In this article, I am not going to compare different types of boat for cruising because my experience is limited to only one type. I shall therefore sing its praises and let other enthusiasts extol the virtues of their own particular types of boat.

Dinghies employed for cruising may be roughly divided into two classes: -

1) Seaworthy types of racing boat. 2) Dinghies of conventional construction and design, often described as "Family" boats and ex workboats.

My boat falls into the second category and is similar to the type used by Michael Lawes in his cruises to the Mediterranean.

When looking round for a dinghy suitable for cruising, I found that I would either have to convert a boat which came nearest to my requirements or have one built specially to my specification. I chose the latter course because I hope that one day dinghies built purely for cruising will be available and I wished to develop the ideal type. The demand for cruising dinghies is increasing but, at the moment, manufacturers are only prepared to offer boats which have applications for cruising. A compromise design is not really good enough. For obvious reasons the consequences of a weak point in the design of a dinghy for cruising may be more serious than, say, a weak point in the design of a racing boat. I decided that a cruising dinghy should be designed "all out" for one requirement, the ability to "get there".

It is all very well to talk of speed, cheapness, suitability for trailing etc., but if these characteristics conflict with the main requirement, such boats are useless for cruising. Thus, although my boat has been designed to be as fast as possible, the result is very different from the modern club dinghy. This is because I designed the boat for the worst conditions in open water which I was likely to encounter and, consequently, in light weather in sheltered water she would be regarded, like other heavy boats, as "dull and uninteresting" to sail, However, in the conditions for which she was designed she comes to life in a way which, I think, is not generally realised by those who say that a light boat is more exciting to sail. I have sailed in light boats such as the 12' National type but they were not appreciably more sensitive when sailed in conditions which suited them.

The basis of the design was my first boat, used for day sailing, which was an old Sandown Bay Crabber or Pot boat, 12ft. 6 ins. by 5ft, 6ins. gaff sloop rigged with a sail area of approximately 85 square feet. She had an inboard converted motorcycle engine which used to rock violently when it could be persuaded to run. In this boat, 1 learned to sail single handed and she endeared herself to me by her ability to look after me when I made stupid mistakes, 1 was fortunate in choosing this type of boat since she showed me that boats of her type were very safe and much longer trips would obviously be possible. I am no boat designer, so the actual lines were left to the builder, Mr. G A Feltham of Portsmouth who appreciated my requirements perfectly. I wanted a boat to be suitable for sailing single-handed or with two up so a compromise size was chosen of 13ft. 6 ins. by 5ft. 9ins. by 2ft. moulded depth.