Small boats, big cruising

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