A classic flat-bottom skiff in Maine.

Single and double Thames skiffs on the Thames.

29er High performance sailing skiff

The term skiff is used, and has been used, to refer to many various types of small boats.

The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: it comes from the Middle English skif, which derives from the Old French esquif, which in turn derives from the Old Italian schifo, which is itself of Germanic origin. A ship /ʃɪp/ is a large vessel that floats on water Ships are generally distinguished from Boats based on size Middle English is the name given by Historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages.

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 by Herman Melville and The Old Man of the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway. Moby-Dick is an 1851 Novel by Herman Melville. The story tells the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whaleship Herman Melville (August 1 1819 &ndash September 28 1891 was an American novelist Short story writer Essayist and poet The Old Man and the Sea is a Novella (just over 100 pages in length by Ernest Hemingway, written in Cuba in 1951 and published in Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21 1899 — July 2 1961 was an American novelist short-story writer, and Journalist. The skiff could be powered by sails as well as oars. One current 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. The bow (pronounced &mdashrhymes with how) is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a Ship or Boat, The stern is the rear or aft part of a Ship or Boat, technically defined as the area built up over the Sternpost, extending upwards from the Counter A fisherman or fisher is someone who gathers Fish, Shellfish, or other animals from a body of water Originally designed to be powered by rowing, their form has evolved so that they are efficiently powered by outboard motors. An outboard motor is a propulsion system for smaller Boats General uses Outboard motors for a Boat are developed as a self-contained The design is still in common use today for both work and pleasure craft.

The Thames skiff is a round-bottom clinker-built rowing boat that is still very common on the River Thames and other rivers in England. A Thames skiff is a traditional River Thames wooden Rowing boat used for the activity of Skiffing. Clinker building is a method of constructing hulls of Boats and Ships by fixing Wooden planks and in the early nineteenth century The Thames ( is a major River flowing through southern England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It features in Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome the book about a journey up the Thames, During the year, skiffing regattas are held in various river-side towns in England - the major event being the Skiff Championships at Henley. Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog, published in 1889 is a humorous account by Jerome K Jerome Klapka Jerome ( May 2, 1859 – June 14, 1927) was an English writer and Humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Skiffing refers to the sporting and leisure activity of rowing (or more correctly Sculling) a Thames skiff.

The term skiff is also used to refer to a type of high performance sailing dinghy, one that usually features an asymmetrical spinnaker and requires that the crew use a trapeze to help balance the boat. Dinghy sailing is the activity of Sailing small boats by using (1 the Sails and (2 underwater foils ( Daggerboard or Centreboard A spinnaker is a special type of Sail that is designed specifically for Sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind i In Sailing, the trapeze refers to a wire that comes from a point high on the mast, usually where the shrouds are fixed to a hook on the crew member's harness Examples include: Cherub Skiff,12ft Skiff, International 14 (14ft skiff), 16ft Skiff, 18ft Skiff, 29er, 29erXX, 49er, Musto Skiff

There is a Central American/Mexican version of a skiff, generally called a Panga. The Cherub is a small high performance two-man Planing Dinghy first designed in 1951 in New Zealand by John Spencer (d 1994 The International 14 is 14-foot double-handed dinghy. The class originated in England in the early part of the 20th century The 18ft Skiff is considered the fastest class of sailing skiffs The 29er is a Skiff designed by Julian Bethwaite and first produced in 1998 The 29erXX is a high performance sailing Skiff, it was designed to allow light crews particularly female crews to sail twin trapeze boats and as a training boat for the more powerfull The 49er is a newer One-design class of small sailing dinghy. The Musto Skiff is a single-handed Sailing Skiff with a length of 4 This article is about the small watercraft used by commercial fishermen in Central America

External links

• Cherub skiff
• 49er skiff
• 29er skiff
• Astus 14.1 skiff
• Musto skiff