For the person who wants a large seaworthy dinghy, trailable, and all at a reasonable price, the RYA Eighteen Foot National has few peers. The restrictions of the class insist on a dual purpose boat and cruising is very much in mind. Its length (18 ft.) minimum beam (6 ft.) and rise of floor results in a generous hull and the thoroughbred underwater sections give speed with stability. There is a largo foredeck and generous side decking. Most boats have an aft locker. The mast may or may not be stopped on to keelson, but all masts can swivel and are easily lowered. The rig is tall and extremely powerful and cruising is best accomplished with a small jib and cut down main. On my boat I use my main sail and reef down hard. As my cruising habits are extended, I will invest in some cruising sails (secondhand Flying Fifteen mains are handy for this, especially if the wind is blowing in your cruising area).

A man may put down £200 and find himself the proud owner of a wooden National 18, eminently suitable for cruising. Most second-hand wooden Nationals arc well cared for, as owners take a pride in the clinker work. Many Anderson, Rigden & Perkins, were constructed in mahogany, and I have seen boats twenty years old that are very sound.

It is easy to sleep four in the 18 footer as there is room beneath its foredeck for two lying fore and aft, and for two more people lying in its cockpit. The new Ian Proctor design with a carvel GRP hull and seven foot beam could have four in the cockpit alone and a centre mainsheet can be high enough to allow crew to lie beneath. The glorious thing about these 18 footers is their room - especially the Ian Proctor design. There is bags of it - you stow an outboard fuel tank beneath the side decking; you put sails and boat cover, inflatable dinghy in the aft locker, and all the food and beer can go up forward. Facilities can be improved by adding shelves beneath the side decks and in the older boats the shelves are already there. You will be interested to read that some owners of new Ian Proctor boats have had removable side benches fitted. Here is a class not afraid to look after its creature comforts!

The beauty is that a boat can cruise one day and still be in class to race the next. I think that when I race on Teddington Reach I will keep the outboard in the aft locker and surprise the competition on windless days by motoring home!

It is hard to got the stripped hull weight below 550 lbs (class rules) as the scantlings and hull must be strong enough to lie at exposed moorings. Older wooden boats have soaked up water, and weight will be up to 700 lbs. However, the all up weight of the heaviest with the light plate (65 lbs.) would not be much over 800 lbs.

Anyway, the class has never had any problems trailing; it is a matter of sometimes a little extra help and perhaps a couple of rollers (which can be used as extra buoyancy beneath the side decks, when not in use).

What about sailing. I have owned two 18's - an old wooden Uffa Fox, built in 1947, and an Ian Proctor design (1970). Both have been very seaworthy and dry boats. You can walk round the decks and the stability is excellent. I have cruised a lot in the Thames Estuary area and have struck some rough conditions, but apart from reefing down I have never had any trouble. In a smaller dinghy a main sheet system and kicking strap would be a nuisance, but in the 18 footer they can be accommodated.

Most older 18's have a transom track and for the out and out cruising owner this is ideal.

I think open boat cruising is very exciting and a challenge, and for the man who wishes to extend his trip beyond creeks and rivers to more exposed waters, the National 18 foot's versatility and safety allow him to do so.