Boat Profile

Small Boats Annual 2008

Nancy’s China

A 15' hard-chined pocket cruiser

The Nancy’s China design is a marriage of the big and the small. It’s the biggest boat you can fit in a garage and the smallest boat you would want to sleep on.

August 2024

Adirondack Guideboat

A classic rowboat updated for modern construction techniques

Newfound Woodworks’ Adirondack Guideboat, based on guideboats of the late 1800s, is a strip-planked kit version of this fine-ended rowboat with traditional elegance and can carry one or two passengers in style.

August 2024

Sunfish

A simple sailboat from the 1950s

Derived from the popular Sailfish, the Sunfish was a collaborative creation from two sailors and two designers. Since the first 20 plywood boats were built in 1952, it has been in continuous production in fiberglass and more than 500,000 have been built and sailed worldwide.

Small Boats Annual 2007

The NorseBoat

A Cadillac of a camp-cruiser

The NorseBoat requires more study time per foot than most small craft. Besides an attractive hull and an unusual sail plan, she has more bells, whistles, and unexpected features than a 1970s conversion van—certainly more than any boat in her class.

July 2024

The Friend·Ship Canal Boat

A comfortable cruising boat for sheltered waters

Phil Thiel’s canal boat, suitable for at-home building by moderately experienced woodworkers is a comfortably appointed boat for long, leisurely trips on sheltered lakes, rivers, and canals and can accommodate six adults overnight.

July 2024

The Shrike Kayaks

CNC’s modern sea kayaks steeped in Inuit tradition

Based on an original Inuit Disko Bay kayak in the collection of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Shrikes, from CNC Kayaks, are designed to be built as simply and as lightly as possible. The result is a range of boats that connect the paddler with the environment and reward the user with speed, agility, and grace.

June 2024

The Scout 10

The “smallest camp-cruising sailboat” from Duckworks

The new Duckworks sailing dinghy, the Scout 10, is within the reach of first-time builders and has some innovative construction techniques to make the boat light and strong.

June 2024

Waterlust Sailing Canoe

Chesapeake Light Craft’s versatile canoe for paddle or sail

Inspired by the sailing canoes of the 19th century, the Waterlust from Chesapeake Light Craft can be paddled, pedaled, or sailed, and is designed for high-performance expedition cruising but is still well suited to a gentle afternoon outing.

May 2024

FLOW 19

A fast and sporty trailer-sailer

A trailerable sport-cruiser designed by Antoine Mainfray, the Flow 19 is as suited to racing as it is to gunkholing and beach cruising.

May 2024

Stir-Ven 19

François Vivier’s water-ballasted daysailer

Influenced by traditional Breton workboats, François Vivier’s lapstrake daysailer incorporates water-ballast tanks to reduce weight for trailing.

April 2024

Newfound Wherry

A cedar-stripped rowboat updated for sail and oar

Newfound Woodworks drew inspiration for the strip-planked Newfound Wherry from New England working boats.

April 2024

Acorn 17

Iain Oughtred’s Whitehall

Based on the Whitehalls of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Iain Oughtred’s Acorn 17 is the longest in a series of sail-and-oar lapstrake dinghies.

Small Boats Annual 2015

Puddle Duck Racer

Descended from sandboxes

March 2024

Chamberlain Gunning Dory

Dave Gentry's skin-on-frame version of a Massachusetts classic

Based on the design of a Marblehead gunning dory of the early 20th century, Dave Gentry’s skin-on-frame dory can accommodate a solo rower or the whole family.

March 2024

Caledonia Yawl II

An updated sail-and-oar classic

Iain Oughtred’s lapstrake yawl updates the original from four strakes to seven but it remains an iconic double-ender for sail and oar.

Small Boats Annual 2015

Marsh Duck

A high-performance expedition boat

Small Boats Annual 2015

PRIMROSE

The smallest of K. Aage Nielsen’s double-enders

February 2024

Wyman 12

A traditional working skiff

David Wyman’s flat-bottom skiff is a contemporary version of a workhorse from the late 19th century, simplified for today’s DIY boatbuilders.

February 2024

Salish Coastal Cruiser

A coastal rower from Oyster Bay Boats

The latest sliding-seat design from Oyster Bay Boats provides stability and speed in a coastal rower that can’t be swamped.

January 2024

Banjo 20

Devlin’s compact, trailerable outboard cruiser

A trailerable outboard cruiser from Sam Devlin, the Banjo 20 has comfortable accommodations and is easy to operate.

January 2024

The Boston Whaler Montauks

Unsinkable classic still going strong

The Montauk range has evolved over time and grown in size, but it remains a stable, unsinkable workhorse and family favorite.

December 2023

AdvancedFrame Sport Kayak

An inflatable kayak with fine paddling qualities

The inflatable AdvancedFrame Sport Kayak is designed for the paddler who doesn’t want to deal with cartopping but is still looking for good on-water performance.

December 2023

Lawton Tender by Newfound Woodworks

A classic tender for strip-plank construction

Newfound Woodworks’ 10’ cedar-strip tender is a reworking of the classic Charlie Lawton design of the early 1900s. The update retains the performance qualities of the original and is available as a kit for at-home builders without an extensive range of power tools.

November 2023

Georgian Bay

An affordable strip-built pleasure cruiser from B. Giesler and Sons

The Georgian Bay, an 18′ pleasure cruiser, is designed and built in Powassan, Ontario, by Giesler and Sons, a third-generation shop with over a century of experience building sturdy cedar-strip boats.

Small Boats Annual 2014

JADE

A gaff-headed sloop from New Zealand

To develop his trailerable daysailer, Herbert Krumm-Gartner started by carving a half model, inspired by the boatbuilding methods and design aesthetics of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff.