The ideal boat is often presented to us, taking as many forms as there are designers, salesmen and proud owners. The question which is seldom satisfactorily answered is “ideal for what?” The salesmen try to answer it, of course; their standard answers imply “for just about everything, from racing on reservoirs, picnicking on lakes, to crossing the Atlantic.” So these we have to disregard. There are further thoughts on the subject in this issue, and I have ventured to add some comments to the article in which a member tells of his desertion of a dinghy for a cabin yacht. I have also reprinted some earlier thoughts on the question of different kinds of dinghy for different kinds of cruising.

What one really wants to know is which of those who recommend boats have achieved in them just the kind of sailing they want. If one wants to transport one’s boat easily to remote locks and rivers seldom sailed, one will probably get farther in a Mirror dinghy or a sailing canoe than in a heavy boat which can only be launched over a ramp. If one is of a cautious disposition yet wants to explore the coast, one will want the most stable boat which can be sailed into the waters one chooses, Shallow draft makes for safety if it opens refuges to a small boat while deeper yachts have to wait for water. If one plans long non-stop passages to cover the miles and has a crew so that one can sail watch and watch, there is some sense in having a cuddy big enough to sleep and cook in under way. If one has only short holidays and weekends in which to sail there is not time for every kind of sailing; choosing a dinghy first because it is cheapest, perhaps one may discover that in a short time one can have more fun in a dinghy than in a bigger boat. On the other hand, on some coasts there are few weekends of the year when it is sensible to go to sea in a small open boat, and living in such a place may lead to a change in ones type of sailing. A keel boat and a several-day passage going foreign may be what one really wants, but without the incentive to use it in these longer voyages, the keel boat may become a floating caravan. I look at those 20 footers on their moorings on Windermere, even on Rudyard Lake, 2½ miles of enclosed water, and wonder how often they sail.

Readers of this Bulletin will possibly be aware that very few articles are being sent in. Accounts of boats and sailing waters of which members have useful experience, and sensible technical hints and gadgets, are urgently needed. Joan Abrams