Every now and then my friend Maurice disappears into his shed or garage and builds a boat. No one knows why he does this when it is much easier just to buy a new or used boat, but I guess he likes to get exactly what he wants and he obviously enjoys the process.

After all, there aren’t many Medway Dobles or sprit sail dinghies on the market.

He simply says to those around that he feels a boat coming on and off he goes into his shed again.

If he’s not building a new boat, he will find an old one that he can modify.

His preference is for working boats with traditional rigs such as the double-ended Medway Doble which is a derivative of the Peter Boat.

The Medway Doble was used by the fishermen of Strood, Rochester and Chatham and had a fish well to keep the fish fresh.

The Medway Doble. The self-tacking jib on the gaff rig means the boat can easily be sailed solo. Credit: Paul Fisher

Usually, Dobles were 18ft to 19ft long with the mast stepped well forward and they carried a sprit sail with a snotter – a device for adjusting the set of the sail. They may also use a small jib.

These double-ended dobles were also called doubles because their fish well divided the cockpit into two distinct sections, one for the fish and the other for the crew.

It is believed that the name Doble is derived from Double. Sounds feasible to me.

I like a double-ended boat for the following reasons: they can be useful in a following sea, they look good, are easier to paint and they row well. Not so good is their initial frail stability, and their lack of a transom prevents the easy mounting of an outboard motor.

However, my own double-ended yawl never needed a motor because she rowed brilliantly.

Selway Fisher Design provides plans for building many traditional boats including a smaller version of the Medway Doble.

Clive’s friend, Maurice, launches his home-built Medway Doble. Credit: Clive Marsh

Paul Fisher provided the drawing of his version. Visit the Selway Fisher website and as well as traditional boat designs you’ll also find some fine art.

The Medway Doble built by Maurice had a very small V-shaped transom and was about 12ft 6in long.

It was just about car topable and although I have now given up with this method of transporting a boat it saves the hassle of trailing in exchange for a hernia.

About the build, Maurice said: “I always found Paul Fisher very helpful on all three boats that I built. There were no pre-cut CNC kits then and I had to loft out the panel shapes from 8×4 ft ply boards all from a series of dimensions in numbers on stations, but it was the traditional way of doing things.

“The first boat had old-time measurements, eg 2-7-5 meant 2 feet, 7 inches and 5 eighths. For subsequent boats, the dimensions were given in metric.’’

Regarding the sprit rig, this can be very handy when one wants to put away the sails easily in a crowded river which is why Thames Barges use them.

They’re particularly useful in a small boat where the last thing you want is a load of canvas and spars dumped around your feet while trying to row.

Thames sailing barges use a sprit rig for ease of dropping sails in a crowded river. Credit: R Hughes/Alamy

This is what Maurice has to say about the Doble’s sprit sail: “It’s easy to brail up to take the sprit and the sail up to the mast, with a release shackle at the stern so the mainsheet could be completely clear of the boat aft of the mast. I put in an extra brail lower down, so by pulling that the bunt of the sail was close to the mast and didn’t need lashing. All done from the helm.”

This rig is also favoured by many of our sailing chums across the Channel with their growing interest in sail and oar dinghies.

Sprit sails go back a long way in time and can be seen in many old maritime paintings.

They have a short mast and on a small boat it might be possible to avoid a halyard and just fix/lace the sail directly on to an unstayed mast.

The set of the sail can be adjusted by means of a snotter at the lower end of the sprit. Lower for a bit more belly and raise for a flatter sail.

A sprit sail may not be as close-winded as a Bermudan sail but will be very competitive downwind because the rig is lower and the boat will heel less – most boats go faster when sailed upright.

However, some boat tests have found that the sprit sail outperforms the Bermudan sail on all points of sailing.

So, I wouldn’t worry too much about performance comparisons; the sprit rig derived from working boats is all about making life simple and this is why it’s a good choice for a cruising dinghy.

The Chamberlain Gunning Dory, built in 1983; note the sprit sail rig. Credit: Courtesy of Christopher Cunningham, Small Boats

Experimenting with rigs and sail plans is part of the fun of boat ownership and you can find the rig that suits the intended use of your boat.

Another fine small double-ended boat with a sprit sail is the Chamberlain Gunning Dory that Christopher Cunningham built for his father in 1983.

The plans are in John Gardner’s Building Classic Small Craft. Christopher Cunningham has kindly supplied the photo (above) which clearly demonstrates the simplicity and usefulness of a sprit rig in a small boat.

If you don’t have the time to make a traditional boat you can buy the hull of a working boat (something like a Sussex Beach Boat) and rig her with a short mast, a square sail, sprit boom and snotter and see how she sails.

To avoid undertaking serious surgery to the hull you could just fit leeboards although one traditional working boat I rigged sailed well enough with no boards and gave little leeway as long as she was sailed upright.

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