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Dinghy fantasy


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Used to have one of those when I was a kid. They were riveted together, and after many years of being trashed, it leaked pretty badly thru the rivets. To use one as a tender, you'd want to have some pretty good gunnel fenders, and have to have a careful think about how to get aboard without trashing the mother ship. The alloy can leave nasty marks, dents and scrapes. But, on the other hand, they are light and tough :-)

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3 hours ago, Island Time said:

Used to have one of those when I was a kid. They were riveted together, and after many years of being trashed, it leaked pretty badly thru the rivets. To use one as a tender, you'd want to have some pretty good gunnel fenders, and have to have a careful think about how to get aboard without trashing the mother ship. The alloy can leave nasty marks, dents and scrapes. But, on the other hand, they are light and tough :-)

We used the 8'6" Parkercraft as a tender for a while when I was a kid.  I think my father's thinking at the time was that the boys couldn't do too much damage to it.  We installed a pretty good PVC gunnel strip.  With a 4hp outboard that thing would fly, but it was terrible to tow in a crosswind and did not track well.  It was as ugly as...

The image of the Townson reminded me of the tradition Squadron dinghies: not glued clinker but the old clinker brass-riveted over bent frames.  When I was a wee nipper some family friends had Tawera.  When they sold her they kept her dinghy, which may well have been a Logan like the boat it belonged to.  It was such a piece of art.  I wish I knew what happened to it.

Sorting through some photos the other day I came across a photo taken at Roberton Island during our summer cruise of either '82 or '83.  Almost all of the dinghies on the beach are rigid dinghies.  We had one of the Jim Young dinghies by then (built it from a kit) and it was a sweet dinghy though a little unstable when boarding.  Today the beach would be full of RIBs and inflatables.

BP - I'm glad you are considering a rigid dinghy.  To keep the spars to a length where they can fit inside the boat, how about a lugsail?  I am currently rebuilding an El Toro pram dinghy (very Northern California - but essentially the same as the Sabots that used to sail at Wakatere).  Instead of its original mainsail I am converting it to a lugsail so that the spars can fit inside the hull.  It will be a tender.  The same would work well on a boat of 11 or 12 feet.  But for rowing efficiency in a fixed-seat you would want to stay as close to 4' beam (1.22m) as possible.  The Sunburst is 4'11" which requires longer oars and more effort (as you know).

I'll be happy to build to order - but you have to come to San Francisco to collect it and let me do the return trip.;-)

 

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The big Nutshell will do everything you want, I have been involved in building many of the shorter ones and still use one as my only dinghy, has been towed to the BOI and back many times and sailed at all anchorages. You have probably walked over her getting to the dock for tall ships parties each year.

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6 hours ago, Island Time said:

Used to have one of those when I was a kid. They were riveted together, and after many years of being trashed, it leaked pretty badly thru the rivets. To use one as a tender, you'd want to have some pretty good gunnel fenders, and have to have a careful think about how to get aboard without trashing the mother ship. The alloy can leave nasty marks, dents and scrapes. But, on the other hand, they are light and tough :-)

Best to have a tinnie mothership to go with your tinnie dinghy...

100120-02-prince-olav.jpg-2400x1575.thumb.jpg.c0a98834aaffed21f3c998a17e603dc1.jpg

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3 hours ago, waikiore said:

Except row like a speedy thing , though we tested ours rowing them round Motukorea and back and they will get you and crew home after drinks with dry attire unlike a rubber duck.

You almost gave yourself a New Years bath , after a few (quite a few) wines ...hahaha

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This topic, The Perfect Tender, keeps coming around.

One thing we often don't talk enough about weight. Most dinghies are manageable by one person when dragging them up the beach etc, but pretty much all of them suck badly when it comes time to haul them up onto the foredeck. On a boat like BP, I guess there's a bit more space (excepting that superfluous second mast thingy), but realistically a dinghy is an awkward object to manhandle onto a foredeck, and it's a task made more and more difficult as your yacht gets smaller. 

What's the max. mass that people are comfortable with? I mean, even your average 2-and-a-bit metre inflatable (aside from being a dog to row) is well into the 20kg zone, and although that doesn't sound a lot, it's damn awkward for one person (think of your smallest crew member) to get up onto the deck. Sure davits help, but again, no one's gonna (should?) put davits on a smaller cruising boat (<40ft IMO).
 

Our tender is 13kg, and although it's still an inflatable dog, at least C can get it onto the deck.

I know it sounds overkill, but I'm starting to think there is a genuine market for a well designed, sailing/rowing tender built to save weight and space. Plywood is good, but foam sandwich is much lighter. No one wants to make a PT11 type boat in foam and fit an inflatable collar in a recess around the gunnel?

 

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Indeed Kevin, I reckon that can’t be easy!
My tender is a 2.7m Rib, weight is 37 kg iirc. The admiral and I can lift it aboard (stores inverted on foredeck), but if solo I have to use a halyard and winch. It’s not hard, but takes a few mins to set up. As we get older, lifting it is becoming more difficult though. Same with the big outboard (15hp), that’s a similar weight, and about all I can manage. Must make another harness for it... the little outboard (2.5 4 stroke) is no problem at 12kg. Weight is a prime factor for me in selecting a dinghy and motor.

Oh doc, there is a carbon rigid dinghy available, and they are great, but spendy! Oceantenders. 

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