If someone wants to buy you a book as a present, then suggest they buy Sailing Small from Devereux Books, a publishing firm based on the other side of the 'pond'. I have to admit, I'm something of a bookworm, and when a copy came to me I had my nose glued in it even more firmly than usual.

It's not a book about dinghy cruising of course – the commissioning editor, Stan Grayson, describes that as a 'largely British-designed sport'. But it is a collection of stories, accounts, histories - call them what you will - of sailing small cabin boats ranging from 16 to 22 foot in length. With 200 pages, there's plenty to entertain you and much to learn from, a good deal of which can be easily translated into our open-boat philosophy - and one of our original members, Charles Stock with Shoal Waters, provides a sizeable contribution.

In selecting the group of authors, Stan Grayson has specifically excluded the headline-grabbing 'stunt' boats - whose daring deeds teeter between 'win or wipe out'. Also excluded are those who have sailed larger boats, made ocean crossings and lived the life of Riley in some tropical paradise. Instead he has found long-time owners/sailors who really love and use their small boats.

Naturally, most of the contributors are from the other side – the States and Canada. Sadly, when asked to contribute, we were unable to provide recent experiences of sailing and living aboard DCA boats like Rebell. However, we do rate a mention and the outline plans of Rebell are featured.

There's a website through which it can be ordered - www.devereuxbooks.com or a postal address - P.O. Box 503, Marblehead, MA 01945. The book itself is priced at $16.95 to which you must add a further $10.50 for airmail postage - a total of $27.45.

In the words of Stan Grayson, 'may it inspire you to consider how much can be accomplished aboard a small but able cruising sailboat that is selected specifically to meet your needs.' I think it does.