C.J.H. Yachts Directors Profile

UK born Shipwright , Chris Headley has been fortunate enough to have been able to blend his true passion with his career in the world of Boat Building.

Growing up North of London his childhood was dominated by family sailing trips with 'sailing bug' going back several generations.  

Memories of building boats in his loungeroom at the age of 14yrs old with his Father tell for funny stories to tell his own children. And were not talking about model boats, full size fibregalss catamaran's.

At sixteen he moved South to Portsmouth where he passed his 4 year Apprenticeship at the very well known, Westerly Yachts with flying colours!

By the time Chris reached his 22nd birthday he was ready to move from Portsmith to The South of France and get a taste of the World of The 'White Boats' that he had been hearing about.
In no time Chris's reputation as a talented, humble and efficient Tradesman got around and he had more work than could have asked for.
This constant flow of business and the satisfaction of working on such amazing and prestigeous vessels kept Chris there for 8 years.

In 1997 Chris moved to Australia with his Austrailan Fiance Juliet. Landing in Sydney his first taste of Boat Building in Australia was in Nowra at Bashfords (aka as Sydney Yachts).
Taking a working holiday up the East coast doing stints at Lloyds in Brisbane and and the landing an exciting gig finishing the build on the well known Game Fishing boat 'Reel Chase' in Townsville.

Settling in Cairns, CJH yachts has now been successfully operating since 1999. Chris still enjoys the variety  that Boat Building brings with repairs to Old Traditional boats and the constant learning process of keeping up with the times and technologies of working with composite materials and the creation of fine and precise cabinetary work and the laying of Teak decks.

All of these qualities were all rolled into a huge 3 year project of designing and building the brand new CJH 26' Sportsfisher launched in October 2009. Chris's creation has turned many heads and has placed him as a  well respected Shipwright and designer. There are many more idea's from where they came from and no doubt there will a fleet of other designs hitting the market after Chris has fine tuned them to perfection as well.
In the meantime all the staff and subcontractors are busy doing the important job of keeping all our local and visiting boats in top nick!

Passing on his unique trade, Chris's first apprentice, David Blank has completed his apprenticeship and has been with us for 4 1/2 years. Jay Prentice is now into his 3rd year.

Always keeping an eye out for more young and inspired youngsters who also have a passion for the trade and industry.