[1][3][4] The Venture of Newport 23 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with wood trim.

It is a cutter rigged sloop, with a spooned raked stem with a bowsprit, an angled transom, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a retractable swing keel.

All refer to the cutter-rigged, bowspritted sailboat with the springy sheer and raked mast pictured here.

Her odd looks are explained in a sales brochure saying that she is “a modern replica of the famous English and American pilot cutters of the late 1800s.

Well, not in our history book, but we guess if you use your imagination you might see some sort of connection between a typical 49-foot pilot cutter drawing eight feet of water, weighing 55 tons, and able to go out in any weather, and this Venture of Newport, a mere 23 feet, drawing a foot and a half, weighing one ton, and restricted to sailing in protected waters—but not much of one.