Love him or not, Tristan Jones has voyaged a great many miles in small boats. In "Encounters of a Wayward Sailor" he writes about his favourite boat:-
"Banjo was the sailboat I loved most of all. She was 25 feet LOA. She was the most kind, considerate, the most forgiving, and certainly the sweetest sailer of them all. She was so sweet and easy I could paddle her forward in a calm at a knot-and-a-half with her rudder only, by wiggling her helm back and forth. She could steer herself as if she had taken courses at it in some sailing school. A Folkboat of Norwegian design, she was built of Sumatran teak over grown oak frames. Her deep keel of lead gave her stability that we don't find much these days in boats twice her length. She used to grip head seas like a terrier gnarling a dog-lead, and in a high wind, three reefs in the main, she would worry the living daylight out of any seas, so they had to give way to her. I never knew a boat in which I felt myself more a part of the sea as I did in Banjo. She was a fighter that one! What a lovely shape she was. Her build, her sail plan, her gear, her accommodation and everything about her was the essence of simplicity...Banjo's main drawback was her headroom, 5' 3" ... she seemed to know when I was returning to her down the jetty ... she used to sing me to sleep. I loved her so."
Favourable words for the Folkboat's; self-steering, stability and ability to make way in strong headwinds. I should like to go back and read "Saga of a Wayward Sailor" knowing that Banjo was a Folkboat.
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