Mark Rolt

Mark Rolt, who is the director of the The Bristol Classic Boat Company, has been a shipwright in Bristol for over 20 years, after an apprenticeship on England's east coast and then working in America on the rebuild of the replica frigate HMS Rose.

He came to Bristol in 1986 to join the team rebuilding the classic Max Oertz  schooner.

then forming Storms'l Services with a group of shipwrights who had been working together on the Aello Beta.  Storms'l Services, amongst other things, completed a major refit of the Edwardian gentleman's yawl Voluta and the Summers and Payne designed 50' yawl Samphire.

They also completely rebuilt the Clyde cutter Tigris,an Alfred Milne design dating from 1896. The company then got absorbed into the building of a replica of the 15th century Matthew, the ship which sailed from Bristol in 1496 and discovered Newfoundland.

The Matthew was built on Redcliffe Wharf from the workshop here which Mark has been operating now for 8 years.  Numerous jobs have passed through here, including the rebuilding of two Fairey Huntsmen,
various yachts and major and minor refits on craft of all descriptions, including narrow boats. Mark was joined on several of these projects over the years by his brother Peter.

Peter Rolt

Peter Rolt has had a lifelong passion for wooden sailing boats.  For the last 20 years he has been either working on them, often with his brother Mark, or writing about them.  In 1989 he spent the winter in Norway, helping to remast, refit and repatriate the 100 year old Cornish-built trawler Silvery Light, when she was bought by a local school for 'socially challenged' boys. 

Peter then worked for SquareSail [www.square-sail.com] on various square-rigged ships in their fleet before working for Storms'l Services in Fort William on the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Alpha.  He was also one of the crew subsequently delivering her to Bristol. The next two years he worked for Tommi Nielsen & Co. in Gloucester.  Here he worked on numerous interesting wooden vessels, including the schooner Johanna Lucretia and the pilot cutters Mascotte and Jolie Brise.

Slava Sysenko

Slava Sysenko has been working with Mark for five years after sailing round the world with Tony Bullimore, whose catamaran Team Legato (ex-Enza, now Doha 2006) was rebuilt on Redcliffe Wharf next to Mark's boatyard. 

Slava, who is originally from Ukraine, has twice sailed round the world non-stop and raced in many world class events.  His experience of all types of boats is extensive and includes building his own 50' wooden yacht as well as managing the building of two composite round-the-world racing monohulls, 60' and 80' long.

Gary Grizzell

Gary Grizzell's introduction to the marine industry was through David Abels Boatbuilders in Bristol Docks, working on a variety of commercial fishing, passenger and tug vessels of all sizes.  Over seven years he gained a lot of experience of steel boat construction and fit out.  His passion for wood was kindled as he witnessed various wooden boats being built and repaired  around the docks and he was advised to enrol on the Traditional Boatbuilding Course at Falmouth Marine School.  Here he was part of a team constructing two Cornish luggers ('from lofting to launching' and on to sailing them) and building and restoring smaller wooden dinghies, including his own 1920s clinker dinghy.     

Returning to Bristol to work with Mark in 2006, Gary bought a larger (22') clinker yacht, which he is restoring.

Dom Sommers

At the age of 16 Dom Sommers became an apprentice on the building of the replica Matthew, which is where he first met Mark.
He followed this by going to the IBTC at Lowestoft to complete the Wooden Boat Building Course there. Dom then spent two years working in the yacht repair industry in
Bermuda where he managed to fit in a lot of sailing, which culminated in sailing from Bermuda to the UK via the Azores.

For the next couple of years, Dom spent some time in Australia building 45 foot sport fishing boats.  After returning to the UK, Dom headed up to Scotland and worked for Ullapool Boatbuilders, where he was involved in several classic yacht restoration projects. Dom then refined his cabinet making skills by making top end bespoke
wooden furniture for a firm in Bristol.  He then returned to the boat building industry via the Underfall Yard in Bristol Docks.
When Mark asked Dom if he would join him in building this 56' cutter.

Dom was delighted to accept the offer, especially as this boat is for the Island Trust, based in Salcombe, which is where Dom first learnt to sail.

Jono French

After graduating from the Wooden Boat Building Course at the IBTC in Lowestoft, Jono went on to work for Woodstock Boatbuilders in English Harbour, Antigua, undertaking repair and refit work on a wide variety of both classic and modern yachts and motorboats, ranging from 45’ to 280’. This then lead on to Newport, Rhode Island for the refit of an Abeking & Rasmussen 118’ German Frers designed aluminium sloop, which included fitting of a new teak laid deck.

On returning from the US, he then undertook a contract to restore and prepare an Italian businessman’s eclectic private collection of classic yachts and motorboats, for public display in Turin.

Once back in the UK, for the next couple of years Jono worked with a  Bristol based cabinetmaker, where he undertook a wide variety of bespoke commissions for local and international clients, to both traditional and contemporary designs.

It was during this temporary diversion from boatbuilding that Jono first came to know Mark, who kindly offered him the opportunity to “keep his hand in” from time to time.

Jono then got the opportunity to work for Gloucester Dock based Tommi Nielsen & Co., where he was fortunate to be involved in a number of interesting projects, including replacing the keel of the 1937 Danish Baltic Trader Queen Galadriel, as part of a major 9 month structural and interior refit. He also made various items of furniture for the Captain’s quarters of the HMS Gannet an 18thC frigate, and worked on various pilot cutters including Mascotte & Olga, as well as the keel-up rebuild of Hirta/Cornubia.

A couple of years ago Jono began working for The Timber Frame Company, based in Somerset, who are a leading specialist firm in the design, manufacture and erection of hand made “Post and Beam” timber frames, in English Oak and Douglas Fir. There he lead and coordinated projects from traditional hand scrub-planed Edwin Lutyens inspired designs, to contemporary Oak and stainless steel timber-engineered frames.

But once again he is now back in Bristol, and is thrilled to be working with Mark and the team on the build of the new pilot cutter.

Peter Higginson

Peter Higginson joined us in September - now known as ‘young Pete’ to Peter Rolt’s irritation! He has just finished the Traditional Boatbuilding course at Falmouth Marine School but was already skilled in many areas of woodworking.