STS Leeuwin II’s three masts are what make this tall ship a barquentine, voyaging along the West Australian coasts under clouds of square-rigged sails.

When this iconic youth sail training ship was struck by a container vessel at its berth in Fremantle Port in 2024, all three masts were smashed beyond repair.

Leeuwin’s crew and volunteers faced an immense task to restore the ship to service, and over many months the metal sections of the masts rose again using tried and tested methods.

But there was only one place Leeuwin’s wooden topmasts, yards and bowsprit could be built – a workshop hidden in Perth’s hills where traditional maritime carpentry skills are being passed to the next generation.

In this SPOTLIGHT episode, we meet the young Leeuwin volunteers making this iconic ship’s new timber masts by hand in a labour of love.