
A cutter is any of various types of
watercraft. The term can refer to the
rig (sail plan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a
coast guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...
or border force cutter), to a type of
ship's boat which can be used under sail or oars, or, historically, to a type of fast-sailing vessel introduced in the 18th century, some of which were used as small warships.
As a sailing rig, a cutter is a single-masted boat, with two or more headsails. On the eastern side of the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...
, the two headsails on a single mast is the fullest extent of the modern definition. In U.S. waters, a greater level of complexity applies, with the placement of the mast and the rigging details of the bowsprit taken into account so a boat with two headsails may be classed as a
sloop.
Government agencies use the term "cutter" for vessels employed in patrolling their territorial waters and other enforcement activities. This terminology is derived from the sailing cutters which had this sort of role from the 18th century to the end of the 19th century. (See below.) Whilst the details vary from country to country, generally these are small ships that can remain at sea for extended periods and in all usual weather conditions. Many, but not all, are armed. Uses include control of a country's borders and preventing smuggling.
Cutters as ship's boats came into use in the early 18th century (dating which roughly coincides with the decked sailing vessels described below). These were
clinker-built open boats which were fitted for propulsion by both oar and sail. They were more optimised for sailing than the barges and
pinnaces that were types of ship's boat used in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
one distinctive resulting feature of this was the washstrake added to increase the
freeboard. It was pierced with rowlock cut-outs for the oars, so that the thwarts did not need to be set unusually high to achieve the right geometry for efficient use.
Cutters, as decked sailing vessels designed for speed, came into use in the early part of the 18th century. When first introduced, the term applied largely to the hull form, in the same way that
clipper was used almost a hundred years later. Some of these 18th and 19th century examples were rigged as
ketches or
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...
s. However, the typical rig, especially in Naval or revenue protection use, was a single-masted rig setting a huge amount of sail. Square sails were set, as well as a full complement of fore and aft sails. In civilian use, cutters were mostly involved in
smuggling. The navy and coastguard therefore also used cutters in an attempt to catch those operating illegally.
Decked cutters of 18th and 19th centuries

The term cutter appeared in the early 18th century as a description of a hull type. These vessels were designed for speed and the name was used in a similar way to
clipper in the next century. The concept of hull type was perpetuated by the term "cutter brig" which was used over the period ''circa'' 1781–1807 for those rigged as brigs. "Cutter built" was a description applied to a hull of this type and designed for speed. More generally, the unmodified word "cutter" soon became associated with a single-masted rig.
Fast vessels were often used for illegal purposes, such as smuggling, or by the authorities trying to prevent this illegality. Therefore, cutters were used for both. The Royal Navy bought and had built a large number for use in controlling smuggling, as "advice boats" (carrying dispatches), or against
privateers.
The characteristic cutter hull shape was wide; many had a length to breadth ratio of 3 to 1. It had a lot of deadrise and fine lines. A huge amount of sail could be set on these
beamy hulls. The rig became standardised as having one mast, a
gaff-rigged mainsail
A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast (sailing), mast of a sailing vessel.
* On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast.
* On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. T ...
, square sails and several headsailstogether with a full range of extra light weather sails. The mainsail had a boom that extended beyond the stern. Square sails consisted of a
course,
topsail and
topgallant. In earlier examples (before 1800) the topsail's foot had a large amount of
roach and was sheeted to a separate yard that was set below the main yard (which carried the course). The headsails were a
staysail, set on the
forestay (which fastened to the stemhead), a
jib, set flying to a traveller on the
bowsprit and, in most cases, a
flying jib (alternatively termed a jib-topsail) also set flying, but to a higher point on the mast. A cutter has a running bowsprit, which can be brought inboard when not needed, such as in rough weather or in harbour. The bowsprit was usually of great length, sometimes longer than the hull. The standard fair weather sails consisted of a
ringtail to the mainsail and
studding sails to the square sails. It was not unknown for cutters to use a removable mizzen mast for use when
reaching, setting a
lugsail. Since the boom of the mainsail overhung the stern, the mast would have to be removed to
tack or gybe.
