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While IYRS is in the business of restoring watercraft of the past and preserving a tradition of fine craftsmanship, the school is also training the boat builders of tomorrow. |
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If you walk down Thames Street and turn into the campus of the International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS), you will enter a place that transports you to another era. A great deal of industry goes on at the IYRS campus, but when you walk into Restoration Hall, you won’t smell toxic chemicals or resins. You’ll smell cedar shavings and see shipwrights-in-training learning their craft as they restore wooden boats by hand—the same way these watercraft were originally built decades ago, in coastal regions where boatbuilding was a way of life. Located at 449 Thames Street on a 2.5-acre waterfront campus, IYRS is a vocational school and center for maritime restoration that offers part-time courses and a two-year, full-time program. Students learn the art and science of restoring classic yachts—and a certain kind of magic happens here. Classic wooden boats that are broken and neglected enter the students’ workshop. Months later, they emerge with gleaming brightwork and fair hulls, ready to set sail. The campus is open year-round to visitors. In the late fall, you will see the start of the first-year student projects. A fleet of Beetle Cats, 12-foot wooden sailboats originally designed in 1921, are brought into the shop each autumn. While the seasons cycle from fall to spring, students transform the Beetle Cats. By late spring, the sailboats are restored, painted bright colors, and relaunched on graduation day. During a visit to IYRS, you can also see the restoration of the 1885 schooner yacht Coronet, the school’s most ambitious project to date. Launched during the Gilded Age as a private yacht for American industrialist Rufus T. Bush, the 133’ Coronet is the last grand yacht of her size and originality to survive to the present day. Coronet embodies the luxury living of the Gilded Age (with appointments such as carved mahogany staterooms and stained glass) and the romance of voyaging to faraway places. She completed two circumnavigations, a victory in the 1887 trans-Atlantic race, a passage to Japan as a scientific research vessel, and 90 years sailing for The Kingdom, a non-denominational Christian organization who used Coronet for evangelical forays around the world. The school is targeting to complete the Coronet restoration in 2009. |
Reverent of the Past, Relevant to the Present While IYRS is in the business of restoring watercraft of the past and preserving a tradition of fine craftsmanship, the school is also training the boat builders of tomorrow. In fall 2004, the largest-ever class of first year students enrolled at IYRS. That fall, IYRS also launched an expanded part-time program of Continuing Education courses. The new Continuing Education program has opened
opportunities for boatyard workers to study part-time at the school.
The part-time program also puts an equal focus on courses for classic
yacht enthusiasts. Classes are offered on a wide range of topics—from
woodworking and traditional boat-building skills, to the installation
and maintenance of onboard systems, to courses on sailing and navigation. Stay Connected… After
your visit to IYRS, you can stay in touch by becoming a member
and receiving Restoration Quarterly, a publication that focuses on
school projects and maritime restoration. You can also join the Coronet
Society and help bring this historic yacht back to her original splendor.
IYRS also runs a Tuesday night Dinner-and-a-Lecture program and evening
and weekend courses for classic yacht enthusiasts. To learn more,
visit © 2005 Newport Harbor Guide. All rights reserved. |