Maine boatbuilding school changes its name

Atlantic Challenge, a school for traditional boatbuilding and seamanship in Rockland, Maine, is official renaming its organization The Apprenticeshop.

Building on its 38-year history of craftsmanship, community and traditions of the sea, the name change reflects a return to the organization's roots and a rededication to its core mission.

"Our shop and community sailing programs have provided the forum for students of all ages to develop the skills of boatbuilding and seamanship. While students learn through the experience of building and sailing boats, the school itself uses these means as an end to building character, self-reliance and instilling the value of community," executive director Eric Stockinger said in a statement.

"Our original identity, The Apprenticeshop, under which the school was launched in the early 1970s, most simply captures our core principles," he added. "It's important that the name of the school reflects what we offer: learning through practical experience and acquiring skills while in the field. In a word - apprenticing."

While the name of the school may be changing, the programs offered remain the same. The community sailing program, in its 13th season, is one of its most successful programs, and shop enrollment is full with 12 boat projects under way, Stockinger said.

Along with these core programs come a handful of new ones designed for adults. In July and August, three two-week workshops on traditional wooden boat construction will be offered; two separate weeklong "fantasy camps" for learning sailing techniques on a variety of traditional wooden craft are scheduled; and a one-week 'Introduction to Woodworking for Women' course is available in late August.