Dinghy or trailer sailor

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jskfmcjames007

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I am reasonably new to sailing. Have acheied RYA Comp Crew, RYA Dinghy levels 1 & 2, & currently doing Day Skipper Theory.

I am not sure whether to continue with dinghies or go straight to the big stuff.

Can anyone offer some experience.
 
Spend your first season in a dinghy. Then you will know what to do for the future. eg cruising, racing, weekending in a small yacht, or spending a fortune on a bigger boat.

Buy a dinghy that's past its best, that way you'll not lose money if you decide to sell after 1 year.
 
Welcome to the forums & sailing.

I would say go dinghy to learn the theory of sailing. I know a lot of dinghy sailors who have moved to yachts with great success. I found that yachts are harder to see the effects of your actions before it's too late etc & in dinghy's you can have another go at stuff, you just get wet as opposed to putting serious dents in your pride and joy. I find that pushing a yacht to it's limit induces fear, but pushing a dighy to and beyond it's limit induces exhileration.

The other thing to remember is that dinghies are cheaper to buy and run.

Caveat - this is just my opinion. I think ALL sailing is wonderful.

Good luck
 
Get a small trailer sailer with a small cabin, pedro, skipper 17, type of boat. It will be much more comfortable than a dinghy without being too bit to launch and sail. You will feel much dryer and have somewhere to keep your clothes / lunch etc.
It will hold its value well and then if you like the idea you can go bigger.
 
I sailed a dinghy for years then bought a trailer sailer a couple of years ago, both great but find the trailer trailer sailer more interesting as we can "go somewhere" in it. I'd say think about where you are going to sail, if sailing club on a lake than a dinghy, if on large lake or sea then trailer sailer.
For the record I have a Westerly Nimrod (in fact I have 2 - long story) it handles very much like a big dinghy and is easy to launch and rig.
 
If you want to get on the water with a minimum of fuss it has to be a dinghy. Even better, join the local sailing club and crew in a dinghy that finishes towards the front of the fleet. You will learn loads.

While you are doing that, work towards your next sailing goal. Like many others I did years of dinghy sailing before moving on. For me the trailer sailor phase was a valuable, but short lived, step towards a cruiser. They are hard work if you want to trailer sail at weekends
 
I'd definately go for the dinghy, you lean a lot faster, and become much quicker at dumping power from the sails, luffing etc when getting it wrong means getting wet! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

As for crewing dinghies near the front of the fleet, i'd say a good idea but they'll probably already have crew that they have practiced with for a while.. which is why they're near the front...
Crew with anyone if it means getting out on the water.
 
Having been a dinghy man for most of my sailing career, and only recently bought a trailer sailer, I'd go with the masses.

Get a reasonable condition dinghy..not too pricey, but not knackered either, join your local dinghy racing club (find out what classes they sail first), and do a season round the cans. You will learn loads about sail trim & boat handling, have mega fun in the process, and you will feel more confident when you do move to a bigger boat.

You may also get more sailing done...there's a lot less acreage to tend to.

Tim
 
Things happen much quicker in a dinghy. you can see (& feel) the consequences of your actions - there is immediate feedback. that's why they are so good for learning in. If you can sail a dinghy, big boats are easy.

Dinghies give you short, intensive trips exhilirating speed and lots of wet fun. You will get something suitable for as little as a few hundred quid.

A small cruiser is for going places, it is unlikely to plane (unless you buy a lightweight, planing micro-cruiser). but you can overnight/ weekend. The pleasure of spending a night up a muddy creek cannot be exagerated. But the boat is heavier, more expensive & trips require more planning. It will set you back a few thousand quid - although, older, slower boats can be acquired for around £500-800, they will require time & money to make them pleasant to spend time on.

So yer pays yer money & yer takes yer choice. Enjoy whatever you choose! I have a 31' ketch for serious journeys & a Laser dinghy for when I feel the need for some exciting wet exercise/ fun.
 
