The Celebration of a British Revival
Gaff cutters with hulls built of oak, elm, and pitch pine, the pilot cutters...
No. 311
July/August 2026
On the cover of our July/August 2026 issue, Nic Compton explores the revival of racing pilot cutters new and old in northwestern England. Also in this issue: The second and final installment of our series on building the Church Mouse Skiff, in which we complete the hull and build the rig; the newly launched 15′ RÆDWALD is a camp-cruiser with an attitude; we profile Capt. Phil Fessenden and his bluefin tuna boats; read how Nat Benjamin and Ross Gannon rebuilt WHEN AND IF—Gen. George Patton’s ultimate schooner; we take you aboard MARISKA; and so much more!
In This Issue
Features
The Reincarnations of WHEN AND IF
WHEN AND IF designed by John G. Alden and George Patton closely supervised her...
RÆDWALD
RÆDWALD is a camp-cruiser with attitude, achieves high performance under a traditional gaff rig,...
Capt. Phil Fessenden
Phil Fessenden built boats in winter months and operated a fishing-charter business in summer,...
Aboard: MARISKA
MARISKA was built to race in the 15-Meter class, designed by William Fife III, in her...
Building Church Mouse
Part 2
The second and final installment of building the Church Mouse, The hull is completed...
Departments
Beauty, Good Handling, and Relevance
Bristol Channel pilot cutter, CARIAD, the Pilot Cutter Review, the Alden schooner WHEN AND IF, and The bluefin-tuna-fishing...
Letters to the Editor: July/August 2026
Tribute to Chesapeake Light Craft, sailing the Norfolk Broads, a fleet of Leaders, Wayfarers,...
Harnesses, Tethers, and Jacklines
Secure yourself along jacklines strategically strung fore-and-aft, moving from one affixed section to another with tethers working in...
Decay Resistance—a Matter of Degree?
The global timber trade included multitudes of tree species and began just after World...
Launchings: July/Aug 2026
Boat Launchings is dedicated to sharing recently launched or relaunched wooden boats built or...
Candlefish 16 and 18
Sam Devlin’s Candlefish designs for large tiller-steered outboards with strong traditional sheerline with real...
The Wreck of the Mentor
A story of death, despair and deliverance in the Age of Sail a richly...
Afloat
David Gange’s book, Afloat: Small Boats, Swell & North Atlantic Seaspray a human perspective on...
The Cutter DAYBREAK
DAYBREAK is a standardized cutter called Mystic Islanders built in Mystic, Connecticut, they are...
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