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A skiff is any of a variety of essentially unrelated styles of small boats. Traditionally, these are coastal craft or river craft used for leisure, as a utility craft, and for fishing, and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have developed into high performance competitive classes. Many of today's skiff classes are based in Australia and New Zealand in the form of , , and skiffs. The 29er, 49er, SKUD and
Musto Skiff The Musto Skiff is a single-handed sailing skiff with a length of . It features a trapeze, asymmetrical spinnaker, wings and low weight and achieves speeds of over , which makes it one of the fastest single-handed sailing boats. History It was ...
are all considered to have developed from the skiff concept, all of which are sailed internationally. The term skiff is also used for a racing shell called
single scull A single scull (or a scull) is a rowing boat designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to mini ...
for competitive rowing.


Etymology

The word is related to ''ship'' and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" comes from the
Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...
''skif'', which derives from the
Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...
''esquif'', which in turn derives from the Old Italian ''schifo'', which is itself of Germanic origin (German ''Schiff''). "Ship" comes from the
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...
"scip", which has the same Germanic predecessor.


Traditional boats—United Kingdom

The term has been used for a number of styles of craft round the United Kingdom, often small river and sea going craft. They varied from double ended rowing boats to small sailing boats. The poet John Milton refers to a 'night foundered skiff' in '' Paradise Lost'' as early as 1670. There are references to skiffs on the River Thames (as a result of accidents) as early as 1812 and 1824 at Oxford. In August 1815, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was taken on an expedition by skiff from Old Windsor to
Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that contin ...
by Charles Clairmont and
Thomas Love Peacock Thomas Love Peacock (18 October 1785 – 23 January 1866) was an English novelist, poet, and official of the East India Company. He was a close friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley and they influenced each other's work. Peacock wrote satirical novels, ...
. He subsequently settled at Marlow where he regularly rowed his skiff through the locks. Shelley later drowned sailing in a skiff off the coast of Italy. It was also used in the
Lady of the Lake The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...
by Sir
Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...
. The
Thames skiff A Thames skiff is a traditional River Thames wooden rowing boat used for the activity of skiffing. These boats evolved from Thames wherries in the Victorian era to meet a passion for river exploration and leisure outings on the water. Construc ...
became formalised as a specific design in the early part of the 19th century. It is a round-bottom
clinker-built Clinker built (also known as lapstrake) is a method of boat building where the edges of hull planks overlap each other. Where necessary in larger craft, shorter planks can be joined end to end, creating a longer strake or hull plank. The techni ...
rowing boat that is still very common on the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
and other rivers in England. Rowing skiffs became very popular in Victorian Britain and a skiff journey up the River Thames features in '' Three Men in a Boat'' by
Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...
, These skiffs could carry a sail and could be used for camping. Although general usage has declined, skiffs are still used for leisure and racing. During the year,
skiffing Skiffing refers to the sporting and leisure activity of rowing (or more correctly sculling) a Thames skiff. The skiff is a traditional hand built clinker-built wooden craft of a design which has been seen on the River Thames and other waterways ...
regattas are held in various riverside towns in England—the major event being the
Skiff Championships Regatta The Skiff Championships Regatta is the premier skiff racing regatta on the River Thames in England. It is held annually at Henley on the Sunday of August Bank Holiday weekend. Events and course The regatta is run under the rules of the Skiff ...
at Henley. Akin to the skiff is the
yoal The yoal, often referred to as the ness yoal, is a clinker-built craft used traditionally in Shetland, Scotland. It is designed primarily for rowing, but also handles well under its traditional square sail when running before the wind or on a broad ...
or yole which is a clinker built boat used for fishing in the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The boat itself is a version of the Norwegian Oselvar which is similar to a skiff in appearance, while the word is cognate with "
yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...
". The French '' yole'' is a leisure craft similar to the Thames Skiff and is translated as "skiff", while the French '' skiff'' translates to a
single scull A single scull (or a scull) is a rowing boat designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to mini ...
. In Dutch and German, "Skiff" also means a single scull, while Czech '' skif'' refers to sculling boats in general. Regattas also take place across Northern Ireland with one of the largest being held in
Portadown Portadown () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town sits on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population of a ...
but smaller events take place throughout the year across County Down.


