Pilot Cutters Under Sail: Pilots and Pilotage in Britain and Northern Europe

Tom Cunliffe

Jul 2013 · Seaforth Publishing

About this ebook

The popular sailing journalist celebrates the 19th century pilot cutters that operated across the UK and Northern Europe in this illustrated history. The pilot cutters that operated around the coasts of northern Europe until the First World War were some of the most seaworthy and beautiful craft ever built. With a hull and rig of particular elegance, their speed and close-windedness bought them an enviable reputation. Though many were lost, the few that survived have inspired yacht designers, sailors and traditional craft enthusiasts over the last century.

Pilot Cutters Under Sail pays tribute to these remarkable vessels with a detailed history of their development and use on the rough waters of the European seaboard. Sailing expert Tom Cunliffe describes the ships themselves, their masters and crews, and the skills they needed for the competitive and dangerous work of pilotage. He explains the differences between the craft of disparate coasts—from the Scilly Isles and the Bristol Channel to northern France and the wild coastline of Norway. Woven into the history of their development are the stories of the men who sailed them.

About the author

Tom Cunliffe is Britain’s leading sailing writer. He is a worldwide authority on sailing instruction and an expert on traditional sailing craft. His hints and tips could help all yachtsmen! He has crossed oceans in simple boats without engines or electronics and voyaged to both sides of the Atlantic from Brazil to Iceland and from the Caribbean to Russia. He has cruised the coast of America and Canada and logged thousands of miles exploring both sides of the English Channel. Tom’s nautical career has seen him serve as mate on a merchant ship, captain on gentleman’s yachts and skipper of racing craft. His private passion is classic sailing boats and he has owned a series of traditional gaff-rigged vessels that have taken him and his family on countless adventures from tropical rainforests to frozen fjords. Tom has been a Yachtmaster Examiner since 1978 and has a gift for sharing his knowledge with good humour and an endless supply of tales of the sea. He also writes for Yachting Monthly, Yachting World and SAIL magazines, and wrote and presented the BBC TV series, The Boats That Built Britain.