Cornubia (1911)

Cornubia in the Antigua Classics Regatta 2025

Cornubia is a stunning example of one of the original “Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters”. Built in 1911 at J Slades & Sons, Polruan, Cornwall. She sailed was operated out of Barry on the north side of the Bristol channel as “Barry Pilot 25” until 1920.

During the Saturday race of the 2025 Antigua Classics Regatta, the 114 year old pilot cutter broke the pivot on the gaff saddle causing the yard to become detached. Fortunately the wind was un-customly light and the sprightly and alert crew noticed before any further damage was caused.

With a race the next morning, Cornubia’s hopes to stay on the podium diminished. In conversation with their neighbor, the equally illustrious “Ticondaroga” suggested they call us.

Within 30 mins we had our fabrication shop open and the yard and saddle back to the shop. Within another hour we had fixed the assembly and substantially beefed up the connection. It was back on the charming cutter by dusk and she was back out racing in the morning.

The owner of Cornubia noted “We called their emergency number at 3pm on a Saturday. They opened up the workshop for us, collected the gaff, fixed it, and returned it within a couple of hours. Quality repair with a smile at a reasonable cost.”

Baton Rouge

The 205ft yacht “Baton Rouge” built by Icon Yachts, and designed by Tim Heywood and Redman Whiteley Dixon, is a repeat customer of Woodstock.

Because of this, when Baton Rouge required some fine parquet curved faces of the bar on the sky deck to be repaired there, was only one company to call.

Baton Rouge has traveled worldwide through various climates and weather conditions, and the persistent moisture from the refrigeration units caused the edges around the grilles to gradually darken and soften over an extended period. Because the wood was originally purchased many years ago from a distant plantation, finding new matching wood was unfortunately not an option. To address this, we decided to carefully remove the damaged sections, reinforce and cover the end grain with teak, and craft completely new custom grilles recessed into the parquet fronts. Our experienced in-house team meticulously designed the grilles using CAD software, and we used Creative Waterjet Corp to precisely cut each piece before delivering them back for final fitting and installation.

Through every stage—from careful material selection to precision cutting and expert fitting—the repair upheld the highest standards of craftsmanship, ensuring that Baton Rouge's elegance remains uncompromised.

Bequia

Bequia, built by our friends at the famous Brooklyn Boatyard in Maine, succumbed to the infamous St Barths surge so much that one of her aft cleats lifted from the deck, and pulled it into the fairlead causing damage to the bulwark and cap rail.

In consultation with Brooklyn Boatyard and Stephen Waring Design a plan was made to not only rebuild the bulwark but strengthen it as well.

This was done with a new bulwark section made of opposing scarfs (inside and out) making the repair immovable from either direction. These scarfs were then further reinforced by feathered G-10 plates on either side. The whole lot was bolted from the top to ensure this part of the bulwark is significantly stronger than originally built. The new section of cap rail was then fastened on top of this and varnished. Hopefully Bequia’s bulwark will never again succumb to “the surge”.