Hand selected sawn timber for boat building – quality control begins at source

High quality sawn timber to meet our exacting requirements and those of other boatbuilders

When using wood as a raw material, a great deal of care, attention and understanding is required in order to get the most out of it.

The brilliance in a boat from the Cockwells yard starts way before the first saw is applied. It's in the selection, handling and cutting of the best quality timber available.

Dave Cockwell personally sources all the timbers used in the yard. He sources wood in Cornwall but travels as far afield as the Scottish Borders to find the best specimens to build Cockwells yachts. Timber is selected "in the round" and trees are transported to our farm in Cornwall where they are seasoned until ready for use.

Scottish boatskin larch and English oak bends and butts are stored ready for selection for planking, keels and frames.

This old-fashioned but time-tested approach not only enables us to guarantee the quality of our raw materials but also allows us to select and work with the perfect timbers for the job ensuring that our wooden boats will last for generations.

Historically boatbuilders would always store and saw the wood they required on site. This meant that timber would be kept in the round until required and then the ideal timber with the correct grain for the job would be selected and sawn to size. The natural grain of the wood matched the contour of the vessel.

Cockwells is proud to keep this tradition alive and Cockwells has a highly capable Forrester 150 sawmill, obtained with the kind support of Working Woodlands, which is capable of cutting 1.5-metre diameter lumber with a standard length of up to 15 metres.

Cockwells is also pleased to supply high quality marine timber to other boatbuilders and amateurs alike no matter where they are.