Skiff

The term skiff is used for a number of essentially unrelated styles of small boat. Traditionally these are coastal or river craft used for leisure or fishing and have a one-person or small crew. Sailing skiffs have developed into high performance competitive classes.

The word is related to ship and has a complicated etymology: "skiff" 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 (German Schiff). "Ship" comes from the Old English "scip", which has the same Germanic predecessor. An even older root may be found in the Greek "σκάφος" (vessel).

The term has been used for a number of styles of craft round the United Kingdom, often small river and sea going craft. They varied from double ended rowing boats to small sailing boats.There are references to skiffs on the River Thames (as a result of accidents) as early as 1812 and 1824 at Oxford. In August 1815, the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley was taken on an expedition by skiff from Old Windsor to Lechlade by Charles Clairmont and Thomas Love Peacock. He subsequently settled at Marlow where he regularly rowed his skiff through the locks. Shelley later drowned sailing in a skiff off the coast of Italy. It was also used in the Lady of the Lake by Sir Walter Scott.

The Thames skiff became formalised as a specific design in the early part of the 19th century. It is a round-bottom clinker-built rowing boat that is still very common on the River Thames and other rivers in England. Rowing skiffs became very popular in Victorian Britain and a skiff journey up the River Thames features in Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, These skiffs could carry a sail and could be used for camping. Although general usage has declined, skiffs are still used for leisure and racing. During the year, skiffing regattas are held in various riverside towns in England—the major event being the Skiff Championships Regatta at Henley.

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