Winners announced for the 37th Annual Georgetown Wooden Boat Show

Downtown Georgetown hosted the 37th Annual Wooden Boat Show over the weekend, celebrating maritime craft, community spirit, and classic craftsmanship along Front Street and the waterfront. Organizers with the South Carolina Maritime Museum released the full lineup of competition winners and category honorees following two days of displays and events.

Boat Building Challenge

The popular Wooden Boat Building Challenge put skilled teams to the test as they constructed wooden craft within tight timeframes.

1st Place: Clayton Colleran & Chris Barber (Bluffton, SC)
2nd Place : Rigel Jessen & Joseph Hartnett (McClellanville, SC)
3rd Place: Bryce Becker (Havelock, NC) & Brian Becker (Gloucester, NC)

Corrugated/Cardboard Challenge

Creativity and buoyance took center stage in the Cardboard Boat Challenge:

• Titanic Award: “Cast Iron” by Boy Scouts of America, Troop 300

• Pride of Fleet: “TGS Wave” by The Georgetown School of Arts & Sciences

• GOAT Award: “Spot Tail” by USC Baruch Institute / North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR

• Honorable Mention (Dry Boat Award): “God Save Us” by Georgetown High ROTC

Boat Exhibitor Category Winners

Watercraft across a wide array of categories were recognized for restoration, design, and preservation excellence:

Row – #1 John Martin/John Martin Boats, Cottageville, SC
for Echo, a 17-foot Whitehall Pulling Boat built in 2002 and restored in 2021

Canoe – #103 Doug Roberts, Moundsville WV
for Nicky B., a 12-foot skin on frame canoe built in 2012 by Doug and his family’s exchange student Nicky B.

Kayak – #210 Matthew Gunning/ Gunning Wooden Boats LLC, Summerville, SC
for Snapdragon, a 8.5-foot Surf Kayak built in 2024. Incredible attention to detail.

Sail / Water – #408 Marshall Jessen, McClellanville, SC
for his 16-foot Bolger Jinni sail boat built in 2000 by Marshall Jessen and George Heyl
Beautiful finishes. Sideboards are concave to make the boat point higher. Mixes old and new designs

Sail / Land – #401 Matthew Majewski, Wilmington, NC
Matthew is the lead instructor of wooden boat building at Cape Fear Boatbuilding Community College. His students built the 15-foot Christmas Wherry on display and listed FOR SALE. The CFCC program is teaching & keeping the beauty of boat building alive.

Classic Sail / Land  – #451 Harvey Lemon, Mount Pleasant, SC
for Buffy, a 14-foot classic sail boat built in 1971 by HB & JM Lemon.  The judges really enjoyed this boat.

Outboard Water – #503 Les Stewart, Raleigh, NC
for Bird Lady, his 16-foot homebuilt wooden runabout built by Les in 2026.

Outboard / Land – #501 Mike Abernethy, Charleston, WV
for Marco, his 11-foot Mini Tug that he built in 2026.

Classic Outboard / Land –  #551 Ozzie Simerly, Charlotte, NC
for his 1953 15-foot Penn Yann Swift runabout. Ozzie restored this boat from 2012-2026.

Inboard / Land – #602 Doyle Whittington, Charleston, SC
for “Not Recommended”, his 14-foot 1958 Whirlwind Runabout

Inboard / Water – #604 Stepp Sydnor, Georgetown, SC
for Popeye, his 40-foot Lobster Boat built in 1979 and restored in 2026. It’s the original boat used in the movie Popeye starring Robin Williams

Classic Inboard  / Land – #668 Debra Leppo, Florence, SC
for Whoop! Whoop! Her 1948 20-foot Chris Craft Runabout – This is a boat that has been taken care of and loved for more than 50 years

Classic Inboard/Land – #655 Robert Weller, Terrell, NC
for ‘38 Special, his 1938 17-foot Chris-Craft Inboard Utility boat

Century Class-  #752 Stuart Mason, Charlotte, NC
for Vaudeville, his classic 40-foot power yacht built in 1926 by Stephens Brothers

Model Boat –  #801  Les Stewart, Raleigh, NC
for Half Hull model of Bird Lady his home built wooden runabout

Cradle Boat-  #851 John Martin/ John Martin Boats, Cottageville, SC
for Mo’ Fishes, his 7-foot child’s rowboat built in 2007

People’s Choice – #653 J Douglas Anderson, Cheraw, SC
for Handshake, his 1960 38-foot’ Chesapeake Bay Deadrise