Storm 15: first choose your craft

This project needed a special boat. Most importantly, it had to look good. This might sound like a strange thing to have as the top priority, but there is no excuse for any boat designed for pleasure to be ugly. It ought to be a pleasure to anyone who sees it as well as the one inside it. Also, working, as I do, for a magazine like Classic Boat, a celebration of the beauty of boats, sailing a tub could be a firing offence! Secondly, the boat had to sail well (actually, most small boats do) and row well - most small boats don't. I was lucky enough to be lent my ideal boat: the impossibly pretty Storm 15, designed and built by Swallow Boats in Wales. Nick and Matt Newland, of Swallow Boats, have been designing and building pretty, but fast and modern, sailing dinghies and 'mini-yachts' for about ten years. They are both naval architects, and strive for perfection over profit in their work, like so many enthusiast boatbuilders. The Storm 15's lineage dates back to the Vikings, something that is apparent in her 'double-ended' design; IE sharp at both ends. This makes it easily propelled in light winds and by oars. It won't fly in a gale, but to consistently be able to move at a good pace and make the most of the slightest zephyr is a far more important consideration in a project of this sort. The boat also had to have a short mast in order to shoot (or go under) bridges. The Storm 15 is gunter-rigged, meaning that the gaff, or mast extension, can be lowered without lowering the whole mast. The whole mast, being free-standing is, however, easy enough to lower or raise for really low bridges. The boat had to be light too: I have to handle her on my own, and at two points along the journey, manhandle it over short land portages. Storm 15 only weighs 100kgs, which is a huge advantage over some dinghies in the size bracket, which can weigh up to twice that. Finally, I am hoping to spend a night or two aboard. The Storm has enough space between the side seats to lie down and snug down for the night, with a tent slung over the boom to provide shelter and privacy. Whether or not I can actually sleep in it is a different matter. I will find out when I pick up the boat on 22 May. For more on Swallow Boats click here.