Help me find a sailing dinghy

[Quandary]

Now boatless after 50 years and three attempts at packing it in, I was contemplating one of those wee new Royal Enfield 350s but decided that with the club yard and slip 50 yards from my front door what I needed was a sailing dinghy.
No racing here, it would just be used for occasional pootling about Loch Gilp, perhaps as far as the Oystercatcher on the far side of Loch Fyne for lunch.
So single handed sailing and launching and a tendency to stay upright most of the time and a resistance to inversion. I will not be wearing a wet suit, (I dont think it will stretch) just t shirt and shorts. Grp hull preferred. I have a Laser 2000 ( my son's) here just now for a tidy up, I like it but it is too powerful for single handing,and too much work to launch and recover. In the distant past I have sailed Mirrors but can no longer crawl under the boom and more recently had a a Laser 13 when we were trying to encourage sailing in the loch but know little about mainstream dinghies. Be good if I could put a little outboard on the back and go out for mackerel on quiet summer evenings. Do not want to go too far to fetch it so something commonplace would be good.

 

[whaup]

Now boatless after 50 years and three attempts at packing it in, I was contemplating one of those wee new Royal Enfield 350s but decided that with the club yard and slip 50 yards from my front door what I needed was a sailing dinghy.
No racing here, it would just be used for occasional pootling about Loch Gilp, perhaps as far as the Oystercatcher on the far side of Loch Fyne for lunch.
So single handed sailing and launching and a tendency to stay upright most of the time and a resistance to inversion. I will not be wearing a wet suit, (I dont think it will stretch) just t shirt and shorts. Grp hull preferred. I have a Laser 2000 ( my son's) here just now for a tidy up, I like it but it is too powerful for single handing,and too much work to launch and recover. In the distant past I have sailed Mirrors but can no longer crawl under the boom and more recently had a a Laser 13 when we were trying to encourage sailing in the loch but know little about mainstream dinghies. Be good if I could put a little outboard on the back and go out for mackerel on quiet summer evenings. Do not want to go too far to fetch it so something commonplace would be good.

Wanderer- like a Wayfarer but easier to handle ashore.

 

[awol]

Obviously what you need is a Moth or some other foiling rocket ship.

 

[westernman]

RS Aero with the small rig?

 

[Daydream believer]

GP 14. Can put an outboard on the back & row it. Reasonably safe.

 

[neil_s]

Gull ? A double chine design by Ian Proctor, firstly in plywood and later in GRP. Like the Mirror, there are two steps for the mast, allowing sloop or una rig. Earlier boats had gunter rig, but I think later ones had bermudian.

 

[wombat88]

GRP Tideway

Tideway Owners Association | Tideway Owners Association

You won't get your brogues wet...

 

[Bodach na mara]

There are quite a few Ian Proctor designs that would be suitable. One such is the Kestrel and there was a small fleet of them based either at Ardrishaig or Inverary. They are about 14.5 feet LOA and there may be some laid up and forgotten near you. Another Proctor design is the Bosun, but it is a bit heavy to dry sail and would be better kept on a mooring.

 

[oldbloke]

If you can't manoeuvre yourself around a mirror, but find a laser 2000 too much I think you are going to be struggling.
Sailing alone , no wetsuit and not nimble. You obviously don't want a lightweight flyer... no aero, laser, national 12 etc.
2000 to heavy to move around... no enterprise, gp14, wanderer etc.
Can't get under the boom of a mirror, .. no otter, heron gull etc.
Someone will suggest a Skipper, but they were horrible, badly made crap 50years ago and are an offence against the gods.
My suggestion would be to get a mirror, (plentiful and cheap, and start by getting the boom as high as possible.
Mast upright or even leanig sl forwards. Gaff as high as possible, use non stretch rope and don't attach the sail to the boom until after the sail is raised.
If the boom is still too low, raise it. Just unscrew it and move it 6" up the mast.
Then get the sail shortened, or maybe just reposition the halyard 6" further down the gaff so it sits higher.

 

[Skylark]

…….and more recently had a Laser 13….

Sounds perfect? I had s/n 247 or 248 (can’t recall) in the 1990s. Lovely boat, has everything that you described as needing.

 

[wully1]

If it wasn’t for frequent launch and recovery I’d suggest a Flying 15..

 

[whaup]

If it wasn’t for frequent launch and recovery I’d suggest a Flying 15..

Yeah, I thought that, too... mooring?

 

[Wing Mark]

Gull ? A double chine design by Ian Proctor, firstly in plywood and later in GRP. Like the Mirror, there are two steps for the mast, allowing sloop or una rig. Earlier boats had gunter rig, but I think later ones had bermudian.

Gull is a good suggestion, but there are not many good/cheap ones about,
Laser 13
Wanderer.
Mirrors are plentiful, cheap and will give the OP something to do in the garage.
If you need more headroom under the boom, I'd suggest extending the mast? Assuming it's the oroginal gunter version, it's just an alloy tube.
You could eve make the mast extension removable windsurfer-style?, so the sticks would still stow ii the boat.

