Editing Scow (section)

===Sailing scows===
[[File:Bayonne, rive de l'Adour - Fonds Ancely - B315556101 A MALBOS 2 014.jpg|thumb|A scow on the [[Adour]] in [[Bayonne]] in 1843 by [[Eugène de Malbos]].]]

Sailing scows have significant advantages over traditional deep-[[keel]] sailing vessels that were common at the time the sailing scow was popular. Keelboats, while stable and capable in open water, were incapable of sailing into shallow bays and rivers, which meant that to ship cargo on a keelboat required a suitable harbour and docking facilities, or else the cargo had to be loaded and unloaded with smaller boats. Flat-bottomed scows, on the other hand, could navigate shallow waters, and could even be beached for loading and unloading. This made them useful for moving cargo from inland regions unreachable by keelboat to deeper waters where keelboats could reach. The cost of this shallow water advantage was the loss of the seaworthiness of flat-bottomed scow boats in open water and bad weather.

The squared-off shape and simple lines of a scow make it a popular choice for simple home-built boats made from [[plywood]]. [[Phil Bolger]] and [[Jim Michalak]], for example, have designed a number of small sailing scows, and the [[PD Racer]] and the [[John Spencer (boat designer)|John Spencer]] designed [[Firebug (dinghy)|Firebug]] are growing classes of home-built sailing scow. Generally these designs are created to minimize waste when using standard 4-foot by 8-foot sheets of plywood.

The scow [[Hull (watercraft)|hull]] is also the basis for the [[shantyboat]] or, on the Chesapeake, the [[Ark (river boat)|ark]], a cabin houseboat once common on American rivers. The ark was used as portable housing by Chesapeake watermen, who followed, for example, [[shad]] runs seasonally.

The [[Thames sailing barge]] and the [[Norfolk wherry]] are two British equivalents to the scow [[schooner]]. The Thames sailing barges, while used for similar tasks, used significantly different hull shapes and [[rigging]].

The term scow is used in and around the west [[Solent]] for a traditional class of sailing dinghy. Various towns and villages claim their own variants ([[Lymington]], [[Keyhaven]], [[Great Yarmouth|Yarmouth]], [[West Wight Potter 15|West Wight]], Bembridge, [[Chichester]]), they are all around {{convert|11|ft|2}} in length and share a [[lug sail]], pivoting centre board, small [[foredeck]] and a square [[Transom (nautical)|transom]] with a transom-hung [[rudder]].