THOSE WHO can't do teach. That's the old jibe, and in boats it might sometimes be thought that those who don't sail, design. Certainly some boats give the appearance of having been designed and built by people who have no direct personal experience of handling boats or living aboard them.

Eric Coleman, by contrast, is a fine example of the most practical type of designer. One who first designs, then builds, and then uses. You may know him as the designer of a rather odd-looking boat called Roamer, or as the designer of the Rebell cruising dinghy which was reported in our issue for November 1970.

Others may know him as the technical officer of the Dinghy Cruising Association for dinghy cruising and cruising dinghies are his speciality. His views on the subject are well set out in his book Dinghies for All Waters (Hollis & Carter), where he explains precisely the characteristics of stability, ease of handling, ample freeboard and efficient stowage which suit a boat to the purpose of carrying a family, keeping them dry, and 'looking after them'.

Those qualities are often associated with boats of the older sort, but Eric's contribution has been to design boats which offer the same qualities, yet which can be built by an amateur from marine plywood in the modern manner.

The Rebell Class

The Rebell class, for example, has a small cabin forward with two quarter berths running under the cockpit side benches. The cockpit itself is spacious, and is endowed with a canvas canopy to enclose it completely. The cloth, with the hoops which support it, is stowed at the forward end of the cockpit ready for immediate use.

Although only 17 feet long, Rebell carries her own six-foot tender, which comes into two halves, one of which nests inside the other. The whole thing then stows in the after end of the bigger boat's cockpit.

I believe that about a hundred people have bought a set of Rebell plans for home construction in the search for a small boat with the stability and capacity to look after them and their belongings. If you are interested in that sort of boat you can find Eric Coleman at... (1978 address omitted here).