Our family first contacted Will at William Howard Boats in 2018 for a consultation on restoring a 1960’s Edwin Phelps single scull. Will was really helpful in providing advice on how to restore it. In 2025, 7 years later, after we had worked out the full history of the single scull we asked Will to fully restore it to showroom condition for display purposes. He provided us with different budget options and we agreed to a restoration project which involved:

• scraping and sanding outside using paint stripper very carefully, sanding old varnish off, bleaching plywood.
• Cockpit area scrape back. Epoxy split on centre line of hull.
• Deck canvas removal and renewal including machining up beading around sheer and varnishing new bead .
• Varnishing inside and outside cockpit .
• Restoring the riggers and shoe holders
• Replacing combing and sax board on starboard side in Brazilian Cedar to match.

“We enjoyed working with Will – he is professional, thoughtful and extremely knowledgeable . He regularly kept us in touch with progress via photos and reviews and gave us time to make decisions during the restoration work, as necessary. We are very happy with the restored scull and pleased that it will be exhibited as part of the history of one of the leading London rowing clubs. We highly recommend William Howard Boats.”

The Phelps family