Narrow Boat Stern Types

There are three main stern types on narrowboats – traditional, cruiser and semi-traditional.

Traditional Stern

This is the smallest stern area offering the least external space, and stems from traditional working boats. Ideal for live aboard, typified by short back deck of 2-3 Feet in length, giving more room inside for living. Take a look at our YouTube video on this subject.

Cruiser Stern

These types of sterns offer a large expanse of external space, ideal for recreational cruising. An ideal holiday boat, a back deck of between 4-8 Feet in length, providing ample space on the back for several people to stand and socialise Take a look at our video.

Semi-Traditional Stern
A good compromise between traditional and cruiser; these have the looks of a traditional stern with the space of a cruiser. Take a look at our video.

There are also two other types of narrowboat styles, these are ‘Tug’ and ‘Narrow beam Dutch Barge’. There aren’t as many of these types of boats on the market but we do get these come up for sale from time to time.

Tug Style Narrowboats

These feature a long front deck which is useful if you want more outside space. Some people believe that these are a bit of a waste of space, as most moorings are priced per length. Take a look at a picture of a Tug Style Narrowboat below.

Dutch Barge Style Narrowboats

Again we don’t often get many of these in for sale. The ‘normal sized’ Dutch Barges come from the Netherlands and were originally used to carry cargo. They are typically 15m to 40m in width, whereas this would be too wide to fit on most of the Inland Waterways. However a Dutch barge style narrowboat is the same width as a narrowboat (6ft 10”) but has the look of a Dutch barge. Take a look at a picture of a narrow beam Dutch Barge below.