Dinghy Round the Isle Of Wight

[TQA]

As kids have sailed Optimists around the IOW any of your dinghies would do. See https://www.yachtsandyachting.com/news/18047/Round-the-Island-in-Optimists

But as others have said the Wayfarer is your best option.

 

[RupertW]

Is this an old man thing?

Surely, dodgy curries the night before excepted, one simply visits the lavatory in the morning and is then set up for the day. They're not planning a Frank Dye week-long voyage here.

For a pee, either a "comfort zip" in a drysuit, as suggested, or wear ordinary oilies. I can see the advantages of a good sailing drysuit but I'm not sure it's necessary in a Wayfarer.

Pete

That might be your habit but 3-5 times a day for me since I was a kid.

 

[dom]

Lots of support for Wayfarers here, but aren’t they a bit old, heavy, and slow? Not inherently a problem, but I was once asked to take a lift out on a crashboat to sail one back into Dun Laoghaire harbour the crew couldn’t manage to right and bail; around F6 with a steepish sea. Maybe I was doing it wrong, but I recall it being a pig to drain with waves constantly washing over and refilling the blooming thing. At one point the boat fancied its chances as a submarine!

I’d personally go for something faster and more modern, but any of the aforementioned boats would be fine; just pick your weather & tides and off you go.

 

[ghostlymoron]

I'd have thought the potter was more suitable. If the weather turns at least you've got some shelter. Also a tiller pilot would be handy. 12 hours is a long time to hand steer especially if nature calls.
I sold my Leisure 17 to a guy with a wayfarer who undertook some lengthy trips but he said later it was much more civilised with a little cabin.
Good luck anyway.

 

[blackbeard]

I went around many years ago - it was in a small fleet of 2 GP14s and 2 Wayfarers. No VHF hand-helds, no PLBs, no mobile phones (didn't exist then) and certainly no RIB. We did have outboards (which was just as well, as there was no wind (very) early in the morning, and we would have missed Hurst tide gate without them); and we kept reasonably close so there was a bit of safety in numbers.
Anyway, find above 3 vital items of safety kit (or in the case of mobile 'phones and VHFs, can be generally useful as well). One item you don't want is the familiar yachty lifejacket (150 N or more), you need the 50 N buoyancy aid or the foam-only 100 N jobs (your choice) (assuming you have a Wayfarer or similar dinghy rather than something with ballast).
As already noted, the south side of the IOW is a serious proposition with no decent harbours to run to; depending on weather, Sandown/Shanklin offer beaches where dinghies can come ashore for a lunch/loo stop.
And you might be at sea for some time. Even in mid-summer, take a torch (or two).

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Stop at Ventnor, easy to get in and out. Have fun

 

[lw395]

Lots of support for Wayfarers here, but aren’t they a bit old, heavy, and slow? Not inherently a problem, but I was once asked to take a lift out on a crashboat to sail one back into Dun Laoghaire harbour the crew couldn’t manage to right and bail; around F6 with a steepish sea. Maybe I was doing it wrong, but I recall it being a pig to drain with waves constantly washing over and refilling the blooming thing. At one point the boat fancied its chances as a submarine!

I’d personally go for something faster and more modern, but any of the aforementioned boats would be fine; just pick your weather & tides and off you go.

Not sure about more modern, but I'd be happy with faster.
I've never actually sailed around the IoW in a dinghy, but I've done the bit from Lymington to Freshwater and Bembridge to Ryde in 505's and I'd far rather be in one of those than a Wayfarer, in either light or strong winds.
If two people wanted to sail around, a couple of Lasers wouldn't be a bad call.

Whatever the boat, the fun way to do it might be to have someone driving around the Island with a trailer, stop off a couple of places. Depends what you want from the trip, but beer and camping at Yarmouth and Bembridge or Shanklin or somewhere might be good fun.

 

[dom]

Not sure about more modern, but I'd be happy with faster.
I've never actually sailed around the IoW in a dinghy, but I've done the bit from Lymington to Freshwater and Bembridge to Ryde in 505's and I'd far rather be in one of those than a Wayfarer, in either light or strong winds.

Interesting choice; quite heavy which might work well for such a trip, including ideally an 80kg+ tallish crew on the wire. With right wind that would see the back of the Island sorted in a couple of hours or so. Sounds fun!

 

[lw395]

Interesting choice; quite heavy which might work well for such a trip, including ideally an 80kg+ tallish crew on the wire. With right wind that would see the back of the Island sorted in a couple of hours or so. Sounds fun!

505's are not heavy. Even old ones are very light for their size.
I think they are possibly the most seaworthy dinghy? A five-oh will get you around the course when anything else is struggling, and they will go well in light airs too. To sail one as well as the top guys was well beyond my skill level, but I could go sailing in a lot of wind, and crash about in rough water with impunity.
The flared hull shape just laughs at Solent chop which turns Fireballs into submarines.
When I was younger I had one number 5000-odd, which cost me only £500. My crew and I could carry the fully rigged boat up the beach, you're not going to do that with a Weighfarer.

 

[DJE]

Lots of support for Wayfarers here, but aren’t they a bit old, heavy, and slow?

Yes, yes, and not really - about the same PY as a Laser IIRC.

