Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Small Sailboat Cruising


Paradoxes


Bris


Roamer


Acrohc Austalis


Scamp


Much of the content of this blog is about small sailboats used for cruising, but there is also a fair amount about racing yachts. My primary interest has been with small sailing boats suited to cruising, exceptions being larger, spectacular vessels such as the trimarans featured in yesterday’s article. Typical of the smaller ones are Matt Layden’s Paradox, Sven Yrvind’s Bris, and cruising dinghies such as Eric Coleman’s Roamer, Ian Proctor’s Wayfarer and John Welsford’s dinghy with a lid, Scamp.

There are many types of small sailing craft that have been designed primarily for cruising; the list is almost endless. Success in cruising them has been more to do with their owners ability than their designs. Acrohc Australis, designed and built by Serg Testa, remains the smallest boat to have circumnavigated the Globe, having completed a 27,000 nautical miles marathon in May, 1987. 

Long distance cruising is not the most popular option; the major preference is for coastal and estuary cruising with outings seldom lasting more than a weekend. Choices and preferences often depend upon circumstances. A retired couple, for example, might want to sail their yacht further afield, as they have acquired the means and have the time, but a young working couple can perhaps only find time for the occasional weekend.

Whatever the circumstances, each will try to make the best of their opportunities.

Here are a number of related links to websites I think may be of interest to sailors who enjoy cruising small boats.

Links

Paradox Sailboat Videos

Building a Paradox Sailboat

My Paradox ‘Johanna’

UK Matt Layden Paradoxes

Yrvind (Bris)

‘Daisy’, a Roamer Cruising Dinghy

Wayfarer Dinghy

UK Wayfarer Association

‘Scamp’ - Micro Sailboat

‘Acrohc Australis’

Web Links - Miscellaneous, but relevant to those with an interest in Small Sailing Boats

Cruising Dinghy Association

Hostellers Sailing Club

Sailing Small Living Large: Sailors who love their small boats

Micro Cruising

In Praise of Small Sailboats

18 Small Sailboats: Big dreams in small packages

Cruising the Med: Living on board …….. Is it all it’s cracked up to be? Is it for you?

15 things you should know when planning an Atlantic crossing

The Dinghy Cruising Companion by Roger Barnes

The Sailor’s Book of Small Cruising Sailboats: Reviews and comparisons of 360 boats under 26 feet

Great Voyages in Small Sailboats

Sailing into Hell: Two Men, a Dinghy and One of the Luckiest Escapes Ever

2 comments:

Jim Schofield said...


Thank you Bill for the great list of small boat information.

I bought the plans last year for Paradox but bought a small Westerly instead of building !

I have wondered if Paradox could be stretched to maybe 24 or 26 foot ? It would still be a tough, shallow draft vessel but could also allow a couple to cross an ocean.

Jim

http://liffeysailor.blogspot.ie/

William Serjeant said...

HiJim,

A scaled-up version of a 16.5 ft Paradox would be feasible. Visit the microcruising Yahoo group's files section where there are details of a stretched version of this length. There's a much larger Paradox-type boat, 'Hogfish Maximus'. Try Googling for her, or go to the `microcruising website.

Cheers,
Bill.