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Pilot cutters are the vessels that worked the coastline between the Isles of Scilly and Bristol during the latter part of the 19th Century. Their primary role was to deliver local harbour pilots to large ships which they would then manoeuvre safely into port, but they were also used to transport valuable cargoes to shore or when speed was of the essence.
Back then, many pilots were local fishermen and the work was freelance so the first pilot to arrived secured the work, necessitating the need for the fastest possible vessel. It was literally a race to the prize. Pilot cutters developed into sleek, fast, single masted boats, and were the perfect inspiration for our 6’4″ single fin.
The Otter Cutter is a 6’4″ x 20 3/4″ x 2 1/2″ rounded pin tail with a flat bottom that runs into a vee through the tail past the single fin. The Cutter is one of closest boards that we make to a standard shortboard, and it is designed as a good wave board; it’s an ideal surfboard to travel with. It carries enough volume to get in to head high plus waves nice and early, and the rocker line and template are designed for speed runs and drawn out, on-rail, turns. This is the high line flyer that should be under your feet in all of those point break day dreams, the ones where you fade, set-up, race and repeat until your legs ache. Just imagine it…
Check out the Cutter here.
We completed workshop number 112 in 2024, here's a huge thank you to everyone who joined us to come and make their own wooden surfboard!
Here's Jonathan to tell you what it was like joining us in our workshop to make a wooden surfboard...
