Sailing dinghies left on moorings, excluding Wayf & Wanderers

[Greenheart]

In a moment of clarity, I just remembered one of the dreariest aspects of my dinghy-sailing past: lugging the boat from the yard, down a street, through a village, then waiting interminably among other wetsuited-crews before finally launching. How I envied those with moorings...

The training Wayfarers at Bosham were on moorings near the quay for whole seasons at a stretch. I don't think I ever saw one on its side. Again at Seaview this year in a gusty F5, there were Wayfs anchored or moored offshore, steady as rocks, so it seemed.

Anybody have experience of an inherently stable, not-so-weighty dinghy that isn't a damned liability, left on a mooring?

 

[Kelpie]

I think you'll find that the reason you can leave a Wayfarer on a mooring is because it's a big heavy lump with a lot of stability. But thankfully that also means that, if you have a mooring, the weight of the boat isn't much of a concern.

Of course beaching a Wayfarer is something to be careful about. You can get left high and dry if you don't keep moving the boat back down the beach. A useful alternative system is to drop an anchor over the stern as you come in, and then rig up a sort of running mooring so that you can hold the boat back off the beach.

(By the way, my Wayfarer did once invert on its mooring. A bad combination of me not visiting the boat- I'd just got married the week before so I have a pretty good excuse for not bailing- plus a miniature tornado sweeping through the harbour)

Anyway, you asked about other types of dinghy... short answer, I don't know, you don't see other types on moorings really. But whatever you do try this with, it will help to raise the board, and, unless it will be vulnerable to passing traffic, drop the mast.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

The Wayfarers that are left on moorings are probably the Mark II SD (self draining) and has the sole / floor bonded to the hull to give additional sealed buoyancy caused by the space under the floor. This version of the Wayfarer was designed this way for sailing schools who wanted to moor their dinghies instead of stowing them on shore. Rain or spray runs across the floor which is above the water line and into recesses where the self bailers are. By leaving the self bailers open, accumulations of water just drain into the sea, thus eliminating the destabilising effect of free surface area caused by pooled water.

I don't know of other dinghies left on a mooring permanently.

Wayfarer Versions

 

[lw395]

Most dinghies that go reasonably well are quite light in the hull and narrow on the waterline.
Not a good mix for leaving on a mooring.
I have seen people suspend a 56lb weight under a dinghy from the shroud attachments to make them stay happily on a mooring overnight.

A light dinghy really is not much hassle to launch on any reasonable slipway.

Many modern dinghies have thin gelcoats and might get osmosis on a mooring, indeed they can get osmosis from soggy carpet padding on the trolley.

One route might be a dinghy with a metal centreboard, eg Kestrel, Firefly, Lark. Bosun?
I did once have silly scheme for a sailing tender, with a heavy centreboard but never did it.

The other possibility is a catamaran. Many of the cheaper ones will have heavy masts though, and are not as stable as you'd think if some big wash happens.

You would need to consider insurance, my dinghy insurance does not cover it afloat and unattended.

Years ago I had an old moth and sailed in on a river. We used to lash the mast to a tree between races as it would fall over if you turned your back.

 

[Greenheart]

Thanks for those thoughts...

...I sense myself gliding comfortably down Wayfarer Way, again. Perhaps it's inevitable. I wish I didn't also feel it was unfortunate. But I suppose I really desire the virtues of much larger sailing vessels, in one sturdy small one - and the nearest any design comes, is the W.

I nearly bought a gunter-rigged Albacore a few years back...they mightn't have much form stability, but that stumpy mast must have brought the centre of gravity down when parked up.

Since you gentlemen know much more than I about Wayfarers, (the variants document was useful ) can you tell me if any of the different 'marks' are particularly to be avoided? I've heard the early woodies remain fast and light, and that mk2s are soft and overweight.

Not that I want or need anything pristine...but Ws are widely scorned as slugs, so I'd sooner find the least bad.