The dimensions of an 18th-century cutter purchased by the Royal Navy in 1763, and roughly in the middle of the size range of the batch of 30 bought that year () are: length on deck , beam , measuring just over 78 tons
bm. Smuggling cutters ranged from 30 tons (captured in 1747) to 140 tons. The Revenue cutters increased in size to match the vessels they attempted to catch''Repulse'', of 210 tons was built in 1778. A determining factor on size was the number of crew needed to handle the large gaff mainsail with its long boom. Larger cutters purchased by the Royal Navy were sometimes converted to brigs to make them easier to handle, but still utilising the fast hull.
Ship's boat

At about the same time that the decked, fast-sailing cutters of the 18th century appeared, the term was also applied to a new class of
ship's boat. These were
clinker-built open boats, optimised for sailing but capable under oars. They had finer lines than the boats of that time (which had more rounded bows) and a transom stern. A distinctive feature was that the
washstrake had cut-outs (called
rowlocks) in which the oars were worked, unlike most boats of the period, that used
thole pins as the pivot point for the oars. This allowed a higher freeboard, which was helpful if sailingwhen the cut-outs were filled with wooden shutters (often mis-called poppets) to keep the water out. The alternative, if the correct geometry for an efficient rowing position was adopted, was to position the
thwarts awkwardly high.
Like some other types of ship's boats used in the Royal Navy, the cutter appears to have originated in
Deal. Some Navy Board correspondence of 1712 concerns disapproval of the captain of for buying a cutter of about in length as a replacement for her pinnace. In 1722, another ship had a cutter issued for a voyage to India, and by 1740 substantial numbers of cutters were being bought from Deal boatbuilders to equip Navy ships. The size of these boats varied from in length.
The 1740 purchases coincided with a decision to increase the number of boats carried by warships. During the
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
cutters were found particularly useful for cruising ships, being seaworthy and useful for boarding. However, they were more susceptible to damage than the heavier boats that they replaced and much less capable of carrying heavy weights, such as anchors and water casks. The range of sizes available steadily increased. By 1817 the cutters issued came in 17 different lengths, from . This big variety was reduced when the Royal Navy's warships moved to steam propulsion. Since drinking water could now be distilled on board, ships no longer needed to have the largest boats that they could carry to maximise the amount of water collected on each trip. The standard-issue cutters from 1877 to 1900 came in 11 different lengths, ranging from . This was cut to 5 sizes from in 1914.
The sailing rig of the cutters used as ship's boats was usually two masted. In 1761, the larger Deal-built cutters had
spritsails set on these masts, soon transitioning to a dipping lug fore-sail and a sprit mizzen. For much of the 19th century, and into the 20th, cutters were rigged with a dipping lug on the foremast and a standing lug on the mizzen. This made them similar to many of the
luggers worked from the beaches and harbours of Britain. The sail plan illustration here (1880 Sail Plan) even replicates the civilian lugger terminology of having a fore and mizzen mast, and not using the term "main mast". A variation on this rig, seen for example in 1887, was to have two dipping lugs.
The number of oars pulled varied with the size of the boat. A schedule of ship's boats of 1886 shows cutters pulling 12 oars, , 10 oars, , 8 oars and the two smallest sizes of , 6 oars. The smaller boats could be single banked whilst the larger and later examples were generally
double-banked. For transporting large numbers of men, in moderate weather conditions, a 34 ft cutter could carry a total of 66 men, a 26 ft cutter, 36 men and a 20 ft cutter, 21 men.
Steam powered ship's boats saw a slow introduction to the Royal Navy from 1864. By 1877, three types were in use: steam launches, picket boats and steam cutters. However, right up to the time of the First World War, the majority of the boats in use continued to be propelled solely by sail and oar. The Royal Navy still has some cutters that can be worked under sail or oar.
Sailing rig
In the simpler definition, the sailing rig called "cutter" has a single mast with
fore and aft sails which include more than one
headsail. The mainsail (set abaft, or behind the mast) could be
gaff,
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest.
Bermuda is an ...
