My Sailfish 18 is truly the proverbial ‘dinghy with a lid on’, more so than the pocket cruisers which are so popular. She is 18ft 6ins LOA, 7ft 2ins beam, with a draft of 12ins when the 250lb keel is raised, The underwater shape of the hull is completely dinghy-like with no trace of a keel whatsoever. In cruising trim, the total weight is about 1400lb, and I find this within the capabilities of my wife and I to trail, launch and recover. The accommodation is typical of a modern fibreglass 18ft cruiser, having four settee berths below, and an additional two berths can be arranged in the 6ft 3ins-long cockpit when the boom tent is rigged. These are important features to me, as I cruise with my wife and three small children.

After our second season is drawing to a close, I can thoroughly recommend this type of craft to the man who wishes to cruise with his family without subjecting them to the rigours of living aboard an open boat, and yet avoiding the problems and costs of sailing a larger boat.

I used to think that a Sailfish 18 was expensive until the time came to graduate from my little Mirror dinghy to a larger boat. When I calculated the cost of fitting out a new Wayfarer for basic safe cruising, I found that the price was about 15% less than the Sailfish fitted out to the same specification. I decided to wait until I could afford the difference and go for the Sailfish, as this seemed more suited to my personal requirements in a cruising boat.

This season, we have had four weeks holiday cruising in our boat Quintet, and my wife and children still speak to me. We had a week at Whitsun, when we cruised from Beaulieu River to Bembridge and back, spending a few nights at each of the Island creeks en route.

Another week was spent aboard in July, when we attempted to cruise to Poole from Beaulieu, but this was abandoned because of poor weather. We were sailing in a f5-6 SW, with a very rough sea, and although the boat was looking after herself, we decided to turn back for a bit of peace and quiet at Newtown. Later that week we made a passage to Christchurch in a f4 SW, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The return trip was made in similar conditions, but this time there were overfalls at Hurst; surprisingly, we cut straight through with no discomfort to the crew. This was an interesting week for us, as the weather varied a lot and the wind was much stronger than we had hitherto experienced, which gave us a lot of confidence in ourselves, but, more important, confidence in the boat.

In August we trailed the outfit to Newton Ferrers, where we were met by Roger Davies, who helped me to rig and launch at Bridgend Quay. We spent two weeks aboard on this occasion, and cruised the coast between Newton Ferrers and Salcombe. We were fortunate to have settled weather, and were able to sail into the River Avon, which must be paradise for the small boat sailor. Here is a landlocked bay of crystal-clear water, which dries out to a beach of clean, firm sand. What’s more, we had the whole place to ourselves, except for the resident heron which patrolled the shallows within 10ft. of us.

Yes, we’re glad we have Quintet; she is neither dinghy nor cruiser, but an ingenious hybrid which somehow gives us the best of both worlds.