The museum’s 30th season has officially been launched by local yachting royalty. Double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson DL OBE and former America’s Cup training skipper Harold Cudmore were the guests of honour at the launch event, with around 150 people present. 2026 is set to be a big year for the museum, which is now on one site in the Medina Village having previously been in Cowes and East Cowes. Chairman Michael Loftus told the gathering of the trustees’ desire t

Coweslip, built by the legendary Uffa Fox arrived in the museum on May 5th in readiness for our Grand Opening. She was gifted to Prince Philip and the then Princess Elizabeth by the town of Cowes as a wedding present in 1947.

Families from across the Isle of Wight had the chance to enjoy some Easter fun as well as discovering its maritime heritage over the holiday period. The museum has now consolidated its array of historic boats and other artefacts under one roof in the Medina Village and opened up for an Easter Egg-stravaganza ahead of its main season. Entrance to the museum, complete with an Easter egg competition for kids, was free. We were delighted to welcome 300 visitors over the Easter We

For the first time since our move across the river, the brand-new education room welcomed its first visitors on May 13th - Year 2 children from Gatton and Lake Primary School. They had presentation on the Titanic, which led to a workshop on boat design and an investigation into some of the artefacts that had been on board at the time of her sinking. The students were also able to examine contemporary newspaper and magazine reports covering the tragedy itself. They explored th

Work is well underway in preparation for our Easter opening at the Classic Boat Museum in West Cowes. Following the closure of the East Cowes Gallery in the Autumn our team of volunteers have moved many of our cabinets and artifacts into the main Classic Boat Museum building in West Cowes. This will create a great visitor experience combining our collection of boats with displays reflecting the boat building and maritime history of the Isle of Wight and Solent. We will open a

Victoria and Chris Preston were guests at the Boat Building Academy for the launch of 4 boats, designed and built by students over an 18 week period. Skills they learn here are directly applicable to professional wooden boat restoration. Since the closure of the International Boat Building Training Colleges in Portsmouth in 2023 and Lowestoft in 2024, the BBA in Lyme Regis is the only remaining traditional wooden boat building training establishment in England. In Scotland, t

Victoria gave an illustrated talk on September 18th to a packed audience at an event hosted by the Cowes RNLI Guild.

The Worshipful Company of Fuellers visited the Boat Shed on September 13th 2025, where they were hosted by Chris and Victoria Preston and...

In September 2025, the museum enjoyed a visit from Cat Dixon, the new CEO of UKSA, pictured here in a training session with Chris...