The Skimmer design conforms to the
original Moth class rules, but with an emphasis on simplicity for ease of construction and to reduce building costs. Crosby was the editor of
Rudder magazine at the time and had designed the
Snipe in 1931. He published the plans for the Skimmer in the October and November 1933 issues of that magazine, during the height of the
Great Depression, as a means of producing a
sailboat for the least cost. As a consequence, hundreds of examples were built and they were raced as a class on the United States west coast and other places in the US. The Skimmer is a small, single-handed, recreational dinghy, built predominantly of wood planking. It has a
catboat single-sail rig, a
single chine hull, a transom-hung
rudder and a pivoting
centreboard keel. It displaces and carries no ballast. The boat has a draft of with the centreboard extended and with it retracted, allowing
beaching or ground transportation on a
trailer or
automobile roof rack. ==See also==