Sailing Smack Fishing Boat was originally designed as work boat.
The Smack fishing sailboat evolved and had their origin in
and around the County of Essex where they were built, owned and fished. The sizes
of these sailboats were from about 12 tons to over 20 tons. They were cutter
rigged boats used for estuary dredging, trawling, oystering and coastal
fishing.
A typical Smack of about 15 tons was about 45’ x 12’ x 6’
and the hull differed in design depending on the type of fishing it was built
for. All ballast was inside the boat and of shingle and iron pigs. The front of
the boat had storage for sails, ropes and stores entered from a deck hatch. The
fish hold was amid ship and the crew quarters were in a cabin aft. The cabin hatch
was immediately forward of the tiller.
The basic design and cutter sail set made the Smack a good,
very fast, seaworthy work boat.
Oyster dredging was one of the principal uses for Smacks.
The oyster men were independent and no companies were created. The result was a
large fleet of independently owned cutter’s and this system was in place for
many years.
As yachting became popular the Smack boat builders of the Essex
area started building sailboats for racing and pleasure boating. Some of the
fastest racing yachts were built by the Smack boat builders.
The long sleek low look of today’s sailing yachts
owe much to the Sailing Smack Work Fishing Boat.
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