Small Boats Annual 2012

Wittholz 11′ Dinghy

An ode to a simpler time

Charles Wittholz designed his traditional 11' catboat dinghy for protected waters. While fun to sail, she is also well suited to work under oars and to serve as a tender to a larger boat.

KINGFISHER

An almost-traditional Thames skiff

Colin Galloway built this 19' Thames skiff to an Iain Oughtred design. Oughtred’s plans specify glued lapstrake plywood; Galloway substituted solid wood—“The Real Thing,” says Oughtred. “She really is a superb piece of work.”

Lowell’s Amesbury Skiff

Building by

“…a boat that will teach the newcomer nuances of powerboat handling and seamanship while rewarding the more experienced with its capabilities.”

The Rhodes 18

A racing daysailer

The Rhodes is the perfect daysailer for up to five people, or it can be raced by a crew of three in one-design fleets.

Redbird

A proven cedar-strip touring canoe

Over three decades, the Redbird canoe has proven to be an exceptionally fine model for wilderness tripping. While its bow and stern profiles are inspired by Ojibwa rice-harvesting canoes, the epoxy-sheathed, cedar-strip construction is contemporary. This example was built by Edmund Pozniak and photographed on Clear Lake, Louisiana.

Salty Heaven

A sprightly cat-yawl for daysailing or camp-cruising

The author’s Salty Heaven, JESS, singlehanded in a fresh breeze. Sailed solo, the 17’ cat-yawl is fast and responsive. She will also happily carry passengers or a load of camping gear.

Devlin’s Pelicano

Inspired by pangas, in three flavors

“…saucy-looking, efficient, and seaworthy, and still unfancy enough that an ambitious amateur can realistically aspire to building one.”

The Norwalk Islands 18 and Its Cousins

A family of sharpies

“Having no jib, changing tacks on a sharpie is a matter of simply pushing the tiller over. The two sails look after themselves. ”

FOX

A double-paddle canoe

The 14’7” Fox double-paddle canoe, which weighs only 44 lbs, is casually portable. Its 6’8”-long cockpit offers considerable room, yet can be securely sealed with a spray skirt.

D-18 Myst

A camp-cruiser with good looks

The D-18 Myst has a striking profile and sail plan, and her general appearance prompts thoughts of British fishing boats of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Marsh Punt

A simple boat for calm waters

The punt, with its flat bottom and square ends, is among the simplest form of boats. Tad Lyford’s 13’6” Marsh Punt is meant for rowing in protected waters, and poling in shallows.

Goliath Mini-Tug

A fanciful cruiser with workboat roots

The Goliath mini-tug from Glen-L Marine, at only 18' overall, is more than a simple caricature: It’s a bona-fide pocket-cruising powerboat, well proportioned and well performing.

Starry Nights

A magic carpet on the water

The 20' Starry Nights launch from Onion River Boatworks is a picnic launch in the finest tradition. Powered by a 3-hp electric motor, she is a gentle, quiet presence on the water.

A Nesting Dinghy

PT 11, a fine balance of form and function

By extensive ocean cruising, Russell Brown came to know what he valued in a nesting dinghy, and his PT 11, which weighs just 85 lbs, balances conflicting purposes of sailing, rowing, light weight, and compact stowage while still remaining a handsome boat.

The Old Town Dinghy

A classic in cedar and canvas

The Old Town dinghy, a classic yacht tender, was once a staple offering in the catalog of the Old Town Canoe Company. It’s a lightweight beauty with a bright-finished interior and a painted, canvas-sheathed hull. Structurally, it looks like a canoe, but it has the shape of a versatile small boat—one that motors, sails, and rows respectably.

Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff

A forgiving outboard-powered boat

The Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff seen here is a strip-planked, fiberglass-sheathed copy of a plank-on-frame hull designed by Joel White and built by Jimmy Steele in the 1970s.