The Wayfarer is a wooden or fibreglass hulled Bermuda rigged sailing dinghy, often used for short sailing trips as a 'day boat'. The boat is 15 feet 10 inches (4.82 m) long, and broad and deep enough for three adults to comfortably sail for several hours. Longer trips are undertaken by enthusiasts, notably Frank Dye who sailed W48 'Wanderer' from Scotland to Iceland. Wayfarers' size and stability have made them popular with sailing schools.
Not only a versatile cruising dinghy, Wayfarers are also raced with a Portsmouth Number of 1101. Although best suited to larger stretches of water and stronger winds, their stability and seaworthiness has led them to be used as family boats in a wide variety of locations.
From the original design by Ian Proctor in 1957, many subsequent versions of the Wayfarer have been produced . There is also a double-hulled Canadian clone, known as the CL 16. Genuine Wayfarers can be identified by the "W" symbol on their sails.