Boat Profiles - Small Boats Magazine

Small Boats Annual 2014

Thistle

A pedal boat with a fin drive

Harry Bryan’s 12’ Thistle is powered by a large rudder shaped like a fish’s tail and driven by foot pedals. With steady pedaling you can keep pace with about any rowboat of the same length.

Small Boats Annual 2014

Spindrift 12

A performance yacht tender

The Spindrift series of dinghies from B&B Yacht Designs promises a range of capable yacht tenders that offer plenty of sailing excitement. Here we see a 12’ model built by Meredithe Stuart-Smith of Castine, Maine.

6

June 2023

Colorado River Dory

Fit to row the Grand Canyon

With six watertight compartments, the Colorado River Dory has plenty of room to stow gear and an abundance of buoyancy for running rapids.

7

June 2023

Seil 18

An 18’ pram for oar and sail

Designed by François Vivier for cruising French backwaters, the Seil 18 has a Norwegian pram hull form.

Small Boats Annual 2014

The Paine 14

A Herreshoff 12 1⁄2, in miniature

"Paine noted that AMELIA, in light air, literally sails circles around his 12½...”

Small Boats Annual 2014

The Faering Cruiser

A stitch-and-glue solo expedition boat

For if you want to go where kayaks go, but faster, with more gear, less exertion, and more excitement…

Small Boats Annual 2014

A Cape Cod Oyster Skiff

A historic sharpie type— with variations

Andrew Kitchen of Irondequoit, New York, had always wanted to build a sharpie, and he settled on Reuel Parker’s adaption of a historic boat recorded by Howard I. Chapelle, originating from Cape Cod. The sail reefs by being drawn to the mast.

Small Boats Annual 2014

Beach Pea

Tender, daysailer, trainer

Beach Pea is based on the well-known peapod type that evolved on Maine’s Penobscot Bay in the 1870s, but built of lightweight plywood. It retains the earlier type’s oar steering and simple sprit rig.

7

May 2023

Rhode Runner

A stitch-and-glue version of a mid-century classic

Designed for stitch-and-glue construction by experienced amateur builders, Chesapeake Light Craft’s Rhode Runner offers performance, comfort, and classic runabout looks.

7

May 2023

Didi 23

A Dudley Dix 23-footer with generous accommodation and fine sailing performance

A modern pocket cruiser with high-performance sailing pedigree, the DIDI 23 has a plywood hull that does away with angular chines by using Dudley Dix’s radius-chine plywood construction method.

7

April 2023

Lillie

Updating a classic design for modern construction

Designed for both strip-plank and stitch-and-glue plywood construction, Selway Fisher Design’s Lillie is a modern interpretation of the canoe yawls of late 19th-century England.

12

April 2023

14′ Whitehall

A composite version of a 19th-century classic

The Gig Harbor Boat Works Whitehall offers the good looks and versatility a traditional Whitehall in a light durable composite boat with rowing positions for tandem rowing, room for a passenger or two, and a sliding seat for those looking for powerful rowing and great exercise.

11

March 2023

New York Whitehall

An American classic

Whitehalls have been with us for 200 years and have evolved from working taxis to recreational rowing craft. A 14’ New York Whitehall reveals why the type is still so popular.

7

March 2023

Meaban

A trailerable Vivier sloop

At a little over 22', with berths for four, and a minimum draft of just 1'6” François Vivier's new design, Meaban, is ideal for shoal-water cruising.

Small Boats Annual 2012

XLNC Utility Skiff

A simple, efficient hull from William and John Atkin

For an easily driven motor launch, John and William Atkin developed the XLNC design with home builders in mind.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Hampton Sloop

A family boat

Simplicity is the hallmark of this boat. All of the hardware is shop-made, and auxiliary propulsion is provided by a pair of ash oars.

Small Boats Annual 2012

Peregrine 18

A fast pulling boat

This boat will not go down by the stern while being rowed at maximum speed or when loaded with wine, cheese, and cookies for an afternoon on the islands.

Small Boats Annual 2012

The Shaw & Tenney Whitehall

A classic, reinterpreted

A hull of traditional lapstrake appearance, but without the traditional worries of leaking and drying out.

7

February 2023

Hobie 16

More than fifty years old and as popular as ever

The Hobie 16, enjoyed by many as a summer recreational boat and raced in fleets all over the world, remains one of the most popular and enduring of small one-designs and is among the most successful of all racing catamaran classes.

9

February 2023

Fine

A sliding-seat pulling boat with excellent stability

The Fine from Oyster Bay Boats is an 18’ strip-built wherry that combines a sliding-seat rowing rig for speed and a hull with a 34” beam for stability.

Small Boats Annual 2012

The No Mans Land Boat

A challenge with great potential

This heavy old fish boat holds her own and then some against other displacement hulls.

Small Boats Annual 2012

The Sea Bird Yawl

Simplicity in a hard-chined cruiser

Simple enough to be built by amateurs, small enough to be singlehanded, and big enough for long passages

Small Boats Annual 2013

The Rambler 18

A runabout for adventure

The Rambler 18 is for people seeking comfortable cruising, not the exhilaration of speed. Riding in this boat is a pleasant and relaxing experience.

7

January 2023

Nexus Planing Dory

A planing dory for home construction

Sleek but traditional, and with the versatility to serve a wide range of uses, the Nexus 21’ Planing Dory is an uncomplicated boat to build at home either as an open boat or with a cuddy cabin.

7

January 2023

Cape Henry 21

An expedition sailboat for adventurers

A 21’ plywood-lapstrake gaff cutter inspired by traditional sailing craft of the U.K., the Cape Henry 21 can appeal to sailors downsizing from a full-keel cruiser as well as camp-cruisers looking for more comfort while still adventuring in shoal waters.

Thistle

Spindrift 12

Colorado River Dory

Seil 18

The Paine 14

The Faering Cruiser

A Cape Cod Oyster Skiff

Beach Pea

Rhode Runner

Didi 23

Lillie

14′ Whitehall

New York Whitehall

Meaban

XLNC Utility Skiff

Hampton Sloop

Peregrine 18

The Shaw & Tenney Whitehall

Hobie 16

Fine

The No Mans Land Boat

The Sea Bird Yawl

The Rambler 18

Nexus Planing Dory

Cape Henry 21

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