french & webb

“That first day when I walked into the sawmill, I remember the smell of freshly cut pine, and oak…the logs, the forklifts, the sticking lumber…the sawdust flying out...and something just clicked in all my senses,” recalls Todd French of his first job. “I remember having pitch on my hands and smelling like wood everyday. I thought, who needs cologne when you have a saw mill?”

Todd French took a gap year before attending university and it changed his life forever. Getting a job at a seacoast sawmill in New Hampshire, he quickly learned the skills of working with machinery and wood, soaking up all he could from the old-timers that worked there. That summer, a beat-up truck pulled up to the mill and an old man came in looking for some good pine boards. Todd was assigned to help the man. As he was loading the hand-picked boards into the man’s truck, Todd noticed the man purposefully eyeing up and down the length of each board. When Todd asked him why he was doing this, the man replied, “I’m building a boat.” As luck would have it, the man was the famed boat builder Bud McIntosh. He was in his late 70’s then and building a couple of skiffs for his grandchildren. Todd’s imagination stirred.

A few weeks later, Todd made a delivery of some oak boards to Bud McIntosh’s shop and walked into the world of boatbuilding. “I came down to this old building by the water’s edge and walked into Bud’s shop. There were wood shavings knee-deep, tools everywhere, jack shafts on the ceiling with pulleys that were run by a gas engine in the corner that powered all the electrical equipment. There was something about this moment in my life; something just stuck in me.”  

As soon as he returned from Bud McIntosh’s shop, Todd ordered a book on how to build a dory by John Gardner and soon built a 12.5ft Swampscott Dory, which he sold to a fisherman for $300. He was in business.

Shortly after, Todd wanted to build a larger boat for himself. He went to Bud McIntosh for the design of a 24ft Cutter trading his services for the design plans of what would become “Amaranth”. He quickly started to hone his skills in all matters of boatbuilding, from design and budgeting, to materials to woodworking skills. Building “Amaranth” also connected Todd to the wooden boatbuilding scene in Maine. During this time he was a sponge for knowledge while working for Paul Rollins, a boatbuilder and designer in York, Maine.

Then, a call came from The Landing School in Arundel, Maine, and at age 23, Todd couldn’t believe they were asking him to be a teacher there. When he told Bud his exciting news, Bud said to him, “Those that first learn teach best.” With Bud’s encouragement, Todd quickly learned to stay one step ahead, to not be arrogant, and to not hide if he didn’t know something. Good lessons that served him well.

It was at The Landing School that Todd met fellow instructors Peter Webb and Rick Barkhuff. Collaboration with fellow instructors came easily, and together they gained insight into effective problem-solving. One of the projects the school took on was the build of a Herreshoff designed Alerionl, which became Todd’s first foray into the Herreshoff world. Gathering plans at MIT’s Hart Nautical Collections and working with Maynard Bray and Joel White as advisors, Todd steeped himself in the Herreshoff boats and history. After teaching at the school, Peter, Rick, and Todd were then hired to finish “Prowess”, a 50ft Eldridge McIness design, where their foundational skills were cemented in boatbuilding.

Teaching at The Landing School shaped Todd’s philosophy for boatbuilding that continues with him to this day. Receiving ideas and input from others on a project, whether it be creative input or method, is valuable and contributes to making a team work well together. “‘Check your ego at the door’ is what I tell my crew. At the end of the day, we can all learn from each other to make a better product for our customers.”

Todd’s teaching career ended after a short time at The Artisan’s College in Rockport, Maine, where he taught and worked before venturing out on his own. In 1996, Todd moved to the Belfast area and started to look for a place to start his own shop. Todd had just secured a beautiful historic building on the waterfront of Belfast, and a customer asked if he could finish off the build of his boat “Nettie”. Todd reached out to Peter Webb and asked if he wanted to come up and work with him in Belfast: a deal was made and signed on a napkin, and they were in business as French & Webb.

Todd and Peter made the perfect partners. Peter’s steady work ethic and attention to detail in the craft combined with Todd’s gregarious nature, creativity, and ability to problem solve made working together a dream. French & Webb have been in business since 1996 and have employed hundreds of crew to build some of the most unique and exquisite boats in existence. Building to the highest standards of quality and design, and restoring and building boats to an exceptional level of finish, French & Webb have maintained a reputation that is esteemed worldwide.

“It’s about the craft,” Todd reflects, “allowing for creative problem solving while making things more efficient and productive” remains a cornerstone for French & Webb values. This is reflected in their prolific and exquisite work, which is appreciated by their customers.

Todd is now the sole owner of French & Webb but the daily collaboration continues as Peter lends his expertise to ongoing projects.