Traditional boats—Americas

In American usage, the term is used to apply to small sea-going fishing boats. It is referred to historically in literature in ''
Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant whi ...
'' by
Herman Melville Herman Melville ( born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); ''Typee'' (1846), a rom ...
and ''
The Old Man and the Sea ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a novella written by the American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cayo Blanco (Cuba), and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction written by Hemingway that was published during his lifetime. O ...
'' by
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...
. Hardcover: , paperback: The skiff could be powered by sails as well as
oar An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Rowers grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles is that oars are used exclusively for rowing. In rowing the oar is connecte ...
s. One usage of skiff is to refer to a typically small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and a flat stern originally developed as an inexpensive and easy to build boat for use by inshore
fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...
. Originally designed to be powered by rowing, their form has evolved so that they are efficiently powered by
outboard motor An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...
s. The design is still in common use today for both work and pleasure craft. They can be made of wood or other materials. There is a similar style of craft in Central America and
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, generally called a panga.


Piracy and smuggling

The term skiff has been applied to motorized boats of small size and construction used as sea-going vessels for
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
or
drug smuggling The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...
.


Racing sailing boats

The skiff with a sail has developed into specific sailing boats bearing the name "skiff". In Sydney, the term was used for a number of racing classes (sizes from 6 ft to 23 ft have existed). These were originally heavily crewed and canvassed boats that were relatively short for the canvas and crew carried and were developed from working boats of the time. This style of boat is still active in the form of Historical 10 foot and 18 foot classes. The skiff classes developed to become much lighter and faster with relatively smaller (but still very large by any other standards) rigs and smaller crews. 12ft Skiff, 13 ft Skiff, 16ft Skiff, and
18ft Skiff The 18 ft Skiff is considered the fastest class of sailing skiffs. The class has a long history beginning with races on Sydney Harbour, Australia in 1892 and later in New Zealand. The boat has changed significantly since the early days, bring ...
classes are raced in that form. With two crew on the 12 and 13 footer and three on the 16 and 18 these are still heavily crewed boats for their size. Modern developments began with the introduction of carbon fibre reinforced composite hulls, allowing for a significant reduction in weight, and an increase in rigidity. Following this, the use of carbon in masts and rigging allowed for more sail area, and better gust response. Moulded sails are being tested in both 12 ft and 16 ft skiffs, with most modern Australian 18 ft Skiffs utilising the new technology. Because the modern 18s have such a high profile, the term skiff is widely used internationally to refer to other high-performance
sailing dinghy Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls: * the sails * the foils (i.e. the daggerboard or centreboard and rudder and sometimes lifting foils as found on the Moth) * the trim (forward/rear angle o ...
classes, mostly featuring
asymmetrical spinnaker An asymmetrical spinnaker is a sail used when sailing downwind. Also known as an "asym", "aspin", or "A-sail" it can be described as a cross between a genoa jib and a spinnaker. It is asymmetric like a genoa, but, the asymmetrical spinnaker is not ...
and
trapeze A trapeze is a short horizontal bar hung by ropes or metal straps from a ceiling support. It is an aerial apparatus commonly found in circus performances. Trapeze acts may be static, spinning (rigged from a single point), swinging or flying, an ...
which have been strongly influenced by modern skiffs. Examples include: Cherub Skiff, International 14, 29er, and 49er. These boats tend to be less heavily crewed in relation to their length than the traditional Australian Skiff Classes. The term is even used for some single-handed boats like the
Musto Skiff The Musto Skiff is a single-handed sailing skiff with a length of . It features a trapeze, asymmetrical spinnaker, wings and low weight and achieves speeds of over , which makes it one of the fastest single-handed sailing boats. History It was ...
which are far removed from the heavily crewed original boats. The SKUD 18 is a two-person
keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open w ...
which claims strong influence from skiff development.SKUD 18
This made its debut in the
2008 Paralympic Games The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...
. In the International
Moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
class the term skiff is used to distinguish designs that have an essentially vertical bow from
scow A scow is a smaller type of barge. Some scows are rigged as sailing scows. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, scows carried cargo in coastal waters and inland waterways, having an advantage for navigating shallow water or small harbours. S ...
designs, which have a broadly horizontal bow.


References


External links

{{gutenberg, no=308, name=Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome
World of Boat (EISCA) Collection ~ Westray Skiff
Boat types