John England

John England

- E.B. White

Lucky John England. The former master shipwright at Rockport Marine, in Rockport, Maine, England has probably never worked on an ugly boat. The Maryland native saw his path at a young age and attended North Carolina State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in wood science and technology. After graduation, England worked in the furniture business, managing factories for about 5 years.

In 1976 he began his career as a boatbuilder at Lee’s Boat Shop in Rockland, Maine. His first build was the Bruce King-designed Whitehawk. England moved between Maine, North Carolina and Virginia for several decades, building boats and teaching boatbuilding. From 1996 to 2017, he was at Rockport Marine, where he was project manager for the restoration of Bolero (the legendary Sparkman & Stephens racing yawl) and led the construction of Godspeed (a replica of one of a three-boat flotilla that came from England to America in 1607), Louise (a Buzzards Bay 25), Cadenza (a Rozinante), the W-class yachts and Dream (a 36-foot lobster yacht), among others. When he is not building boats, England enjoys delivering them and has also participated in classicyacht regattas around the world.

First memory of being on a boat: In 1952 my dad had a Chapelle-designed skipjack built in Shadyside, Maryland. Exciting delivery to Breezy Point, Maryland. Many great sailing, fishing and crabbing memories followed.