,
standing lug or
gunter rigged. A more complex definition may be applied in American waters, where a boat with two headsails would be termed a sloop if the mast has a more forward position and the bowsprit is permanently rigged. An example of this is the
Friendship Sloop. A traditional cutter, by contrast, has a running bowsprit and the jib is set flying on a traveller that is hauled out to the end of the bowsprit. In a vessel such as a
Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter, a
storm jib might be set on a reefed bowsprit, with the bowsprit partially run in from its most fully extended position.
Other types
Rowing

The
watermen of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
used similar boats in the 18th century often decorated as depicted in historical prints and pictures of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
in the 17th and 18th centuries. The modern waterman's cutter is based on drawings of these boats. They are long with a beam of . They can have up to six oarsmen either rowing or sculling and can carry a
cox and passengers. The organisers of the
Great River Race developed the modern version in the 1980s and now many of the fleet of 24 compete annually in a "Marathon of the River". Watermen's cutters also compete annually in the
Port of London Challenge, and the Port Admirals' Challenge. Cutter races are also to be found at various town rowing and
skiffing regattas. In addition the cutters perform the role of ceremonial
Livery
A livery is an identifying design, such as a uniform, ornament, symbol, or insignia that designates ownership or affiliation, often found on an individual or vehicle. Livery often includes elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or ...
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
Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...
the
English Channel
The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
(2 h 42 min) in 1996 and for sculling non-stop from London to Paris (4 days 15 min) in 1999. Events have been held with multiple teams attempting these challenges.
Pilot

The pilot cutter developed from the need for a fast boat to take
maritime pilot
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who has specific knowledge of an often dangerous or congested waterway, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots know local details s ...
s from
harbour
A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...
to incoming large trading vessels.
As most early pilots were local
fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish.
Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing, commercial and Artisan fishing, subsistence fishers and Fish farming, fi ...
who undertook both jobs, although licensed by the harbour to operate within their
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...
, pilots were generally self-employed, and the quickest transport meant greater income. As their
fishing boats were heavy working boats, and filled with fishing equipment, they needed a new type of boat; early boats were developed from single masted fishing cutter designs and twin masted
yawls, and latterly into the specialist pilot cutter.
The natural dangers of the
Bristol Channel brought about over many years the development of the specialist
Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter. According to records from
Pill, Somerset now housed in the
Bristol Museum, the first official Bristol Channel pilot was barge master George James Ray, appointed by the Corporation of Bristol in May 1497 to pilot
John Cabot
John Cabot ( ; 1450 – 1499) was an Italians, Italian navigator and exploration, explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England, Henry VII, King of England is the earliest known Europe ...
's from
Bristol harbour to the open sea beyond. In 1837 Pilot George Ray guided
Brunel's , and in 1844 William Ray piloted the larger on her maiden voyage.
Customs services
The term ''cutter'' is also used for any seaworthy vessel used in the law enforcement duties of the United Kingdom's
Border Force, the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
(because of its descent from the
United States Revenue Cutter Service) or the customs services of other countries.
In the United States, the early Revenue Cutter Service operated customs cutters that were commonly
schooner
A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
s or
brig
A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the l ...
s. In Britain, they were usually rigged as defined under ''Sailing'' (
above). The British
Board of Customs also used other vessels as
hulks, which were moored in places such as tidal
creeks. Customs officers worked from the hulks in smaller boats.
In the UK, the
Border Force (successor to the
UK Border Agency and
HM Customs and Excise) currently operates a fleet of 42 m
corvette-type vessels throughout UK territorial waters as border cutters, inspecting vessels for illicit cargoes.
Image:USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715).jpg, "High Endurance Cutter"
Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-08328-0004, Berlin, Jachtwerft Berlin, Fischkutter.jpg, German Fishcutter, ''Jachtwerft'', Köpenick, Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
, 1950
Image:Stan Patrol P810 Jaguar Dutch Caribbean Coastguard.jpg, Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard cutter ''Jaguar''
See also
*
Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter
*
Clipper
Notes
References
External links
U. S. Coast Guard Historian's Office
{{Authority control
Sailing ships
Sailboat types
Rowing racing boats
Ship's boats
Sailing rigs and rigging