You Can Be Anything › All careers › Trades & Skilled Labor
Shipwright / Boat Builder
Constructs and repairs boats and ships — from wooden sailing vessels to modern yachts.
Did you know?
Viking longships were so well-built that some have survived over 1,000 years in burial mounds
How subjects help
- Mathematics: Scale up measurements from small plans to full size to shape the curves of a hull.
- Physics: Understand buoyancy and balance so a boat floats upright and stays steady in waves.
- Art & Design: Carve and smooth a hull shape that looks graceful and slips cleanly through water.
- Engineering: Fit engines, rudders and masts so every part works together at sea.
A famous name
Donald McKay: Trained as a shipwright, then built famous fast clipper ships like the Flying Cloud (1851).
Try it yourself: Build a foil boat that carries coins
- Tear off a square of foil about the size of your hand.
- Fold it into a boat shape: flat-bottomed, pointed like a canoe, or tall-sided.
- Float it and add coins one at a time, spreading them out, until it sinks. Count how many it held.
- Flatten a new piece, change the shape, and see if you can beat your record. Wipe up splashes and wash your hands after handling the coins.
Marine engineers work out how a hull's shape and size let a ship float while carrying thousands of tonnes of cargo without tipping over.
Adapted from DiscoverE: Foil Boats.
Also try: Make a window like stained glass.
Known for it in
Norway, Netherlands, Italy, UK, Australia