My dinghy's too heavy

phanakapan

phanakapan

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My dinghy\'s too heavy

We've got a Bombard something or other which is in excellent nick and not too big per se, but the floor is 4 solid marine ply bits, and it's just a bit too heavy for me to deal with on my own.

I don't think I can just leave the floor out, as it's got an inflatable keel and needs the floor for a bit of stiffening- but has anyone got any bright ideas for replacing/butchering? Can one buy retrofit airdecks for example?
 
Re: My dinghy\'s too heavy

You could drill a series of largish (50mm) holes with a tank cutter. You could prbably reduce the weight by nearly 40% without weakening it to the point of failure.

Allow about 80-100mm at he sides, and about 50mm between each hole edge. Do this in an offset pattern so nothing lines up . This prevents stress lines, and forces the stresses out along the remaining paths, reducing the stress along any given length.
Also, radius the hole edges both top and bottom to smooth the stress path again (no stress raiser in the sharp edge then), which will also have the benefit of reducing possible sharp edge injuries to you.


Perforated_metal_clip_image006.jpg



Well you get the idea....

Or you could buy an inflatable floor at considerably more cost.
 
Re: My dinghy\'s too heavy

Chuck away the floor boards AND the keel. That's what I did with my Maestral when I needed it to be lighter. Of course you are back to standing on a jelly & getting wet feet as the water drains to th edents where your feet are. But, if you want light weight go without & if you want comfort & speed leave 'em in. The choice is yours.

As an alternative slip a few pieces of T&G under the sponsons with 6" gaps between them. It will be lighter, but still reasonably stable & the keel will work. Spaced slats also allow you to roll it up for easy stowage across or along the cabin roof.
 
Re: My dinghy\'s too heavy

I've been pondering how to get a lighter inflatable dinghy, as mine is very heavy to lift onto the boat when we've finished using it. I think a lot of the weight in my XM260 is actually in the very beefy transom which is around 25mm thick solid ply. I was wondering whether a roundtail would be a good bit lighter?

Otherwise, perhaps there are makers out there who use a honeycomb carbon fibre/ kevlar board for the transom - much lighter but no doubt would charge the earth. The floor boards could also be made in glassfibre board, but I'm not sure these would be significantly lighter than the 6mm ply currently used.
 
Re: My dinghy\'s too heavy

Hmm, FC, drilling holes was what I had in mind myself, good to have your thoughts on it.

The Ikea bed base idea is interesting too, especially as I was going to make a trip there to sort the forepeak bunks out soon anyway...

Thanks all..
 
Re: My dinghy\'s too heavy

health and safety alert! Manual handling limit 25kg.

I currently have 3 dinghys as I don't know which I prefer.

A rib. As I took the davits off this doesn't get used now. Kept as I might go the snap davit route
A tinker - geat fun sailing it but 40 odd kg and big when rolled up so a bit of a pain as a tender, however it feels avonesque in its build - like it will last forever
A £100 asda special as recommended by this forum last year. Round tail but airfloor and 23kg

The latter gets used the most for now, but this would change if I didn't have to deflate and stow it every time.
 
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