Small boats, big cruising

Rupert Holmes describes a selection of very capable small boats for cruising on a budget

- Rupert Holmes

Today’s boats are, on average, significantly larger than in the past, so it’s easy to assume open water passages aren’t safe for craft under a certain size or for those without an inboard diesel engine.

But two or three decades ago many boats of less than 25ft crossed the English Channel, southern North Sea, and the Irish Sea on a regular basis.

For instance, in a post on the Corribee Owners Association website Roy Way, who owned a fin keel Mk2 in the early 1970s, says his boat: ‘regularly made the trip from Poole Harbour to Cherbourg and never gave us any cause for alarm. Basically, she was a terrific little boat, easy to handle and confidence-inspiring.’

Equally in the 1970s the Quarter Ton Cup, the then de facto world championship for offshore race boats of around 23-26ft, included an offshore race of up to 200 miles. On occasion, bad weather was encountered, including winds gusting well over 30 knots.

A smaller number of intrepid small-boat owners have ventured even further afield. Webb Chiles, for instance, sailed round the world on two 18ft open Drascombe Luggers. More recently Chiles completed his sixth circumnavigation sailing a Moore 24, an early 1970s race boat that weighs less than a tonne. Equally, in 2002 Alessandro di Benedetto successfully completed a solo transatlantic crossing in a 20ft open sport catamaran.