About Us

The early years of the company were build around yacht and motorboat deliveries around the British Isles. Also, small yacht and motorboat repairs undertaken by Simon. While the yacht and motorboat deliveries were done by Simon's Parents. 

Simon left School at 16 and having a love of boats and now living in Norfolk started his apprenticeship at a Small family run boatyard on the Norfolk Boards in a village called Potter Heigham. The company was called Maycraft Boat Services Ltd. His apprenticeship lasted five years  and during this time he learn all aspects of  wooden boat building and its associated trades, such as Mast, Spar and Oar Making, Marine Engineering which included installation and servicing of a vast number of different types of marine engines. Also during this time Simon was able to continue love of sailing at the weekends. 

After completing his apprenticeship Simon decided it was time to spread his wings and move to a larger boatyard to learn more about modern materials used in boat construction and then moved to Hardy Marine at North Walsham.    

Now having moved to Hardy Marine from Maycraft Boat Services. Simon was able to gain increase knowledge of how modern boats and yachts were build on a more production line method of construction. It was during Simon time there that Simon was put in charge of the new apprentice boat builders and train them in the construction of the boats that Hardy Marine were building at the time. Simon also was given  the opportunity to be the person put in charge of building the first production models of new boats being build during his time at Hardy Marine. 

At this time I was head hunted by the then Managing  Director of Fox's Marina Ltd to move to the boatyard to be part of their team. This gave Simon the opportunity to work on larger ocean going vessels and gain more experience on a number of larger yachts and motorboats and take part in a number of yacht and motorboat deliveries around the British Isles  and to the Mediterranean. Before taking  the skippering position Simon had already got his RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Ocean Qualifications so that the owner of the Oyster knew that Simon was qualified to look after his  50 ft Oyster which he skippered for Three years for its owner.  

At this time Simon's Parents wish to take more time to do other pursuits and at this time then took over the day to day running of the business  and now runs the business with the help of his wife and Son.  

Simon has been sailing from the age of four when his father put him in paddle boat in Felixstowe. After this time  Simon attended Sailing Clubs in his local area in West Yorkshire were he was born and spent the first 16 years of his life before moving to Norfolk to start a life as a boat builder. So after gaining dinghy sailing qualifications , His aim was to learn more about yacht racing, this he gained during the weekends racing of the boatyard clients and friends yachts. This was on the Norfolk Boards. When Simon moved to Suffolk to work at Fox's Marina, he took part in a completion to find crews for at the time, British Admiral Cup and America Cup  yachts. and other major yachting regattas. Having both my RYA Yachtmaster Offshore and Ocean  Qualifications is was an advantage to do other sailing jobs.  

By the time of the middle of the 1990's Simon parents had retired and at this time Simon started to run the business full time and decide it was time to branch out into more boat building work and less delivery work. Only doing deliveries when there was a quiet time in the boat building part of the business. 

At this Simon turned the business into a more mobile business and working around the country wherever the work was an have a boatyard. This worked well. Getting jobs from Scotland to the south West to Kent to the Midlands.  

After a number of years travelling around the country. The opportunity to get a small unit on an industrial estate. I decided it was time to have an home base and work out of one place and get the clients come to me. However, I still have a mobile arm to the business and when the need arises I still travel to the client.    

A pilgrimage back to where it all started for me in Norfolk

This last few days my wife Tricia and I have spend going back to the places where I and my family when on holiday to Norfolk back in 1973 through to 1976. This is a picture of Thurne Mill on the banks of the river Thurne 3.5 miles south of Potter Heigham where I first started boatbuilding career in Norfolk.

The caravan site from where this photo was taken I have not been back to for almost 50 years, The caravan site as not changed in all that time and the memories came flooding back of the happy days we spend on the Norfolk Broads as a family.

In May 1977 after leaving school in Yorkshire I moved down to Norfolk to a village called Potter Heigham to start my boat building career at Maycraft Boat Services on the Riverside down stream from the famous or as some people called infamous bridge.

As part of my apprenticeship I learnt to build the famous crab boats that sailed off the beaches along the North Norfolk coast from Hunstanton in the west to Seal Palling in the east and from all the beaches in-between.

While at Maycraft under the watchful eye of Billy May I learnt to repair and help build the Norfolk crab boats which Maycraft had build over the years.

The plaque beside the crab boat says that it was build in 1961 the same year I was born.