This 'boat test' is actually more of a concept discussion than an actual model, though a working version was taken out onto the water and put through its paces to provide objective first hand feed back. The reason why no manufacturers brand can be sited is that the test took place in India where they are built in the community using locally available materials to create a tough, dependable and lasting framework to a time honoured design reputedly dating back to prehistoric times. The outside is then covered to keep the thing from sinking. Back then this would have been with animal hides. However, as suitable man made materials later became more readily available, and lighter in terms of weight which is what this design of boat is all about, the waterproof covering switched to canvas coated in pitch or tar, which more recently has lost ground to plastic sheeting with a tough abrasion proof protective outer coating. Freshwater commercial fishermen all over the south and west of India use coracles in situations where livelihoods quite literally depend on them, which tells its own success story. They were even in use along the Tungabhadra River at Hampi providing a ferry service carrying motorcycles and other cargo in addition to passengers. A very versatile, light weight, easy to construct small boat that could most certainly make a huge contribution over here in the UK on the freshwater angling scene in addition to the few heritage coracles in use on the River Teifi in Wales.

A number of things impressed me about these little boats. So much so that it's hard to know exactly where to start. At around seven feet in diameter, they must be light enough to be carried on the back of one person long distances up river or around the banks of large lakes to get to seasonal fish holding areas from where they can be paddled or drifted downstream for the fishing to take place. The one I rode in fitted this description to the letter. The boatman then started ushering our party down to the little ramp and put ten of us, plus himself into the thing which I have to say was both surprising and impressive in the extreme. Granted, there wasn't much freeboard with a combined weight of well over 120 stone inside the thing. But on calm bodies of freshwater, how much freeboard do you need, though presumably it would be nothing like so heavily loaded under normal fishing conditions. That said, the river did have a few turbulent glides where water bulges were being forced upwards by submerged boulders and rocks, yet still it kept its balance taking us several hundred yards along the river in both directions. The fact that we travelled in both directions is worthy of mention in itself. A conventional boat so heavily laden would have struggled under oar power against that sort of river flow. But not the coracle. The owner knelt facing outwards obviously at the lip was able to power it with ease using just a single paddle alternating sides after ever two or three strokes. Even more impressive however was the manoeuvrability. Because it's shaped like a six pence, it could quite literally turn on one. So much so that as part of the demo he had the thing spinning on the spot like some sort of fair ground ride. And all from lengths of split bamboo, a ball of string, and some water proof sheeting.

With the limited scope for inspection and questioning I had available to me, it seems that a strong circular lip comprising many thickness's of bamboo strips is lashed together with curved cross ribs fixed inside the lip bundles to form the basis of the dish like shape. Then, with all the main structural stuff in place, the sides are further reinforced by weaving bamboo strips in and out of the ribs, after which a simple woven lattice is put in place on the inside of the dish to prevent point source weight contact such as from a person standing in the thing being applied to the water proof outer coating. It all sounds very simple, but I'm sure it isn't, though typically it takes a local craftsman on average just one day to complete a coracle as shown in the photographs. Obviously, having done the bamboo splitting and weaving bit so many times before, that process, as basic as it probably is once you know exactly what you are doing, can only be done so quickly through experience. That isn't to say however that anyone over here in the UK with reasonable practical abilities could not construct a similarly safe and 'seaworthy' replica, though in a great deal more time. That said, having done a bit of back ground research on the Internet since getting back home, due to availability of local materials, I see that traditional Welsh coracle makers take a totally different and much more simplistic approach to their frame making using strips of wood of differing thickness's probably soaked in water to maximise flexibility. I've taken the liberty of 'borrowing' a photograph from an article to be found at www.data-wales.co.uk/coracle1.htm which is well worth looking at if the thought of making a coracle grabs you.

I have to say that the idea of constructing a small boat from materials for the most part available on the lake or river bank appeals. Particularly if say you are a carp fisherman doing a week long stint at some French or Spanish lake. Rather than lazing about in the bivvie all day and night waiting for the bite alarm to sound the action call, putting together a small functional boat frame by lashing willow branches together, and covering it with plastic sheeting as a means of getting out and pre-baiting awkward or long range swims would be a better use of any free time. A small coracle would be equally handy for fly fishing on small trout waters, though I would be a little more reluctant on bigger bodies of water where a down wind shore is likely to cut up rough. And in all cases, I would be sure to carry a life jacket as small coracles are hardly the most stable of boats when weight is suddenly displaced from its point of balance. But an intriguing concept none the less.