The Highlander 18 has been developed for the sailor or fisherman wanting a boat that he can use comfortably for estuary and coastal work. Points taken into her design are easy trailability (hence she uses salt water ballast which drains as she is taken out of the water and fills as she is launched), very easy construction using epoxy for filleting and unit ply assembly, and low cost. With unit ply construction, the ply frames and central girder are locked together with the bottom hull panel; stringers are then put on and the rest of the hull panels are put on over size and trimmed later. The drawings also show all the ply hull panel shapes and alternative details to construct the hull using stitch and epoxy method where the panels are all stitched together with the chine seams bonded with epoxy fillets. The hull is a triple chine easy riding ''U'' section shape and she can be built simply as a basic workboat, open daysailer or daysailer and beachcamper with cuddy. She is ideal for exploring estuaries and remote beaches and with her boom tent she can sleep 4/5. The standard rig is the sprit rig which has been chosen for it's ease of use for family sailing. It has no boom to hit heads and can be brailed up out of the way in seconds.

Other rigs can of course be incorporated. Draft is 10" with the centreboard up and 3'7" with it down. Details of an outboard well and full deck lockers are given. The plans also now show details of an alternative gunter rig. LOA 18', Beam 6'4", Approx. wht 600 lbs (up to 800 lbs with cuddy, decking etc), Sail Area 149 sq.ft.