National Small Boat Collection

The origins of this image can be traced back to 1811 when the 6th Duke of Bedford commissioned the building of a fishing lodge and romantic gardens on one of…

Conceived by the then well-known dinghy designer Percy Blandford the Gremlin was, in the words of themagazine Light craft which marketed the plans, “designed primarily for the man who wants…

Small dinghies became fashionable on the Thames after the First World War. Compared to the traditional gigs and skiffs associated with Edwardian river outings, dinghies were lighter, handier, and easier…

Pip Emma is a small rowing dinghy built by the famous boat builder/designer F.C. Morgan Giles whilst on leave from the RNVR in 1916. Its very light construction is due…

The National 18 was born in 1938 following a design competition organised by the then YRA (now RYA) and Yachting World magazine. The original idea was for an 18 ­foot…

The 18 ft jolly boat was one of succession of sailing dinghies designed and built by the renowned Uffa Fox in the years running up to WWII.  Wizard was designed…

These boats were based on the Thames working skiffs but were more heavily built, and were used by watermen for various uses including ferrying, fishing and taking people out for…

The Puffin was designed by the famous DIY specialist and TV presenter Barry Bucknell as a collapsible car top dinghy/tender. The GRP hull has a hard chine shape with folding…

Together with the Thames skiff, the gig continues to be a very popular recreational rowing boat on non-tidal waters of the Thames and elsewhere. While similar to the skiff in…