Vessels that shoot over the waves (8)

I believe the answer is:

gunboats

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'vessels that shoot over the waves' is the definition.
'gunboats' can be an answer for 'vessels' (gunboat is a kind of vessel). I'm not certain of the rest of the definition.

'vessels that shoot over' is the wordplay.
'vessels' becomes 'boats' (boat is a kind of vessel).
'that shoot' becomes 'gun' (I've seen this before).
'over' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'boats' after 'gun' is 'GUNBOATS'.

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I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.

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