What makes a boat a cutter

The Revenue Cutter Service enforced customs regulations and other maritime laws. Their vessels had to be fast to be able to chase smugglers and have shallow draft, so they could get into the smaller bays and inlets along the coast. Today, all vessels in the Coast Guard fleet 65 feet and longer are called cutters. As part of the Naval Act of , the US Congress authorized the building of six ships to establish a permanent navy. The cutter sailing rig became so ubiquitous for these tasks that the modern-day motorised vessels now engaged in these duties are known as 'cutters'.

Cutters were widely used by several navies in the 17th and 18th centuries and were usually the smallest commissioned ships in the fleet. As with cutters in general they were distinguished by their large fore-aft sail plans with multiple headsails, usually carried on a very long bowsprit, which was sometimes as long as half the length of the boat's hull. The rig gave the cutter excellent maneuverability and they were much better at sailing to windward than a larger square rigged ship.

Larger naval cutters often had the ability to hoist two or three square-rigged sails from their mast to improve their downwind sailing performance as well. Navies used cutters for coastal patrol, customs duties, escort, carrying personnel and dispatches and for small 'cutting out' raids.

As befitted their size and intended role naval cutters were lightly armed, often with between six and twelve small cannon or carronades in the Royal Navy.

In the rating system of the Royal Navy 'cutter' was the lowest classification, coming below the sloop-of-war as an 'unrated' vessel. Under the system a 'cutter' was commanded by a lieutenant who would be the only commissioned officer on board.

HMS Bounty was classed as a cutter under the command of Lieutenant William Bligh despite being a true ship with three square rigged masts. In America, customs cutters were commonly schooners or brigs. In Britain, they were usually rigged as defined under Sailing above. Since longer passages usually means encountering heavier weather, the cutter rig can be the perfect choice to have a ready-to-go balanced sailplan when the wind picks up. They are not quite as easy to tack as sloops, but since cruisers go for days without tacking, the ability to quickly furl the yankee and have a small staysail up in a stiff breeze is worth the sacrifice.

Cutter rig fans also enjoy the balance it provides. A small staysail set farther back on the boat and a reefed main is a very solid arrangement on a windy day and for cruisers who want to be comfortable in knots, this is important. Also, a staysail makes heaving-to easier — this is a task far more utilized by the cruising sailor.

The cutter rig, especially a gaff rig version where the sails aft of the mast was divided between a mainsail below the gaff and a topsail above, was useful for sailing with small crews as the total sail area was divided into smaller individual sails.

These could be managed without the need for large crews, winches , or complex tackles , making the cutter especially suitable for pilot, customs and coast guard duties. For example, a pilot cutter may only have two people on board for its outward trip—the pilot to be delivered to a ship and an assistant who had to sail the cutter back to port single-handed.

The cutter sailing rig became so ubiquitous for these tasks that the modern-day motorised vessels now engaged in these duties are known as 'cutters'. The open cutter carried aboard naval vessels in the 18th Century was rowed by pairs of men sitting side-by-side on benches. The cutter, with its transom , was broader in proportion compared to the longboat , which had finer lines.

They are 34 feet 10 m long with a beam of 4 ft 6 in 1. The organisers of the Great River Race developed the modern version in the s and now many of the fleet of 24 compete annually in this "Marathon of the River".

Cutter races are also to be found at various town rowing and skiffing regattas. In addition the cutters perform the role of ceremonial Livery Barges with the canopies and armorial flags flying on special occasions. Cutters have been used for record-breaking attempts and crews have achieved record times for sculling the English Channel 2hrs 42mins in and for sculling non-stop from London to Paris 4days 15minutes in A pulling cutter was a boat carried by sailing ships for work in fairly sheltered water in which load-carrying capacity was needed, for example in laying a kedge.

This operation was the placing of a relatively light anchor at a distance from the ship so as to be able to haul her off in its direction. The oars were double-banked. That is, there were two oarsmen on each thwart. In a seaway, the longboat was preferred to the cutter as the finer lines of the stern of the former meant that it was less likely to broach to in a following sea.