Dream bursary from Boat Building Academy is readying 17 year old student for a career at sea
by Debbie Granville 9 Nov 2023 10:16 PST
Ailin Brickhill at the world-renowned Boat Building Academy in Dorset © BBA
Seventeen-year-old Ailin Brickhill from St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly is pursuing his dream of becoming a marine engineer thanks to a bursary from the world-renowned Boat Building Academy (BBA) in Dorset.
Former Five Islands Academy pupil Ailin has joined the BBA's prestigious 40-week Boat Building course in Lyme Regis, which has long been seen as the formative stepping stone into the highly-skilled world of boat building.
Ailin is learning skills such as lofting, traditional, modern and fibre reinforced plastic boat building, as well as spar, oar and sail making and more. He will leave with a wide skill pool and a City & Guilds 2463 Level 3 Diploma in Marine Construction, Systems Engineering and Maintenance (the technical certificate of an apprenticeship).
BBA graduates have gone on to work for industry leaders and prestigious yards in the UK and beyond, including Spirit Yachts, Elephant Boatyard, Cockwells, Sunseeker, T. Nielsen and Co, Princess, Pendennis and Douglas Marine. Whilst some have chosen to set up businesses of their own. Others have utilised the transferrable skills of the course to embark on careers in woodworking and furniture making.
Ailin says that being given the opportunity to study at the BBA still hasn't fully sunk in:
"My family said they would be able to help support me if applied, but it all hung on getting a bursary. So, when we learned I'd been successful we were all absolutely stunned," he said.
"The sea has been a huge part of my life since I was very young. I was born on The Lizard and moved to St Mary's at the age of nine. I had started sailing with my dad when I was three on a sailing boat he built called Nanku, which he named after my early attempts to say thank-you.
"I've raced boats and we also sailed to France twice in an engineless 46ft 1911 Looe Lugger.
"Even so, leaving Scilly and coming to Dorset on my own has been a bit of nerve-wracking. I was a bit homesick to start with, but I've settled in, everyone is very welcoming and friendly and they have kind of adopted me!
"There are a few younger people who are training for a career like me and one of the guys comes from Bermuda and we've been going to the skatepark in Lyme in our time off. Lyme itself is really nice and the cliffs here are amazing.
"It's a pretty intensive course, starting with making our own toolbox, and then you're straight into it. But I just feel really lucky to be here."
Ailin and the other students on the 40-week course are building five commissioned boats, which will be led from the academy and launched into Lyme harbour on the evening of June 4, 2024.
Ailin said: "I hope to get an apprenticeship off the back of this course. Ideally at somewhere like Cockwells boat yard in Falmouth.
"People who have passed this course have gone on to some of the top boat yards in the country, which is quite a pressure, so I need to prove myself too.
"It's fast-paced, with no time to slack-off and the days go so quickly. But I knew it would be full-on and I'm committed. A lot of people are supporting me in this.
"I want to make the most of this experience and hopefully it will get me closer to a career on the water."
The BBA offers bursaries covering up to 50 per cent of course fees, with up to 100 per cent covered where the need is greater.
BBA Director Will Reed said: "Although some students receive grants from the likes of City & Guilds, most rely on their savings, and for some people including Ailin, taking this course would be an unattainable dream without a bursary.
"We work hard to raise funds to support people like Ailin who are so deserving of a step up. Without this assistance it would be very difficult for him to access such high-quality intensive training."
For more information on courses and bursaries available at the BBA, requirements and deadlines for applications visit: boatbuildingacademy.com