I have often wondered just what Percy Blandford had in mind when he designed the Tarpon. It has turned out to be a 'maid of all works'. It is a comfortable cruising dinghy 14' long with a 5' 6" beam, the hull is rather deep being 24" with a 20" transom. It is almost always seen rigged as a gunter sloop with a sail area of 106 sq.ft. The hull is double chine, built of marine ply upside down on frames. It takes about 150 hours to build and weighs around 250 lbs. The mast and spars are wood and all the gear of a simple design, almost 'home spun'.

It is designed with a short detachable cuddy which makes it a very dry boat to sail and very handy for a quick brew up in shelter. The bottom boards are designed to give the largest flat area possible and as the centre thwart is removable it can be made very comfortable with a tent cover rigged over the boom. Unlike most sailing dinghies I know, it can also be used as a pulling boat with four oars and handles well under power. My own choice is a long shaft 4hp Merc but small motors will push it along well enough.

There is no built-in buoyancy but there should be no trouble in planning this into the boat if you are thinking of building your own; otherwise standard air bags can be fitted with little trouble. My boat has been around for some years now and stood up to much hard usage by youngsters learning to sail and as an expedition boat under sail, cars and power. It has been grossly overloaded ferrying equipment and to me has more than proved itself as a reliable work horse and good cruising dinghy.

It has shown some signs of wear and tear and if I was building her now there are one or two things which I would incorporate. These are: - a samson post through to the hog, full length metal keel strips and some built-in buoyancy and lockers. Maintenance has been easy and cheap and besides re-stitching sails, replacing running rigging, paint and varnish, the upkeep has been light on the pocket. The only failure which I experienced was of metal fatigue when a stainless steel pintle failed.

Modifications and additions have been few, the odd cleat here and there, a stem plate and eye bolt for winching the boat onto the trailer and beefing up the transom by fitting un inner skin of heavy marine ply with knees to the hog and stringers. This was done with the intention of using a more powerful engine and proved itself when towing a crippled motor boat in unfavourable conditions.

I have not used the Tarpon for offshore cruising as I have never had the time for such trips, but have enjoyed many hours cruising and pottering on Loch Lomond, Windermere and other inland and Estuary waters; besides many hours pleasantly spent afloat on rivers and waterways. Yes! The Tarpon is a useful boat and worthy of consideration when you are looking round for a boat to build at a reasonable price even in these expensive days.