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Is this a seabird dinghy? And can it sail ok upwind


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It has a seabird sail but the owner is not sure it's a Seabird and is reluctant to let me have a sail. It's fibreglass. If it's a seabird how much might it weigh? I'm thinking about buying it as a tender but I got stung once on a Walker Bay which sailed like a dog upwind.

Seabird-3-20220107-WA0017.jpg

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It looks a lot like a Seabird. We have a 3.1m seabird. If it is not a seabird, it is close enough in size shape and characteristics to have the same / equivalent performance. They are not light. At least, our 3.1 m one isn't. In the order of 55kg to 60 kg I believe. That one is obviously shorter than 3.1 m, what is it? about 2.7? I weighed it once, but also weighed another at the same time so get them mixed up. In saying that, ours has teak trim all the way around the coming, and a fancy rubber rubbing strake. That may not be a bad weight for a boat that size, but I am comparing it to a 2.9m deflatable that we use as our yachts tender, which is maybe 30 kg or less (air floor Java model).

I have never actually sailed our one, but my father used to sail it a lot and always enthused about its performance. Admittedly its not a 29'er or anything, but figure you don't want something so twitchy. Other than the basic hull shape, I would suggest condition of the sail and the condition / shape of the centreboard (and rudder) to have the biggest impact on upwind performance. It is easy to touch up a centreboard if need be. And if the sail is a bit baggy, it would be straight forward to get a new one ($$$ though, don't know what that would cost). Wouldn't be hard to make a sail like that at home. Just watch a few youtube videos and off you go.

 

On your quest for a replacement dinghy, have you considered building one in plywood, stitch and glue? It is exceptionally easy, and you can end up with one to your exact requirements and characteristics. They can be made very light, or very durable. I built a 3 ft one for the kids. Not a lot of labour time difference for a 9 ft one. You can get to a structurally finished hull very quickly (40 hrs or less). Most of my time was in finishing, i.e. painting, attaching fittings etc and making some oars. If you want one to leave outside in he dinghy rack you can down spec a lot of the finishing work. I would estimate between 80 to 120 hrs to build and finish, depending on how fussy you are. There is one that was featured in Boating NZ that I think took two days to building and finish. Its sole purpose was to get out to a yacht on a mooring and back.

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We had a 2.6 Seabird as a tender. Not the lightest, rowed ok, especially compared to a tinny or an inflatable and it was a pretty good sea boat.

Hard to compare it to anything but my Starling at the time would have left it for dead sailing wise but for a bit of fun it was fine.

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Yes it is a Seabird, and yes they are fairly heavy and no they dont sail well or balance that well, a Townson dinghy will row and sail much better. My little Nutshell pram rows sails and tows with a lot less load on the painter than a Seabird. 

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Hi

 

We have a Seabird 2.6 as one of our tenders. A small boat for two adults but ok in calm to slight conditions. Rows fine and sails fine also. We enjoy the options of being able to row, sail or use the 2hp outboard. The boat is not as sweet to look at as the Townson Dinghy. 

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