Dragons

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Sandgrounder

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In my ongoing search for the next boat for Windermere I chanced upon a Dragon for sale. This is not a boat I had considered before but, without having seen, from the photos it looks OK and is at a reasonable price so could be a possibility. I'm not looking to race but I am interested in a part decked keel-boat for rapid pottering.

I do not want a wooden boat because I prefer sailing to maintenance hence I am not looking at Windermere 17s lovely as they are


Does anyone here have any experience of sailing a Dragon.
 
Sandgrounder said:
In my ongoing search for the next boat for Windermere I chanced upon a Dragon for sale. This is not a boat I had considered before but, without having seen, from the photos it looks OK and is at a reasonable price so could be a possibility. I'm not looking to race but I am interested in a part decked keel-boat for rapid pottering.

I do not want a wooden boat because I prefer sailing to maintenance hence I am not looking at Windermere 17s lovely as they are


Does anyone here have any experience of sailing a Dragon.
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Yes - lovely boats. Lots of string to play with!

Pete
 
Haven't sailed one...but I've admired many. Can there be a more beautiful boat below 30ft?

AUS109-Peter-Bowman.jpg
 
I used to crew for my father on his Dragon. I would have been about 17 or 18. We raced at Abersoch, but never did very well - except we came 6th in one Edinburgh Cup race. Exciting boat, but lots of string :)
 
Halcyon Yachts said:
Yes - lovely boats. Lots of string to play with!

Pete
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+1 but the difference in handling between a well set-up boat and one that hasn't been fettled is huge. Older less competitive boats still get sold on quickly so you can some real bargains if you aren't trying to win a race but a boat set up for racing is very complicated and not that goood for pottering with a family. Not much initial stiffness either if you have a nervous sailor and don;t ever expect to stay dry if there's any chop at all. Other than you'll smile every time you think of one, the smile gets bigger when you see her and you just grin all the time when you sail one. One of those boats they should never have built in plastic.
 
grumpy_o_g said:
+1 but the difference in handling between a well set-up boat and one that hasn't been fettled is huge. Older less competitive boats still get sold on quickly so you can some real bargains if you aren't trying to win a race but a boat set up for racing is very complicated and not that goood for pottering with a family. Not much initial stiffness either if you have a nervous sailor and don;t ever expect to stay dry if there's any chop at all. Other than you'll smile every time you think of one, the smile gets bigger when you see her and you just grin all the time when you sail one. One of those boats they should never have built in plastic.
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Your penultimate sentence is exactly what I'm hoping for. AS for wood v grp, I understand your view however pragmatically GRP has to be the way to go for a knockabout daysailor doesn't it?

With regard to all the string, the last one I say had about 38 different control lines but no reefing! My plan would be to learn what they all do before deciding which I can safely discard. I was talking the other day to someone who daysails a Soling which he has fitted with a self tacking jib - maybe taking things a bit too far perhaps. I'm not too worried about lack of initial stiffness, my last open keelboat was very tender; to the point that I have no willing crew in my family!
 
Richard10002 said:
I used to crew for my father on his Dragon. I would have been about 17 or 18. We raced at Abersoch, but never did very well - except we came 6th in one Edinburgh Cup race. Exciting boat, but lots of string :)
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I didn't know there were any Dragons in Abersoch, except Welsh Nats of course :nonchalance:
What you describe sounds like my sort of sailing - not doing well in races! Would you think one OK for general day boat use? Especially single handed?
 
Sandgrounder said:
I didn't know there were any Dragons in Abersoch, except Welsh Nats of course :nonchalance:
What you describe sounds like my sort of sailing - not doing well in races! Would you think one OK for general day boat use? Especially single handed?
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I'm going back to 1977/78 or so :)

I recall sailing it with non sailing girlfriends at the time, dropping anchor for a leisurely lunch and suchlike, and nipping around the islands... so I think it would be fine for day sailing.

We had an outboard that had a bracket by the helm, and which could be secured below the deck.
 
