best skiff

So anyway...... they are just rowing boats with sails on.....

Skiff/skif/n. A rowing boat or sculling boat, of wood; that can be propelled by one person (single), or two (doubles), rowing one pair of oars (blades) per person. Can be used for leisure outings and for competitive racing.

Appeared on the Thames over 150 years ago.

I think that about does it.  Thankyou and good night

Edited by Pierre

Sorry 2 should have been the other way around.

There is no such thing as skiff type,either you are or you wish to be associated with us!!

Laser 2 cannot comply with any of the above.

aust cherub is not a skiff in the true sense but a feeder class to other more powerful skiff classes.

29er, 49er cannot comply with any of the above as,

1 strict ONE design

2 well accepted by the establishment (Olympics)

3 history nil before mid 1990's

4 NOT ALLOWED TO DEVELOP unless approved by the Beithwatie, etc.marketing machine.

5. 49er was developed from the 18 "Prime" 2 handed 18ft Skiff

skiffs have always developed the OLD/ original 18 rule were.

a race starts a 2pm

b boat must have "colour patch" on sail

c boat on waterline to be 18ft

d there is no d

ABOVE ALL IS YOUR CLASS NAME 49er Skiff, B14 Skiff, RS 400 Skiff etc. no they are 49er B14 RS400. Musto Skiff, we don't get them down here?

I wish/ demand that marketing machines give back the name SKIFF to the people who started all this "NO LIMITS SAILING".

refer my previous post there should be a futher point

8. no ideal crew size/ combination.

the ideal in a 49er for example is extra tall 6ft+ due to the weight equalization rules. example Adrienne Cahalan steered 12s and then 18s she only small 65-70 and about 5'7" and competitve.

I'm glad somone started this cause I was getting a bit peved at all this 49er "skiff" type crap

Lastly we don't call a 49er a skiff there a 49er... end of story.

Hang on mate, in 2 are you saying its a skiff if you are accepted by the Yottie establishment? Surely it should be the opposite!

For my money a skiff is a 1 footer, 6footer, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 22, 24 etc.

I think however its useful to define a "skiff type", which is a boat that is linearly descended from/involved in the development of the 12,14,16,18 through the fifties on, and also in closely related Kiwi Q, M, R classes. You've got in that sequence designers like Beashel, Bethwaite, Bowler, Farr, Lexcen/Miller, Murray etc etc. There are a number of features that are common - light weight, planing performance emphasised etc etc. Arguably Britannia and the other 30s Skiffs aren't skiff types in that sense, but of course they are Skiffs! Similarly a Hungry Tiger or Axeman Moth is a Skiff in a different sense, but also not a skiff type

There are very gray definitions in that - the Laser 2 is very much involved in that lineage but in no way is a skiff type, Cherubs probably weren't really skiff types till the Murray/Wop era, 29er, 49er definitely are, RS800 is, RS400, Laser 5000 aren't and so on. But I do think this is a more useful term than arguing of whether it is or isn't a skiff, because the phrase has been used for so very many types of boats over the years.

Hi Jack,

 

R Class…..  Will have to find out more about the history of this class.  New Zealand based class.  Looks like either they separated from the 12s and have a lot more restrictions or the 12’ skiffs separated from the R Class creating an ‘Outlaw class”

 

3.7 Skiff….  What…..  Should never use metric in boating    Just not cool.

 

As far as the UK Cherub.  They are moving closer and closer towards the 12’ skiff.  Why did they not just dump the Cherub name and adopt the 12 skiff or R class Rules.  Too big of a jump to quick I guess.  Also I'd imagine a lot of class pride.  Anyway the UK and AUS Cherub can race as a 12’ skiff in any event ( non ISAF aproved) including a 12’ skiff event as with most 12 dinghy classes.  They will however be disadvantaged.

 

I guess you have to grow up in with the Aussie skiff scene to understand. No offence to other classes but …..  To most AUS / NZ skiffies, the term skiff refers to a name of boat and its culture and not just to describe the sailing characteristics of a class that already has a name.

 

Cheers

This is currnetly being discused on Sailing Anarchy.  Check out this link and below is my latest post.

 

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=213 95&st=50

 

 

For me, a skiff is ONLY one of the home grown 12, 14, 16 or 18s modern and Historical. (also historical 6,8 and 10 footers)

 

A 49er is called a 49er

A Cherub is called a cherub.

 

What do you call a 12 foot skiff if you don't call it a skiff?????

 

49er, UK Cherub, RS800 may be skiff like in performance but I don't believe they should be called skiffs.  Skiff like but not skiff.

 

For me skiffs are all about Sydney Harbour and Brisbane River, clubs filled with pokies, paid crews, spectator fairies, heavy drinking and late starts to accommodate , raw uncompromising men (that’ll knock you on the head if you try and call a 49er a Skiff), boat advertising, no sail numbers, non ISAF recognised, class off their own.

 

Would like to here more thoughts from some of the Aussie skiff guys.