But I always thought they would benefit greatly from tubes through the back locker and transom flaps to help dispose of water after a capsize. Open transoms are much better in that respect but lack the storage capacity of the Wayfarer.

 

[lw395]

Yes, yes, and not really - about the same PY as a Laser IIRC.

But I always thought they would benefit greatly from tubes through the back locker and transom flaps to help dispose of water after a capsize. Open transoms are much better in that respect but lack the storage capacity of the Wayfarer.

The Wayfarer has a PY of 1102, almost exactly that of the Laser which is 1099.
But that is for a racing Wayfarer. With proper racing sails and down to weight.
A well raced Wayfarer goes quite well in light winds, it has waterline length in its favour.

Non-racing wayfarers are often built heavy for training purposes, have soaked up a lot of water over the years and are weighed down with a lot of crap. Then they are poorly set up, have terrible sails etc etc.

At my old club, there were a couple of well sailed Wayfs which could embarrass us when there was enough wind for us to plane. A cruising weighfarer isn't the same thing at all. There are of course many Wayfarers somewhere in between.

Cruising under sail, making progress in lighter winds is crucial in my view. This applies just as much with dinghies, perhaps more so, as you're not going to want to motor all the way as so many AWB owners are happy to.
Or you can be happy to just go as far as the wind takes you. That works for me sometimes.

 

[dom]

But I always thought they would benefit greatly from tubes through the back locker and transom flaps to help dispose of water after a capsize. Open transoms are much better in that respect but lack the storage capacity of the Wayfarer.

Agreed ....but

The time I had to 'rescue' one, we just sat there after righting it gently reaching off while bailing like crazy with buckets before the next big wave. The odd thing was that even with that big rear buoyancy capacity the flooded boat was still sitting stern down. With heaps of gear loaded I'm not sure we'd have won the day, even as two 18 year old lads!

 

[eddystone]

Is it actually worth having an OB on a sailing dinghy? I've never sailed a Wayfarer in heavy conditions (actually not since 1985) but what if it inverts after capsizing - a 4 stroke is then unlikely to start although you may be OK with a 2 stroke.

 

[FairweatherDave]

True of a four stroke
But stick the 2 stroke in the rear locker
If there's enough wind for a capsize you won't need an OB anyway

 

[lw395]

True of a four stroke
But stick the 2 stroke in the rear locker
If there's enough wind for a capsize you won't need an OB anyway

You could easily need an outboard when setting off at 6 AM, then have enough wind to capsize at St Cat's.

 

[lenten]

Stop at Ventnor, easy to get in and out. Have fun

-------

i went round with my 15 foot out board powered dinghy 5 years ago------ went into ventnor----its a tiny harbour completely full of small fishing boats-----being compact and full it benefits from a strong and authentic fishing boats smell---------no room to stop even for a couple of mins.----

 

[FairweatherDave]

You could easily need an outboard when setting off at 6 AM, then have enough wind to capsize at St Cat's.

Quite so. But remove from the transom after the early morning start maybe, and don't drop it in the drink. in the process. A further reason for doing that is capsizes being caused by accidentally wrapping the mainsheet round part of the outboard, I have an aft mainsheet arrangement. My point mainly was if you have managed to capsize, there is probably little need for a functioning outboard immediately afterwards........

 

[langstonelayabout]

Just to add... As a person who has sailed around the Isle of Wight in a Wayfarer and had a lovely day, I wouldn't hesitate to do it all again in a Wayfarer, unless someone wanted to loan us an International 14 as they're great fun too.

Given the force 2 to force 5 that we had, I'd leave the motor and most of the peripheral stuff at home and focus on sandwiches and drinks. Mind you, the cushion was nice

Make it a buoyancy aid, not a lifejacket. It won't get in your way if you enter the water and will allow you to do more than swim on your back. In the summer I wouldn't bother with a dry suit at all. If its a bumpy day I'd consider a wetsuit but preferred normal clothes and waterproofs. Oh, and after a very choppy beat up the Solent, experience has taught me to buy a water resistant mobile phone.

A cabin on a West Wight Potter? Rather you than me. A 505? Yes, great fun and ideal for the day out too.

 

[lw395]

Just to add... As a person who has sailed around the Isle of Wight in a Wayfarer and had a lovely day, I wouldn't hesitate to do it all again in a Wayfarer, unless someone wanted to loan us an International 14 as they're great fun too.

Given the force 2 to force 5 that we had, I'd leave the motor and most of the peripheral stuff at home and focus on sandwiches and drinks. Mind you, the cushion was nice

Make it a buoyancy aid, not a lifejacket. It won't get in your way if you enter the water and will allow you to do more than swim on your back. In the summer I wouldn't bother with a dry suit at all. If its a bumpy day I'd consider a wetsuit but preferred normal clothes and waterproofs. Oh, and after a very choppy beat up the Solent, experience has taught me to buy a water resistant mobile phone.

A cabin on a West Wight Potter? Rather you than me. A 505? Yes, great fun and ideal for the day out too.

^ This.

These days I would add that comms with someone shoreside would be very useful, as the time we went as far as Freshwater, we could probably have got around, but didn't have enough forecast info to be confident.

 

[sladonians]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the reply and noted I agree actually that buoyancy aids are better than lifejackets. Will have a couple of buckets on board, one for the anchor and warp, the other for a makeshift loo.

Should be a fun trip looking forward to it.