It depends entirely on your circumstances and your opportunities.
I seem to think that those who progress up to 30/40ft yachts still hanker after the responsiveness and simplicity of a dinghy or small cruiser.
Because of our limited opportunities to sail I have "downgraded" to a clinker dinghy from small cruisers.
I have always loved the sensations of sailing. The sounds of a wooden boat in a short chop are wonderful. GRP boats can't compete.
Plus the opportunity to trail it anywhere for a day-sail.

Maybe one of the small and responsive cruisers like a First 18 or a Swift 18 would give you easy trailering and weekend fun, without all the maintenance woes you read about on PBO. All for about £3/5000
 
I say go for a trailer sailer. You can get one that is uncapsizeable and essentially unsinkable with self draining cockpit. You will find it so forgiving after a dinghy. I think you will find both yourself and your friends more willing to participate in sailing. (or at least less concerned about going in the water. olewill
 
We sailed dinghies for years, and thought "big" boats looked boring. Wot, no sitting out?
Then friends invited us on a charter yacht in Scotland and we were hooked. Did Day Skipper theory, tried a flotilla. Did Day Skipper practical and a boat handling course, bought a trailer sailer. Fantastic times - trail sailed a bit in the UK and in year 3 we crossed the channel and now we just leave her wherever we've got to, till next time. In France that's cheap. We're learning all the time. We still sail the dinghy when we're at home. The trailer sailer's for sale now (see website) as we've bought a slightly bigger boat. If you've got time to spend on a "big" boat, go for it. Dinghy sailing is great but it's only an hour or two at a time. A big boat means a different kind of life and you can't beat it.
 
Agree with all that's been said especially with learning to sail properly with a dinghy before deciding where to go from there. The ONLY way to decide for yourself without spending oodles of money is to crew with different people and different boats before making a decision as to what you want to do. That way you dont make the wrong decision which may prove expensive.
All sailings good but some is better than others!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Agree with the consensus that dinghys make good learning platforms and can be lots of fun, whilst being relatively cheap and easily managed. Of course there's a world of difference between sailing a high performance single-hander and pottering about in something like a Wayfarer. The latter will look after you a bit more and give you some day-tripping capability.
Look around, read around and try before you buy. There are many places around the country where you can hire dinghys, dayboat and yachts, allowing you to experience many types of sailing without the expense and committment of boat ownership.
If you want to try your hand at sailing bigger boats you can't do much better than hire a yacht on the Norfolk Broads for a few days or a week. Some people may scoff at 'ditch crawling', but they've probably never experienced the many miles of fantastic sailing to be had on the rivers and lakes of the Broads. There are some beautiful vintage (and modern) yachts and halfdeckers available at reasonable rates to those with little experience. The sailing is technically challenging, (especially if you hire boat without an engine) but with the inherent safety of being inland. You get the journeying aspect that you don't get going round the buoys in a dinghy, and you get to experience living aboard. It's also a beautiful landscape to be immersed in.
Have a look at eastwood-whelpton.co.uk, and huntersyard.co.uk for classic Broads boats.
Beware - Broads sailing is addictive, and you may find yourself going back time and again.
 
We also did RYA 1 & 2 dinghy sailing and were looking to buy a dinghy, then we made the 'mistake' of going on a Neilson dinghy sailing holiday in the Caribbean. From then on, all our dinghy sailing has been done in warmer climates where it's like falling into bathwater - we bought a trailer sailer for UK waters!

We have had a MacGregor 26X for 4 years and having moved up from dinghies, found her to be a brilliant compromise boat. She is technically a motor sailer since she has a socking great outboard on the back and can come up on the plane if you're in a hurry to get back from somewhere, but still sails reasonably well if you swap the jib for a genoa so you've got a very large headsail. If you're into racing though, forget it /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif They do have a lot of room inside in comparison with most 26' yachts, though you don't get a huge amount of storage space due to all the positive flotation and no real depth below the waterline.

The Macs do get slated a lot on here, mostly by people who've never been near one, so if you want more info, feel free to PM me. Being water-ballasted, they are not as stable as a similar sized monohull with a great lump of lead under the keel, but we've been able to get home safely in F6+ (not sailing!) without feeling we were in imminent danger.

Brierley
 
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