Boats

In 1961 the entire population of a tiny island was evacuated after its dormant volcano erupted. Situated in the South Atlantic 1500 miles west of Cape Town and 1800 miles east of Argentina the island – almost unknown in this country – was Tristan da Cunha. Claimed by the British in 1816, the island was…

Light displacement hulls, bulb keels, low wetted areas, aspects of design perhaps more commonly associated with the modern era, actually have a longer history than is often realised. In the late nineteenth century Charles Sibbick, based in the Isle of Wight, designed and built a series of racing keelboats that became known as Sibbick Raters.…

The SMOD evolved as a result of a Dr. James defeating Frank Peters in races off St. Mawes, Cornwall in the early 1920s. These defeats led to Frank Peters designing Aileen in 1923, and so the first SMOD was born. Frank Peters, designer of the class and builder of Aileen, was part of a family…

In the years leading up to the Second World War, the British war office recognised a need for a small boat that could be used for covert reconnaissance and assault operations. Such a craft needed to be both small and inconspicuous as well as to be readily transportable, in as compact a space as possible.…

Mistletoe is the first boat of one of Britain’s oldest one-design classes. She helped to establish what has become a fundamental concept in small boat racing. One-designs first appeared in the 1890s. The term refers to classes where the boats are as identical as possible so that the sailor’s skill wins the race rather than…

Very few successful, long-lasting dinghy designs happen by accident. The Fireball is no exception and was designed by Peter Milne to meet a need: to bridge the gap between small family-type centre boarders and the larger, more expensive classes. Designed by Peter Milne in 1962, the International Fireball is a one-design high performance sailing dinghy.…

Plymouth Waterman’s barges, with a wide roomy stern designed to accommodate both passengers and stores, were used at Devonport serving naval and merchant ships. They were rowed by a single oarsman using 10ft spoon-bladed oars pivoted in pairs of thole pins. Although the traditional work of these boats has disappeared, some have survived by being…

This type of punt originated from the fens of Cambridgeshire and was used as a general working boat and for fishing. This particular example, the last of its kind afloat on the River Ouse/River Cam, was used for catching eels with an eel gleave. The hull construction is highly individual to the type with a…

Finesse is one of three Finn dinghies in the museum’s collection and is the oldest surviving British registered Finn, possibly the oldest in the world. She was one of a number built for the 1952 Olympics (see early history of the class under Seawolf BAE0020) and numbers for the class were allocated internationally, with 9…