A thames sailing barge with spritsails with red sails sailing on the sea

There’s a lot to be said for owning small boats and chartering big ones...Clive Marsh looks at spritsails, snotters and leeboards

A proa design boat moored

Roger Nadin on traditional proa design that’s enjoying a kit-boat revival

The Tideway 10 leaving no wake on a cold morning in February

The trailerable Tideway 10 has the benefits of her sister vessel, the Tideway 12, but is lighter and easier to launch and recover by hand

The bow of a liferaft painted in blue, white and red

The basic shape of a traditional lifeboat is a long shallow keel, double ended and beamy – ideal for conversion into a cruising boat