10 YACHTS AND DAY BOATS UNDER 23FT
The classic boat scene has evolved massively in the past 20 years, but the area that has been through the most intense development is the trailer-sailer category. Quite simply, there is no other type of boat that allows you to do so much for so little. Some are little more than dinghies, yet have made extraordinary voyages. Think of Ernest Shackleton and his crew sailing 800 miles to South Georgia in a 22ft open boat. Think of Frank Dye sailing from Scotland to Iceland in a Wayfarer. And then think of the proliferation of ‘raids’ around the world, small boats sailing in company in coastal waters. This is where adventure sailing thrives.
The grandfather of modern small-boat cruising has to be the oft-maligned Designed by John Watkinson in 1965 and in more or less continuous production ever since, the class is said to number more than 2,000 boats. OK, it might not be, all around Greece and wrote a best-selling book which set the scene for countless others to follow. Webb Chiles was even more adventurous sailing his Drascombe Luggers and most of the way round the world, from the UK to the Canaries via Australia – including surviving a capsize in the Pacific. Nuff said.
