Tom Jones is a professional boat builder, designer and writer. A sailor all his life, he has made 6 transatlantic crossings in boats of his own design and construction, and has written several books, including Multihull Voyaging.

I am not given to tantrums but what really provokes major wobblies are those unrequested emails, with umpteen high-res images attached which take forever to download. One such started coming in a while back and more in anger than in sorrow, I picked up this book. Mr. Jones so calmed me down that when the Mac pinged a whole hour later, I paused briefly to bin the email unopened and returned immediately to his book.What is it, I wonder, which makes boat designers such good writers? On the face of it, a book which discusses the design and construction of a selections of simple small boats, daysailers, outboard runabouts, slender motorboats and simple multihulls may not seem like the stuff of real reading. Informative perhaps but like a computer mag, not something anyone would actually enjoy in a literary way? But Tom Jones combines the instruction with insights into why boats are shaped the way they are and with all kinds of anecdotes and digressions. The best part of the practical stuff is that six of the craft described come with building plans; the best part of the personal writing comes in an appreciation of Phil Bolger. One for the boatshop and beach.