Clinker Boats

A site dedicated to clinker-built boats

Wood is good

Discover a world of traditional boats

Hi, I’m an engineer and a sailor and in my spare time I restore small traditional boats, especially clinker-built ones! I have had a long term affection for the National Redwing racing dinghy and this little boat features often here…

About me

An electrical engineer of many years experience but always been interested in messing about in boats and as an impecunious schoolboy and mad about sailing I discovered an old clinker rowing dinghy that was destined for the bonfire was the cheapest way into sailing dinghy ownership. Many, many years later and I’m still ‘rescuing’ and restoring old boats and dinghies.

Latest posts

Redwing Spring Maintenance

I’m busy helping a few of our club members get our Redwings ready for the start of the 2026 sailing season. R241 ‘Shamrock’ came in for a minor cockpit coaming repair but because of the… Read more
‘Corianne’ A Shetland Isles skiff

I’ve added a page to the site describing a small boat that I’ve owned for many years: ‘Corianne’ was probably built in North Shetland sometime in the 1950s and is a small version of this… Read more
Redwing R30 ‘Talofa’

I’ve started some further work on Redwing no. 30 ‘Talofa’. She still needs a fair bit of work doing and there is quite a list of jobs. For now I have started some work on… Read more