• Stephen combines traditional boat building skills with contemporary tools
• His race boat won the Spitfire Premium Ale Concours d’Élégance trophy in 2010
• He works with the world’s finest single-location boat collection

Stephen Beresford is a boat builder and conservator who leads the restoration of 50 historic boats dating from 1780 to 1983 at the Windermere Jetty Museum. “I have been a passionate maker since childhood. I crafted everything, from junk models and Lego creations to woodworking projects, motorbikes and cars,” he says. After 20 years as a mechanical engineer in the food, chemical and nuclear industries, Stephen was inspired by the craftsmanship of wooden boats at the former Windermere Steamboat Museum in England’s Lake District. In his early forties, he retrained in traditional wooden boat building and exhibited his first racing boat at the RYA Volvo Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace and won the Spitfire Premium Ale Concours d’Élégance in 2010. Stephen also founded the Good Wood Boat Company in 2008, where he still makes racing dinghies and other wooden vessels on commission.