What the OP can pull up the slip will vary greatly from place to place.
You can reduce the load by a lot of kg will an ali trolley.

The Skipper was a bit of a joke, wasn't it sold in city centre shops?
But a friend had one and had a lot of fun with it, any that are still going are probably sorted by now?

There are many non-class models of boat built for training and the non-racing market over the years.
Some of them were OK.
But personally, if the breeze pipes up, I'd rather have a race-derived controllable rig that is strong and works properly than some 'training;' thing which turns into hard work.

 

[oldbloke]

I wouldn't suggest this if you had posted in PBO, (where spending any money is frowned upon) , but how about a Hartley 10 or 12 ?. High boom, not horrendously heavy. Open transom , so would need a bodge to fit a pad for outboard, but that should be doable for a tiny motor for light weather use

 

[crewman]

Topper Cruz? Ketch rig, but few sold so may be difficult to find.

 

[jamie N]

Enterprise? Heron??

 

[ianat182]

Pretty lightweight but also a good sailer is the Miracle, big sister of the Mirror so low maintenace and can be rowed when not sailing, about 13ft I believe and can be OK for a grandchild or wife to crew or teach.

ianat182

 

[dunedin]

If it wasn’t for frequent launch and recovery I’d suggest a Flying 15..

That sounds like an ideal boat for the location

 

[dunedin]

Now boatless after 50 years and three attempts at packing it in, I was contemplating one of those wee new Royal Enfield 350s but decided that with the club yard and slip 50 yards from my front door what I needed was a sailing dinghy.
No racing here, it would just be used for occasional pootling about Loch Gilp, perhaps as far as the Oystercatcher on the far side of Loch Fyne for lunch.
So single handed sailing and launching and a tendency to stay upright most of the time and a resistance to inversion. I will not be wearing a wet suit, (I dont think it will stretch) just t shirt and shorts. Grp hull preferred. I have a Laser 2000 ( my son's) here just now for a tidy up, I like it but it is too powerful for single handing,and too much work to launch and recover. In the distant past I have sailed Mirrors but can no longer crawl under the boom and more recently had a a Laser 13 when we were trying to encourage sailing in the loch but know little about mainstream dinghies. Be good if I could put a little outboard on the back and go out for mackerel on quiet summer evenings. Do not want to go too far to fetch it so something commonplace would be good.

Don’t want to be a party popper, but are you confident you could right a sailing dinghy if it tipped you in - especially if not wearing a wetsuit or dry suit?
Pottering in a Mirror or similar around Loch Gilp on a sunny afternoon sounds like a pleasant diversion (and as other poster noted, if get gunter absolutely fully up boom should not be too low). Will happily row and motor for a spot of fishing as well.

But as you know, Upper Loch Fyne is not like Chichester Harbour - often there are no other boats for many miles around. If you tipped in outside Loch Gilp, most likely nobody would see you to come to your assistance. And with sudden gusts off the hills - or a wash from a gin palace passing 10 minutes earlier, even an experienced boatie like you could get caught out singlehanded in many / most dinghies (eg GP’s, Kestrels etc do capsize if hit by Scottish Loch gusts - for example, we had unforecast 36 knot gusts by Otter Spit last year, and 28 knots this year, fortunately in the big boat). If not agile enough to get under the boom, are you agile enough to right a heavy dinghy when just been dunked in icy waters?

A Drascombe on a mooring - or a Flying Fifteen, Loch Long, Squib or even a cheap Silhouette - might be alternatives to consider. And as a local, you could probably just leave tied up to the Crinan waiting pontoon
Happy pottering whatever you decide

 

[Deleted member 36384]

... used for occasional pootling about Loch Gilp ...
... single handed sailing and launching ...
... tendency to stay upright ...
... Grp hull preferred ...
... put a little outboard on the back ...
... something commonplace would be good ...

This suggestions fails on the GRP requirement and maybe the launching requirement. However, A&R Way has been building skiffs, such as the Oban Skiff, that may be of interest: -

New Skiff Building in Argyll : A and R Way Boatbuilding
Some nice videos if you have a FB account A & R Way Boatbuilding

Wayfarers from the sailing schools at Tighnabruaich, Blairvadach and Benmore come on the market from time to time but are heavy to launch (worth buying a 12V tow hitch winch to assist with recovery).

Both GRP Enterprises and GP14 would meet your requirement.

If you want to try a Wayfarer, I can lend you mine, road trailer and separate launching trolly, see how it goes before making a commitment to buy a dinghy. The good thing about a wayfarer is its space, not cramped, it does have a degree of form stability and likes to round up when pressed and healed, which makes de powering easier. I don't use my Wayfarer much, hence it is not an inconvenience to me. Sails are old, main, genoa, jib and spinnaker well blown, a bit rough and ready, but new road trailer and launching trolly when I bought it. Halyards all new but they require washing as the green mould has got to them.

Enterprise near Glasgow, for free Free Enterprise dinghy | in Newton Mearns, Glasgow | Gumtree but needs renovation and trailer.