A dinghy for the Gaffer...

[Joseph]

In spite of the SunCat low drought it would be nice to have a small beachable dinghy... However, towing a dinghy astern of a 17 ft boat can be quite a strenous drag (pun not intended...). So, I am curious as to what dinghies, if any, have been favoured by other SunCat skippers...

My list of the smallest and lightest (and still useable...) dinghies includes, on the "heavy" side: the rigid Walker Bay 8 (8', 71 lbs), the folding Porta Bote 8 (8'6", 79 lbs). and on the "light side": the inflatable Grand Elf E210 (6'10", 48 lbs), the venerable BIC Sportyak (7', 42 lbs) (made in the US by KL Industries) and some Sevylor light inflatables...  I do not particularly favour kayaks or canoes but would not mind one of those Kevlar rowing Vermont Pack Boat's from Adirondack Guide-Boats (12' 2", 46 lbs)...

J.

[newt]

Joseph, with your limited space I propose that you make a dingy custom fit for your boat. Hannu's boatyard has some of the easiest plans for ultra small dingies. And they are all free. I built a Portuguese with 1.2 pieces of plywood. It was my first stitch and glue boat, and I sold it to someone for a fishing boat. (its still working well!)
http://koti.kapsi.fi/hvartial/

[Greene]

Darn you Newt!  Why did you have to show me that website?  There is no way I could look at all those great little project boats and not build one.  Just what I needed, another project on my "must do" list.

I really love the little Portuguese version.  Did you ever tow it or use it as a dinghy for your sailboat?

Mike

[Shawn]

The Oragami dinghy looks like a fun project too and much cheaper then the PortaBotes.

For inflatables also check out the Achillies LT2 and LT4. Defender has some leftover 2009 LT2s at a good price.

Shawn

[Joseph]

Loved the "Bolger Light Dory" from Hannu's Boatyard. I wonder what would be its displacement. Others like the "Half Pea" and the "Origamy" I doubt would be too safe, but then again, wasn't it in a Coracle that St. Brendan made the first north transatlantic crossing...?

J.

[newt]

Mike, I used that dingy for my Compac 23. It fit perfectly on the front.  I would suggest adding a little keel, I used a two by four and shaped it. Otherwise the flat bottom makes it too easy to slide sidewise when you get in. Your right Joseph- some of the boats are too small to be of practical use, but they are fun to look at anyway.

[Bob23]

J:
   I use a Walker Bay 8. The reason? I found it and it was free! It is the tender that I use to row out to my 23 so naturally it is the dingy I tow when I go off on adventures. It doesn't seem to create much drag, if fact I beat my  brother in his O'Day Mariner while towing the W'Bay. I bring that victory up often...ah, how sweet it is!
   I would love to build a small dingy but there is  too many things on the list already. Maybe Mike Greene will build one for me...he's got all kinds of free time!
Bob23

[Joseph]

Bob - ... but you sail a 23...! I also used to tow a WB8 with my Alberg 22 (3,200 lbs and full-keel). With it the WB was great but it did pull strongly when towing in following seas and I can only imagine what that same kind of pull would feel in a boat half that weight and with only a center-board. On the other hand, I would love to get another WB8 just for the fun of it alone...  unfortunately it is also borderline on the weight and size that I am starting to be able to handle alone...

J.

[Caboose]

PDRacer.com
Free plans. It's not the most pretty, but it works great.

[Bob23]

True enough, J. I do sail a 23. Just puttin' in my $.02. nMaybe you could lift the bow of the dingy out of the water and tie it to the stern of your boat That way only the back of the dingy would be in the water...reduced drag, me-thinks.
Bob23

[Joseph]

Maybe I should consider an Optimist pram and make the entire fleet Clark Mills'...!

J.

[Rahn]

I towed a 16 foot kayak (Hobie Adventure) on a 2 week cruise in the North Channel of Canada.



The next year, I bought a Seyvlor Colorado inflatable canoe which was much easier to tow and board but my son and I really missed the Hobie Kayak and plan to use it on this year's cruise. We will be sailing a Horizon Cat.

[Joseph]

Rahn - if you could tow a 16 ft Hobie Adventure (70 lbs-ish?) in the North Channel, perhaps I should consider one of their smaller pedalling kayaks... Nice idea. Enjoy the Horizon and the North Channel!

J.

[Rahn]

The best pedal kayak for towing would be the Hobie i12S inflatable or the i14T tandem version for 2.

http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaking/models_i12s.html

[Joseph]

I just came back from few days of adventurous sailing and gunkholing off the East coast of Georgian Bay (Lake Huron). As a dinghy I was lucky enough to be offered to borrow an Amphora (the Amphora is a design of Stevenson Projects, and the very one that Sassy got to tow behind was "Phoebling", featured in the Stevenson Projects website: http://www.stevproj.com/MatAmph.html):



This dinghy design has superb lines and looks, but lacks in stability and is rather heavy. Is it not the kind of dinghy I would recommend as a tender for heavy and clumsy old sailors... but on this occasion Phoebling serve the purpose of demonstrating that the SunCat can tow a dinghy of this size and displacement with ease, either on sail or while motoring. So, my concern about needing a very small/light dinghy seems to have been unfounded. My focus has then turned to the WalkerBay 8 with which I already have vast experience.

And in the meanwhile, while I wait for a good deal on a WB8 RID, I may acquire a Sevylor Rio inflatable canoe... Yes, it will not add much in terms of looks but it is light, small (can be carried in a bag), reasonably sturdy, very stable and quite inexpensive. It might also be fun...

J.