Half-carvels are vessels on which the lowest part of the hull is built with overlapping strakes of planking, referred to as clinker construction, and the uppermost parts of the hull are constructed with the planks laid side by side, in the carvel fashion. These mixed planking constructions first occurred in the 16th century (as far as we know), but became very common in later centuries. The aim of this article is to highlight the existence of different versions of clinker construction, and to discuss some reasons behind the selection of the technique.