Is there a design of trailer which is best suited to the boat? Quite a lot of cheap oldies out there, presumably cheap because they are "without road base", and are for sale somewhere in the Scottish border region. This world is seriously short of dinghy trailers...

 

[Penton Hooker]

Dan Crane, I can assure you that the Wayfarers at Bosham have been known to capsize, all twelve of 'em, as there was when I was senior instructor there.

At another school, Pin Mill, we had an Uffa Fox Pegasus. She was known to capsize when boarded by an instructor, but never blew over on her mooring.

Me, I've now got an Honnor Marine Drascombe Longboat on a mooring, great boat but hardly comparable with a modern high performance racing dinghy.

 

[Seajet]

Dan,

instead of bothering with a Wayfarer, probably not a self draining one ? How about you bite the bullet and get a Leisure 17 ?

Good boats, they sail much better than you might think, no worries re moorings, most dry out on twin keels ...

Absolutely cheap as chips, I know someone who bought a second one for spares !

There was a good one at my club, the owner had been posted abroad near the end of a refit; the whole boat, rig, the lot went for a few hundred £.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

A friend's father had a plywood wayfarer in the 60s, kept on a mooring, seemed to do alright without a double bottom.

 

[Greenheart]

Very persuasive, Andy! Here's a clean one: http://sailingdinghies.apolloduck.co.uk/advert.phtml?id=256494

And at some point in the next few months, I'll actually have to make that choice. Time for a winter of indecision...

It'd be very good to have a vessel with a lid, on which to fit my yet-to-be-patented Crane-propane self-circulating cabin-warming system, and the cigar-humidor & wing-backed chairs I favour. There isn't really room for those aboard an Osprey or Wayfarer...

Then again...fixed keels mean no more beach-landing and camping. No squeezing the boat in the garage...nor much planing or showing off in surf... Not quite certain I'm ready to give up the fun, to swap it for 40-inch headroom, 700kg displacement and a 5-knot top speed!

 

[Seajet]

I'd say the only possible real snag would be not getting it into the garage; I've seen L17 sailors having plenty of fun, maybe not planing but it probably felt like it !

Personally I'd rate it as a lot more fun than lugging a Wayfarer around even if occasionally, and righting one solo after getting it wrong doesn't bear thinking about.

Like most things, they have done the Atlantic; if you should want to see the rest of the brochure you know where I am...

 

[Greenheart]

Thanks for that, I may well enquire further.

Interesting point...at what size do you think the discomforts and limits of dinghies, get replaced by the inconvenient bulk and weight of mini-cruisers?

There must be an ultimate smallest yacht design somewhere in between, which planes, self-rights, dry-stows hundreds of kilos of gear, lets a couple sleep in dry comfort, dries out upright, can be moored indefinitely in safety, and looks nice too.

I always admired the Swift 18. Never been aboard one though.

 

[sailorman]

Thanks for that, I may well enquire further.

Interesting point...at what size do you think the discomforts and limits of dinghies, get replaced by the inconvenient bulk and weight of mini-cruisers?

There must be an ultimate smallest yacht design somewhere in between, which planes, self-rights, dry-stows hundreds of kilos of gear, lets a couple sleep in dry comfort, dries out upright, can be moored indefinitely in safety, and looks nice too.

I always admired the Swift 18. Never been aboard one though.

There is a Sailfish for sale in our club for not a lot of money around £1800 i think

 

[Seajet]

The SWIFT 18 is a good boat, but tends to be silly money as it's probably the best trailer-sailer if one is into that sort of thing.

There are lots of good cruisers around going for buttons and it's largely a case of what's going when and where one looks, but as a known good boat going for silly low prices I reckon the Leisure 17 a true bargain.

There were lots of tries at 'Micro Cruisers' in the 1970's of couse, one being the 13'9" Voyager which at least looks well proportioned, but I'd still say L17...

 

[ProDave]

Very persuasive, Andy! Here's a clean one: http://sailingdinghies.apolloduck.co.uk/advert.phtml?id=256494

I've never understood why most L17's seem to travel "backwards" on their trailers?

