Keeping the Faith
The International Yacht Restoration School preserves ancient skills and teaches new ones as it maintains Newport’s rich maritime traditions.
By Dennis Caprio
Stepping into the buzz of Restoration Hall transports visitors to the so-called Golden Age of yachting. The sweet scent of northern white cedar mingles with the spicier aromas of mahogany and teak. Vapor rises from the steam boxes in which white oak ribs assume the pliancy needed by first-year students at the International Yacht Restoration School to bend them into the hull of a Beetle Cat.
Keeping the Faith, by Dennis Caprio (continued)
Restoration Hall is an 18,000-square-foot waterfront building that began life in 1903 as an electric-generating plant for the city of Newport, Rhode Island. The International Yacht Restoration School, founded in 1993, restored the brick building in 1995, and since then it has been the school’s main teaching facility. Completely refitted as an open-space shop, it welcomed the first students—the class of 1998—to its Boatbuilding and Restoration program in 1996. An elevated catwalk allows faculty, family, and visitors to observe the students hard at work on a variety of projects.
The Aquidneck Mill Building occupies the northern end of the campus. Built in 1831 of granite blocks, it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2008, IYRS refurbished this imposing structure to house its administrative offices. After the school acquired the Museum of Yachting, those offices and the library moved to the Newport campus.
Keeping the Faith, by Dennis Caprio (continued)
A stroll around the campus reveals (literally!) stacks of Beetle Cats awaiting new life. You also may bump into a Luders 16 straining its weakening planks on a set of poppet stands; a 1920s motor launch nestled snug in its cradle; or maybe a flush-deck hunting cabin launch perched on wooden blocks. Many of these boats appear way beyond resurrection, but the enthusiastic students and their instructors generally prevail.
You’ll see the results of their magical touch lining the docks out back, especially at graduation, when fully restored Beetle Cats and other boats are displayed during and after the ceremony. All of the Beetles and many of the other refurbished boats are for sale.
