Small Craft Committee News

Safety Committee News contains reports of matters considered by the Safety Committee. Members may submit comments on any items, or propose a new item for consideration by the Committee, using the online submission form.

Innovation in Small Craft Design - A Tribute

Few sectors of the maritime industry have seen greater innovation in design than the small craft sector. Both commercial and recreational small craft have benefited from the inspirational ideas of designers - ideas which although perhaps considered revolutionary at the time, have had a longstanding impact on the design of small craft today.

As a tribute to those designers who have had such an impact on the small craft sector, the Small Craft Committee have commissioned a number of pen portraits of some of these designers. Some will be well known, others perhaps less so, but they have in common a significant contribution to the development of small craft design. That the Small Craft Committee has chosen to pay tribute to designers of the past is not to decry the achievements of today's designers, but to save them embarrassment. Nor indeed is the choice intended to value their contribution above that of designers. Rather, the choice has been based on the wish to illustrate the breadth of development in the design of small craft, and on the personal admiration of one or more members of the Committee. No doubt there are many others for whom such a tribute to their contribution would be equally deserved.

Innovation in Small Craft Design - A Tribute