I can only think that makes them somewhat harder to launch from a slipway, and a LOT harder to recover on a slipway.

But that apart, there's several of them up here, they certainly seem popular.

If you are going to get a "dinghy with a lid" look also at lifting keel variants if creek crawling is your thing.

 

[Seajet]

I've never understood why most L17's seem to travel "backwards" on their trailers?

I can only think that makes them somewhat harder to launch from a slipway, and a LOT harder to recover on a slipway.

But that apart, there's several of them up here, they certainly seem popular.

If you are going to get a "dinghy with a lid" look also at lifting keel variants if creek crawling is your thing.

ProDave,

good point; thinking about it I suppose the skeg is on solid trailer rather than waving in the breeze, but as you say it must make launch and recovery a lot harder.

 

[Kylora]

I've never understood why most L17's seem to travel "backwards" on their trailers?

I can only think that makes them somewhat harder to launch from a slipway, and a LOT harder to recover on a slipway.

But that apart, there's several of them up here, they certainly seem popular.

If you are going to get a "dinghy with a lid" look also at lifting keel variants if creek crawling is your thing.

It certainly made recovery more difficult as the skeg would 'ground' on the trailer whilst the keels were still able to move away from their correct position.

I heard a story that when built, they were loaded on to a trailer from the ground without needing a crane by tipping them bow down and the trailer hitch up.

About 2,500 built so lots still about.

Ash

 

[Searush]

FFS Dan, just buy SOMETHING - ANYTHING! and stop prevaricating! There is no such thing as the ideal boat, whatever you buy will have drawbacks, but once you own & sail it, you will forgive its weaknesses & praise its strengths.

After selling it & moving on you will only ever remember the good things, all its disavantages & foibles will be forgotten.

I have seen Enterprises & Fireflies left on sheltered moorings perfectly safely. I left a Mirror on a temporary self-laid anchor for a week at Tobermory & a catermaran on Rudyard Lake for a month. They need antifoul if left for more than the odd week & also need a boom up cover if not visited/ used every other day or so.

It really doesn't matter what sort of sailing you do, as long as you do do some & don't just spend all your time stressing without the fun of actually doing it!

FWIW my classic (1959) GP14 with combi road trailer cost less than 400 squid & is a doddle to trail & launch/ recover. It would also happily sit on a sheltered summer mooring if I used it with a tender & boom up cover. Don't forget that with the rudder inboard & centreboard up, a strong beam gust will not heel it cos it will just skitter sideways. The big problem would be rigging the sails on the water, as this is much easier to do on the trolley before launch, or immediately after launch with someone holding the bow into the wind.

 

[Greenheart]

And, I sink further into irrelevant matters...

...interesting thing, here, sort-of...

I see that regardless of twin or fin keel, the Leisure 17 PY rating is about 128, much the same as the Topper...

...but the similarly proportioned, somewhat lighter Skipper 17...

...has a PY rating of 110...much the same as the Wayfarer.

That's a lot quicker!

I like the Westerly Nimrod, too. More money I suppose, though...odd when it's barely a foot longer and 40 years old.

 

[Greenheart]

After selling it & moving on you will only ever remember the good things, all its disavantages & foibles will be forgotten.

Thanks, I know you're right. But while it's freezing, I'm enjoying speculating what to look for...at least, approximately.

 

[Seajet]

Dan,

I'm trying to be polite here, but I don't think a Skipper 17 or Sailfish 18 are for you.

I did think of a Nimrod as up your street, I don't know how many were made but it must be decades since I saw one.

The Voyager was an illusration of a trend, I didn't actually think it would appeal !

There are lift keel dayboats like the Hunter Tracer ( which still has a fair bit of keel below in 'raised' position ) and Kinsman, also our club used to sail 12sq metre Sharpies which stayed happily on moorings, lovely boat to sail but would cost a fortune in any condition now.