Raced one a few years ago -
Personally I found it frustrating as they always look far better than they actually go, although we did pretty well.
We found very little boat speed between the top boats in a straight line, give that you we good at constant tweaking of barber hauler, so you won and lost at the start and round the corners.
Steering I found was heavy, bit like using a barn door.
Down wind with the kite up you'd be going well, you see a gust coming behind and all that generally happened was the rig and sheet loads would rocket and the speed hardly moved or at least this is what it felt like though I was just out of Flying Dutchman so I guess that would account for it.

Fabulous looking boats though.
 
I've crewed on Dragons quite a bit.

For racing, they need a crew of three, and they are hard work in a blow (and things tend to break). The wooden ones are not competitive (at least in the Burnham fleet).

The string is not that complicated once you know the set-up, though each boat is set-up differently. They all have runners, which have to be put on/ off every tack, and for both port and starboard runners, there's a 'quick' line and then a 'tensioning' line.

All lines on the 'piano bar' are duplicated on each side, so it's not as bad as it looks.

For cruising, or gentle day sailing, you could go for a much simpler set-up, and get some reef points put in. Go for thicker spinnaker sheets/ guys than the racers, too (the thin lines are really nasty to handle, even with gloves, in a fresh breeze).

They are, to my eye, one of the most beautiful yachts ever designed. I find my concentration wanders during a race, as I'm admiring the rest of the fleet.

Roy Hart, at Battlesbridge, has converted one to gaff rig (complete with bowsprit), which suits her well. In fact, she looks very much like a scaled-down HMY Britannia (the one that was scuttled).

If the price is right...go for it...she'll be a real joy!!
 
Sandgrounder said:
In my ongoing search for the next boat for Windermere I chanced upon a Dragon for sale. This is not a boat I had considered before but, without having seen, from the photos it looks OK and is at a reasonable price so could be a possibility. I'm not looking to race but I am interested in a part decked keel-boat for rapid pottering.

I do not want a wooden boat because I prefer sailing to maintenance hence I am not looking at Windermere 17s lovely as they are


Does anyone here have any experience of sailing a Dragon.
Click to expand...



Them there Dragons look a bit lively for single-handing. The Windermere 17s don't require sitting out and only have 2 crew when racing.
There are some grp composite ones, but are the newer and more expensive ones.

 
No need to sit out a dragon, for pottering, Mr Lakesailor.

With a suitably simplified string set-up, I think they'd make a lovely single-handed day sailer.

They were, I believe, originally designed for cruising.
 
Twister_Ken said:
Abso-bloody-lutely right, young whippersnapper. One finds one's memory becomes as unreliable as one's valets as one ages. Now, pass one today's Sporting Life, Lizzie.
Click to expand...

It's an age thing. I can remember the Coweslip/ Bluebottle detail because I was told it about 50 years ago by my mother. Ask me who I am and I might just struggle :rolleyes:
 
NealB said:
I've crewed on Dragons quite a bit.

For racing, they need a crew of three, and they are hard work in a blow (and things tend to break). The wooden ones are not competitive (at least in the Burnham fleet).

The string is not that complicated once you know the set-up, though each boat is set-up differently. They all have runners, which have to be put on/ off every tack, and for both port and starboard runners, there's a 'quick' line and then a 'tensioning' line.

All lines on the 'piano bar' are duplicated on each side, so it's not as bad as it looks.

For cruising, or gentle day sailing, you could go for a much simpler set-up, and get some reef points put in. Go for thicker spinnaker sheets/ guys than the racers, too (the thin lines are really nasty to handle, even with gloves, in a fresh breeze).

They are, to my eye, one of the most beautiful yachts ever designed. I find my concentration wanders during a race, as I'm admiring the rest of the fleet.

Roy Hart, at Battlesbridge, has converted one to gaff rig (complete with bowsprit), which suits her well. In fact, she looks very much like a scaled-down HMY Britannia (the one that was scuttled).

If the price is right...go for it...she'll be a real joy!!
Click to expand...

Thanks, exactly the sort of information I was after. I think I shall head off soon to have a good look at it.
 
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