
Stints as a deckhand and freelance shipwright fuelled his
passion for boatbuilding, which led to his involvement in the
restoration of the historic Underfall yard in Bristol and the
founding of Cockwells boatyard there in 1996, but it is the
importance of designing to the client’s precise requirements
and the company’s exacting standards in uncompromising
detail that underpins and sustains the upward trajectory of
this pioneering Cornish brand.
“Twenty years ago, when the industry was all about building
as many boats as possible for the cheapest possible price, I
decided that building great boats that were loved by their
owners would be my aim. My thinking hasn’t changed in that
respect. What propels me is to produce the best boats I can
for the nicest people I can find in the most beautiful place in
the world.”
68 | The Gentleman Magazine
The best boat can mean everything from a replica of an
historic pilot cutter with a luxury interior hewn from English
oak to a sleek James Bond-esque tender crafted from carbon
and titanium that is infused with innovation at every turn.
“We are equally comfortable utilising seasoned timber and the
time-honoured skills of the shipwright as we are with touch
screen glass, sophisticated navigation systems and challenging
feats of 21st century engineering,” adds Dave. “Our craftsmen
are experts in traditional and contemporary techniques, and
few boatyards can deliver that. Our automated CNC machine
might execute one task with perfect precision but a carpenter
with a chisel might be better for another – it’s about knowing
how to use both and what does the job best; about ingenuity
and experience.”