The Explorer reviewed

Practical Boat Owner Magazine

“Explorer is an efficient and powerful performer for her size; a boat in which I?d have no hesitation setting off along the coast or across a reasonable stretch of open water...

“She clocked 4.5 knots on the wind, tacked through between 80 and 85 degrees and was pleasantly responsive...”

Practical Boat Owner, Mar 2005, pp132-136

Get a copy of this PBO article

Dinghy Cruising Association Magazine

“At first glance Explorer strikes you as a performance micro, but closer inspection reveals her to be the light cruising craft par excellence; tried, tested and raring to go...?

“Though the Swing Bulb Keel in Mukti Mitchell?s Explorer is an inspired piece of engineering, it is nevertheless beautifully simple in operation. There is little doubt that it will appear in other microcruiser designs in the future, and in bigger boats too.”

Dinghy Cruising Association Magazine, 185, Winter 2004/5

“A boat where everything has a function, nothing is missed, and nothing is duplicated”

Dinghy Cruising Association Magazine, 184, Autumn 2004

Read the Winter 2004/5 Dinghy Cruising Association article

What viewers say

Beale Park Boat Show 2004

“Of all the things here, I like it. Sometimes you see something and you just think ‘Yes, That?s right.’”

“Absolutely fantastic. You?ve thought of everything. It’s amazing. You could go anywhere in that!”

“She has so many special features, it’s impossible to take them all in at one viewing.”

“This does it all.... You’ve solved the problem of stability in trailable craft.”

“If she’s as good as she seems, she’ll hold her value. Boats do.”

Low Carbon Lifestyle Tour 2007

Low Carbon Lifestyle Tour 2007 website

from John Lay-Flurrie

“Email to say thanks for trial sail on Chance in Brightlingsea. Ever since I saw the article in PBO about you and your boat and round Britain tour I have been very keen to learn all I could about the boat as the remarkable keel concept impressed the hell out of me and seemed the answer to many issues I had about a return to sailing after 30 years.”

“I was looking for the stability of a heavy keel but in a boat I could keep in the dinghy park, and thought I might have to build something of my own design with all the inherent problems entailed, so the Explorer seemed the answer to many problems and to have the possible boat of my dreams pitch up on the end of my local jetty on a perfect afternoon was manna from heaven.

“I had studied everything on your website and was pretty sure of what to expect visually and structurally but was faced with the obvious question ‘How well does it go mister?’ The answer began to be obvious the moment I stepped on board and found the boat hardly noticed my arrival. You had left the keel down and the stability was such that I thought I was stepping on to a much larger or considerably heavier boat, very impressive.

“When you bravely let me take the helm after my long absence from sailing, unrolled the Genoa and cheerfully cast off from the jetty things just got better and better. Despite the light wind Chance moved gracefully (and none too slowly) away against the incoming tide and with the main rapidly set we were off to the creek mouth buoy in fine style and complete composure. I was to discover in the following 11/2 hours that Chance does everything with the air of a much more substantial vessel, the keel imparting apparently masses of stability and giving a great sense of well-being to a bloke who had begun to forget what sailing is all about.

“So the answer to my obvious question was a definite ‘It goes just great’ and although I was only able to test in light airs I remain convinced that the masses of stability bode well for heavy weather sailing and your experiences round Britain confirm this. Our sail saw us keeping up with several types and sizes of boats and showed that Chance is definitely no slouch and just what I am looking for. Please send my plans as soon as possible as I have definitely got to have me one of these to sail next year.

“Once again, thanks for the trial sail, which answered all my questions, and thanks for your patience with some of my more obvious requests.

“Best wishes for the rest of your tour, best regards from John Lay-Flurrie.”