Design sort of mini boat (8)
I believe the answer is:
ambition
'design' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'sort of mini boat' is the wordplay.
'sort of' is an anagram indicator.
'mini'+'boat'='miniboat'
'miniboat' is an anagram of 'AMBITION'.
(Other definitions for ambition that I've seen before include "hope for the future" , "Strong desire to achieve fameor fortune" , "Strong drive for success" , "Aspiration - goal" , "A determination to succeed" .)