Dinghy Choice

[thiswayup]

Thanks but I still have an F18 catamaran. I am looking for a dinghy for gentle sailing down a river with the wife.

 

[westernman]

Thanks but I still have an F18 catamaran. I am looking for a dinghy for gentle sailing down a river with the wife.

How about a small main for that? And leave the asymmetric behind
That will then be stable and gentle.

 

[Kelpie]

Many thanks for all of your suggestions, they are much appreciated. So, after much deliberation I still need some urgent help! I decided to look for either a Wayfarer or Wanderer. The choice is difficult because I can get a Wayfarer World OR a Hartley Wanderer. The Hartley wanderer is obviously newer and Hartley arE supposed to have improved the design significantly. The weight difference might not be too important as the club has a winch. So should I buy the older Wayfarer World or the newer Hartley Wanderer. Unfortunately I can’t afford a Hartley Wayfarer and there rarely seems to be any for sale. All suggestions and input would be much appreciate. Is the Wayfarer world a good boat or the the Hartley Wanderer better! Thanks

The same basic trade-offs apply. They are class boats so no matter what the age and Mk, they will weigh and sail the same.

The more modern versions introduced raised floors and self draining. And on the World the spinnaker chute.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you want something stable and sedate, and you want it to be fairly easy to handle both on and off the water. Either boat will do but the Wanderer is much lighter.

What size are you? SWMBO and I found the Wayfarer was a bit too big for us, as we're both very much on the short side. Our Wayfarer is a World btw and the way it is built, there is no handhold under the side deck. SWMBO's legs aren't long enough to reach the floor when heeling, and after a couple of incidents where she actually fell in to the bottom of the boat, we went out and bought a Wanderer.

Our first boat was a Mk1 Wayfarer, and she never had the same problem because she could hold on to the edge of the side deck.

So newer is not always better. The newer self draining boats are also a bit more prone to inversion. On the old boats the buoyancy is primarily fore and aft, so they sit lower in the water when capsized, making inversion less likely, and recovery easier. But the newer ones self drain after recovery which is very good.

You don't get something for nothing...

 

[thiswayup]

Hi Kelpie
Many thanks for the information. I am 5ft 10 and my wife’s 5 ft 4. About 170Kg all up. Thought the Wayfarer might be better for weight but obviously Wanderer is lighter. Do yo think the wanderer is much lighter as some have said there’s not much in it. Also there seems to be more of demand for the Wayfarers which maybe means they hold their value better?? Great to hear from someone who has owned both such as yourself. Thanks

 

[Kelpie]

Class hull weight is something like 127kg Vs 167kg. I find it very noticeable!
You are a little bigger than us so maybe that would point towards the Wayfarer.
Either boat should be very easy to sell on afterwards. There is more demand for Wayfarers, but there's also absolutely loads of them around too. The Wanderer is a little bit more of a niche product but if it's a good one it will sell, and can be worth a lot more than a beaten up ex school Wayfarer.

 

[ylop]

I think you've missed the point - you should be buying the boat your wife wants not the one a bunch of middle-aged internet surfers say is best.