Sailing tender - does anyone use one?

Neil, Oh yes indeedy!

And the go-getting of 'er was delightful too, what a gem of a location..I spent a month on the hook just pottering, reading and writing( badly) and tweaking the lugsail for speed!

And it is particularly nice that my boat and the dinghy were built within a mile of each other. 'Proper job'. There isn't a bad line in that dinghy. maybe I should take the lines off and get 'em on paper for posterity? I did try to find Richard without wanting to seem pushy, but only really to have a yarn in the Seven Stars@ Penryn and play who might we have known along the wharfs there

all best Tim

Yes....a lovely part of the world.

And the Seven Stars....many happy, hazy, memories of evenings misspent there!
 
Since I have a spare windsurfer rig, cat centreboard and laser rudder I was thinking of building something that would clamp to the seat of our RIB. Anyone ever seen anything like this? Any thoughts on whether it would work. My only concern is that the seat attachment point may not be strong enough.
The mast will tear the seat off.

I used a small mast and sail on my trimaran which I converted from plywood skiff. The mast heel sat in the board epoxied to the bottom and went through the hole in the foredeck.

maststep.jpg


aftersail2.jpg

Then I fitted a windsurfer/alloy mast and a Laser sail

It sailed a treat


ConistonJuly01.jpg



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but them wrenched the mast step block away and loosened the foredeck


ConistonJuly05.jpg

So I had to bolt through the hull to locate the mast step and make a steel frame to reinforce the foredeck.


Frame%2005.jpg



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A forumite was kind enough to sell me a aluminium nesting dinghy with lugsail rig. It is a dream.

Unfortunately they no longer are made seemingly..

And the go-getting of 'er was delightful too, what a gem of a location..I spent a month on the hook just pottering, reading and writing( badly) and tweaking the lugsail for speed!

Bluey

Have you got any pictures of the dinghy for our delectation?
 
Hmmm, I’ve been following this thread with interest. So basically, the ideal sailing tender would be…
Light-sub 50kg to allow for easy handling ashore
Fun-to keep you amused in quiet anchorages, or on the way back from the pub half cut
Short-12 foot or less, to allow for deck or davit stowage on bigger yachts
Safe-reefable sails to allow for all wind conditions
High volume-deep cockpit to allow plenty cargo/people carrying capacity
Strong-modern construction materials, low maintenance

Ladies and Gentlemen, the answer has been staring us in the face all along. I give you, the 12 foot skiff!

Here’s one getting a little frisky must be a freak gust of wind…

12footskiffgarrickcameron.jpg



Here’s another getting a little frisky, erm, in another freak gust, actually I’m driving this one in this shot, and it’s OK, my wetsuit needed a good wash anyway…

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But they’re not always like that, sometimes they are very well mannered indeed as seen here…


So tell me, what’s not to like?
 
With mine I removed the side tanks and the part of the front tank that is open under the aft mast step. It left bags of space for 4 people and a week's shopping. In my construction the resulting hull was plenty stiff enough but on a plywood one it might need a bit of stiffening. in general terms, Mirror kits were made with some quite soft 5-6mm ply which is a bit flimsy for the sort of use a tender gets. I'd hate to think of a foot going through the bottom as you board! I'll vouch for seaworthiness. The Walker Bays look to me to be a bit short on freeboard.

The attraction of the WB is the floatation tube arrangement. However these tubes can be bought independently and adapted to most hard dinghies.
 
I have one and it is for sale. GRP with built in buoyancy rope fender complete with cover and road trailer. £500 ovno. presently under covers near Lymington

Hi Charlie and welcome to the forum. It would be useful if you would refer to the posting you are responding to so that we know which boat you are talking about.
 
We build the Nestaways. I know we are not cheap, but is your comparison - between the cost of a complete boat and the headline price for a kit of plywood parts - really a fair one?

The basic kit cost for a Port Townsend PT11 is $1940 USD (£1212.50). "Total of {their} recommended items" for a sailing version is $4639 USD ex taxes. And total cost, before you put any value at all to the "190-220hrs labour to complete" looks like it will be between £3500-£4000 GBP when you add the epoxy, fillers for epoxy, consumables, paint, shipping, and VAT due on import to the UK. £4000 (inc 20% VAT ie UK sales tax) buys you a very nice Nestaway 9ft Stem dinghy, ready to go the day it arrives; or you can put a basic sailing one on the water for just over £3000 inc VAT. (If you're outside the EU take the VAT off our prices, ie divide by 1.2.)

The kit build costings also assume you have somewhere to build it that you don't have to pay for, and that you already have the skill (and are not paying for it), and that you already own all necessary tools. If you treat it as a full-time job then 190-220hrs is a six weeks solid project.

Other comparisons. I like the look of the PT11 and it will undoubtedly be quicker under sail and oars - it's longer and slightly narrower. But for the same reasons our 9ft Stem is more compact to store and (this is an educated guess, haven't tried the PT11) should provide similar carrying capacity and stability (if not more). The Nestaway is a "big" 9ft boat: deep, beamy and near flat-bottomed in the middle. We chose the balanced lugsail rig because it's quick and easy to set up, very simple to use, and the "balanced" part forward of the mast has a dampening effect when gibing etc. It won't win any races (except possibly against other sailing tenders) but will make progress in all directions and is perfect for pottering around the anchorage, exploring under sail, teaching the kids/grandkids, etc. Customers are generally very happy with the sailing and rowing performance, and stability. There will be those who disagree, but I think - for the life of a tender - glassfibre and oiled teak (Nestaway) is probably less hassle to maintain than painted and varnished plywood (PT).

On weight, yes plywood epoxy boats can be lighter than glassfibre ones and in theory each half of the PT11 is about 5kg lighter than the equivalent part of the Nestaway 9ft Stem dinghy. But I also think it's fair to say that it's rare for kit-built boats to come in at or below the target weight...

So I like, even admire the PT11, and if you want to build your own boat building a dinghy is certainly a manageable way to start. Using a boat that you built yourself is very satisfying. But don't get too excited by that $1940 figure.

Ian Thomson
Nestaway Boats Ltd
 
The Tinker range of sailing inflatables (including the Tramp) was withdrawn from market approx six years ago. I think this was due to cost - being handmade in the UK - and Henshaw's (Tinker parent company) decision to concentrate on the commercial market, eg making tubes for RIBS etc.

The nearest equivalent to the Tinker Tramp available new today is the DinghyGo 275 (which we distribute in the UK), launched last year. Comparing the two, DinghyGo has an inflatable floor instead of the Tinker's plywood floorboards, and a freestanding mast that's quicker to rig. DinghyGo also has larger side tubes and will take outboards up to 8hp, so is a good general purpose inflatable tender when you're not sailing it.

There are sometimes secondhand Tinkers for sale on the Tinker Owner's website here: http://www.tinkerowners.org.uk/index.html

And you can see DinghyGo at: http://www.nestawayboats.com/page10.htm

Ian

Ian Thomson
Nestaway Boats Ltd
 
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