We’re pleased to announce that Trident Canvas has a new home. We’re now based at Endeavour Quay in Gosport, working within Premier Marinas’ boatyard right at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour.
It’s a move that puts us at the heart of one of the most concentrated clusters of marinas and sailing clubs on the south coast — and on a waterfront with a remarkable story to tell.
A Waterfront That Built World-Famous Yachts
Endeavour Quay isn’t just any boatyard. This site has been home to working shipwrights since 1782, when a London-trained craftsman called Francis Amos set up shop on the Gosport waterfront, leasing land from the Royal Naval Dockyard across the harbour. His great-nephew William Camper took over the yard in 1824 and built a reputation for fast, beautifully crafted yachts. When Benjamin Nicholson joined as an apprentice in 1842, a partnership was born that would shape the history of yachting worldwide.
The firm that became Camper & Nicholsons operated from this very site for over 220 years. The list of vessels launched from these slipways is extraordinary. The J-Class racing yacht Endeavour — which gives the quay its name — was built here in 1934 for Sir Thomas Sopwith’s America’s Cup challenge. Her sister ship Shamrock V, Velsheda, and Endeavour II followed, bringing international fame to a yard that was already regarded as one of the finest in the world.
In 1966, Sir Francis Chichester commissioned Gipsy Moth IV from the Gosport yard — the ketch that carried him around the world single-handed in 226 days, earning him a knighthood and a place on the British passport. Bloodhound, the ocean racing yacht bought by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1962, was designed by Charles Nicholson and built here in 1936. It was aboard Bloodhound that a young Prince Charles and Princess Anne first learned to sail.
During both World Wars, the yard turned its skills to the war effort — building motor torpedo boats, minesweepers and landing craft, and even constructing components for the Mulberry harbours used in the D-Day landings.
Camper & Nicholsons closed the Gosport yard in 2005, and Endeavour Quay was established on the site. The slipways, the deep-water access and the maritime know-how remain. We’re honoured to be setting up our workshop on ground where some of the most famous vessels in yachting history were built.
Right Where You Need Us
One of the biggest advantages of our new location is proximity. Endeavour Quay sits within Premier Marinas’ Gosport Marina complex, and from here we can reach a remarkable number of marinas and sailing clubs — most of them within a few minutes’ drive, and some literally within walking distance.
Gosport Marina, operated by Premier Marinas with over 500 berths, is right on our doorstep. Haslar Marina, another Premier facility with over 600 berths at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour, is barely a mile down the road. Royal Clarence Marina, set within the former Royal Navy Victualling Yard with its deep-water basin capable of handling vessels up to 60 metres, is a short walk north along the waterfront.
Further up Portsmouth Harbour, Port Solent offers another large marina with a mix of sailing and motor cruisers. And on the harbour’s eastern side, the facilities at Portsmouth Harbour itself — including Gunwharf Quays and the Historic Dockyard — are just a four-minute ferry ride away.
Then there are the service sailing clubs. Hornet Services Sailing Club, based at the former HMS Hornet site on Haslar Road, provides a 200-berth marina for serving and veteran Armed Forces personnel and runs an active racing and cruising programme in conjunction with the Royal Naval Sailing Association. The RNSA itself is headquartered at Haslar Marina — a charity founded in 1935 with around 5,000 members, responsible for all sailing activity across the Royal Navy. The Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre also operates from nearby Fort Blockhouse. These clubs and organisations maintain fleets and private vessels that all need quality canvas, covers and upholstery — and we’re now right on their patch.
In practical terms, this concentration means we can visit your boat for templating, fitting and inspections without long travel times or delays. If you’re berthed anywhere in the Gosport and Portsmouth Harbour area, we’re local to you now.
Still Serving the Hamble and the Wider Solent
Our move to Gosport doesn’t mean we’ve left the Hamble behind. The River Hamble — with its marinas at Mercury, Port Hamble, Hamble Point, Universal and Swanwick — remains firmly within our patch, and many of the boat owners we work with are based there. The Hamble is roughly twenty minutes from Endeavour Quay by road, and we continue to offer the same service to Hamble-based customers that we always have.
The Solent is our home water. From Chichester Harbour in the east to Lymington and the western Solent, we come to you wherever your boat is based. What’s changed is our workshop — we now have the facilities and space at Endeavour Quay to handle larger projects and offer a faster turnaround, backed by the boatyard’s lifting and hard-standing capabilities.
The Same Standards, a Stronger Position
What hasn’t changed is how we work. Every project still starts with a proper consultation and hands-on templating at your vessel. We still combine traditional patterning skills with CAD design and CNC precision cutting — our Hybrid Workflow that ensures every cover, sprayhood and enclosure fits exactly as it should. We still use only proven marine-grade materials from manufacturers like Sunbrella and Tenara. And we still believe that “near enough” is never good enough.
We’re the same business, with the same standards — just in a better position to serve more of the Solent’s boating community.
If you’re based at any of the Gosport or Portsmouth Harbour marinas and need canvas, upholstery, or marine graphics work, we’d love to hear from you. And if you’re already a customer on the Hamble or elsewhere on the Solent, rest assured — we’re still coming to you.
Get in touch to discuss your project or book a free assessment at your marina.
Sources: Endeavour Quay / Premier Marinas (endeavourquay.co.uk, premiermarinas.com), Camper & Nicholsons (camperandnicholsons.com, Wikipedia), Gipsy Moth IV (Wikipedia, Buckler’s Hard), Bloodhound (nationalhistoricships.org.uk, Wikipedia), Royal Naval Sailing Association (rnsa.org.uk), Hornet Services Sailing Club (hornetservicessailing.org.uk), The D-Day Story (theddaystory.com).
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