Lifejacket on dinghy or buoyancy aid?

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hmm

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Is it silly to use a manually activated lifejacket (which is what I have)for dinghy sailing?

Just about to go back to some dinghy sailing and do not want to fork out for a buoyancy aid unless I have to.

My thoughts are: (well some of them)

More likely to get wet in dinghy - could do damage to inflation device (in long term)

You get no buoyancy aid from lifejacket until pull cord.
Buoyancy aids can be bulky, lifejacket not

I'm a good swimmer (when conscious), but was under a dinghy once, wrapped in rope and was glad had an aid on that day.

Sailing will be on a lake - not the sea.

Thanks
 
What else will you be wearing? If wetsuit or drysuit, which already give some buoyancy, then manual gas is quite a good idea. Depends how happy you are going into the water with the lifejacket uninflated, and how likely you are to go in in the first place.
 
If you are going to race most Clubs require a buoyancy aid as they have the inherent buoyancy. Check out Lifejacket world on Ebay - cheapest BAs I could find and good quality brands.
 
ARGOS

OK - the answer is an aid then.

What do you think of this one? I know it is from Argos - I want pockets for when on a dinghy catamaran on the sea (as well as the lake stuff)

web page argos jacket

Is this going to be really uncomfortable compared to a gul jobby?

Thanks for replies by the way
 
You could try righting a dinghy, and getting back into it once righted, with an inflated lifejacket.
Also, you could see how practical an automatically inflating lifejacket is, if you have to replace the gubbins every time you capsize or otherwise go for a swim. Especially if you do this several times in one outing (my record is about 6 IIRC, on a lake, during a race).
That should decide it. Also you could see what everyone else does.
One good piece of advice above - carry a sharp (preferably serrated-edge) knife.
 
You need a bouyancy aid - if you're dinghy sailing you should expect to capsize. Get a proper dinghy sailors aid - not too bulky but with enough bouyancy to make it easy to stay afloat. You want to reserve your energy for righting the boat after a capsize, not battling either to stay afloat or fighting a huge inflated monster. The first few on this page are the sort of thing - http://www.wesellcrewsaver.co.uk/buoyancy-aids.htm
 
I agree with the other who have suggeted a buoyancy aid. You will need something with permanent buoyancy that does not restict movement or impede swimming. So that rules out inflatable life jackets.

There are buoyancy aids on the market for between £20and £30. It will be worth checking out the Lidl's offer on Monday but it looks a bit more like a life jacket with most of the buoyancy on the front. It also appears to have a collar which you will not want.
 
I promised my Bro that I would wear a bouyancy aid when sailing my dinghy, although I never bother on the yacht. The plan is not to fall in, but easier said than done.
 
I have always worn a buoyancy when dinghy sailing. I have never capsized unintentionally but have quite often done so deliberately. It's good practice in righting it and it washes out the mud and sand etc.

I have seldom worn a life jacket on a yacht, although I have a manually inflated one. Just a few times I suppose at night in bad weather. I do usually wear a safety harness at night though.

I've been looking at buoyancy aids recently in order to persuade the elderly and now disabled friend I crew for to wear one in the dinghy. Not so much while in the dinghy but for when transfering from dinghy to yacht and vice versa. (That is now so difficult that I thought I was going to have to call out the Coastguard helicopter to get him off a few weeks ago.) He seems to have accepted the idea of wearing mine so now all I have to do is persuade him to get his own.
 
At our yacht club (Swan River) all dinghy sailors wear the bouyancy vest type aid. Very few sailors can complete a race without capsizing so it is not a safety device but an aid to recovering the boat. No body wears auto inflating life jackets.
I usually wear the bouyancy vest on keel boat partly because it provides warmth around the back and a bit of protection from bumps. The type with bouyancy around the neck for supporting an unconcious head are required to be carried but I prefer the vest type for comfort when wearing for long periods. ie better to wear an aid that is usefull if you are conscious than none at all. (Which is what happens if it is not comfortable)
Even on keel boats inflating lifejackets are very rare here. olewill
 
Agree with most things above. It has to be a buouyancy aid. Dry suits were mentioned and it's worth making a couple of points. True, they do offer a degree of bouyancy. In fact if the air is not purged, they offer quite a bit of bouyancy.

BUT

1. Bouyancy (air) will disappear rapidly through the neck and wrist seals once you start any work in the water like righting a dinghy.

2. MOST IMPORTANT - don't ever wear a drysuit without some other kind of upper body buoyancy. As a dive instructor, we often invert trainees just to show them how difficult it is to get the right way up. The trapped air goes to the feet and you just sit there inverted. Most of them manage it with quite a struggle but without the scuba kit they would not be able to breath long enough. It could be argued that the tank would help keep them inverted but in fact aluminium tanks will actually float when empty. With a dinghy suit that sometimes does not have built in boots, you can always pull the ankle seal out but that takes some thinking about and you'd lose buoyancy - not exactly the kind of composure you'd expect when hanging inverted in the water and not able to breath.

WEAR AN ADDITIONAL BUOYANCY AID WITH THE DRY SUIT.
 
go for a proper bouyancy aid from a reputable manufacturer,
have seen the lidl, argos type, but won't bet my life on them..

ask your family how much your life is worth, i would expect them to come up with a cost more then a couple of quid...
 
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