Small sailing boats

Small sailing boats are from about 10 to 18 feet in length (3 to 6 metres). Small sailing boats are often called sailing dinghies, because almost all have open cockpits without any cabins. They are usually made from either marine plywood or fibreglass - the big manufacturers use fibreglass, but wood is used for some boats, particularly if they are sold in kits.

Small sailing boats are ideal for learning to sail... much better than a bigger boat because things happen quicker, and you learn to respond to changes in the wind and sea. I recommend that anyone interested in sailing starts with a small sailing boat.

Typical small wooden sailing boats are the Mirror, Streaker and GP14 all designed by Jack Holt, while the Topper, Lasers and Yamaha small sailing boats are all fibreglass. There is a whole range of small Laser class sailing boats. Waverleys were made from plywood in the early days, but are now all fibreglass. Most 420s and 470s are fibreglass.

Centreboard or dagger board

Because small sailing boats are usually launched from the beach, you need a retractable keel, centerboards or dagger boards – these are types of lifting keels. You need the keel to counteract the force of the wind which is trying to push the boat over. In a small boat, you have to lean out to counterbalance the force of the wind when sailing to windward. Sailing to windward is when are at an angle of about 45 degrees to 75 degrees from the wind.

The dagger board is a keel that is just raised or lowered by hand, being pushed down or pulled up vertically in its housing in the small sailing boat. It is very simple, and is usually held in position by a pin – fully up when running before the wind, maybe halfway down when the wind is on the aft quarter, and with it fully down when beating to windward.

A centreboard is a type of lifting keel used on most small sailing boats. It pivots in a housing, and has a lever projecting from the top end. When the centreboard is raised, the lever is forward and you pull it back to lower it ... you can have as much of the centreboard lowered as you like, moving the lever to any point from fully up to fully down.

The reason that the position of the centreboard or dagger board is important is that these small sailing boats are used mostly for racing, and you want the maximum performance you can get. If you are just going out for a sail, leave the centreboard fully down except when coming back to the beach, or of course if you run aground.

Small sailing boats are fun to sail, cost little, are robust, and as they are kept out of the water, require very little maintenance. The Lasers, Streakers and Europa are among those that have 'cat' rigs – just one sail, like a mainsail on a normal Bermudian rig. They can still sail very fast, and can be sailed easily single-handed. They are used for single-handed racing.

Most other small sailing boats have a Bermudian rig, usually with a small jib and fairly large mainsail. The exception is the Mirror Dinghy which has a gunter rig – the mainsail is hoisted up the mast and a spar that goes almost vertically from the top of the mast. The shape of the sails is almost the same as the Bermudian, but this rig was chosen because the mast is shorter making the boat easier to store at home and transport to the water.

Small sailing boats come is all sizes, shapes and weights. Some are built with a gaff rig, some with the gunter rig, some with cat rigs, and most with Bermudian rigs – there are even some with two masts, each with a cat rig.

The great thing about small sailing boats is that you can take them to the shore easily and launch single handed. This hardly takes any time – and then you are sailing. Mostly, small sailing boats are used for racing, or for short cruises of a couple of hours, but some people have cruised across oceans in modified sailing boats like the Waverley and Drascombe.

So if you want to get a boat and have limited funds – or no experience – a small sailing boat comes highly recommended.