Shipmate day boat

[Rockabilly Man]

Many thanks for the add. I am just about to take collection of a 1975 Shipmate dinghy.
I am not new to the river but I am new to sailing. I intend to use it as a day boat with outboard and once I start to feel happy with the boat and its a gentle day, pop the sail up.

Speed is not at all an interest, so my question is, has anyone personal experience of ballasting one of these, if so what's best to use and where is the best position for and amount of weight that works best for you?

Tia

 

[mickywillis]

I had a Shipmate Senior as a first boat. SMS 55 Eleutheros.
Lifting keel with small stub bilges. The keel is quite heavy plate, check the attachment point of the lifting mechanism as you dont want it failing!
Quite stable with keel raised, but obviously better with it down. We had a 5Hp Evinrude on the back, probably overkill, but it worked well.
Sails more like a larger dinghy (Wanderer/Wayfarer) but a bit more forgiving. Reef down in anything over F4!
Great owners association that hold rallies around the UK, have you seen the website: Shipmate Owners' Association - fabulous pocket cruiser!
Where are you planning to sail?

 

[Rockabilly Man]

I had a Shipmate Senior as a first boat. SMS 55 Eleutheros.
Lifting keel with small stub bilges. The keel is quite heavy plate, check the attachment point of the lifting mechanism as you dont want it failing!
Quite stable with keel raised, but obviously better with it down. We had a 5Hp Evinrude on the back, probably overkill, but it worked well.
Sails more like a larger dinghy (Wanderer/Wayfarer) but a bit more forgiving. Reef down in anything over F4!
Great owners association that hold rallies around the UK, have you seen the website: Shipmate Owners' Association - fabulous pocket cruiser!
Where are you planning to sail?

Thank you, we are in East Suffolk so the Alde and Ore and possibly the Deben.

 

[LittleSister]

Congratulations. I had a Shipmate Dayboat years ago, and had lots of fun and enjoyment in her, and clocked up quite a few miles. Probably the most 'smiles per pound sterling' I've had from any boat (except perhaps my sea kayak).

The 'Dayboat' had a less 'sophisticated' interior than the Senior, but was a much better looking boat to my eyes. The Dayboat was more than a dayboat - I cruised fairly far and wide in mine, frequently staying aboard overnight or for successive nights. It didn't have raised berths, but a flat floor either side of the centre-board case. These 'berths' were plenty wide and very long. A friend who sometimes sailed with me was about 6' 7", maybe more, and pronounced himself very comfortable on successive occasions.

I had a serious canvas cockpit tent with a window, and when sailing all the loose gear was thrown in the 'cabin', and while sleeping the cockpit tent was put up (a bit of a faff, to be honest) and everything loose put out into the cockpit.

The cooker was a single-burner camping stove that lived in an open-fronted cockpit locker (along with kettle, saucepan, and small washing-up bowl, etc.) when not in use.

The main drawback I found to the boat was it was rather' flighty', so if I released the tiller under sail it would have rounded up or gybed or whatever in no time at all, nor would hold a straight line under motor - a bit frustrating when single handing over significant distances. I somehow managed, though. (Motor was a 4hp IIRC, 2 stroke, plenty powerful.)

The other was that I'd read (in owners' club newsletter or website?) that it could be capsized, and if the centre-plate slid back in during this, or the plate was 'up' in the first place, it was very difficult to right the boat again without outside help. This made me a bit nervous, and rather (too?) cautious about being out at sea if conditions were at all boisterous. (I pondered attaching a strap to the bottom of the plate, to pull it out if need be, but never did.) I have to say I never experienced anything anywhere near a capsize, and the boat seemed very manageable and forgiving to me. It sailed very nicely, it seemed to me at the time.

I had a road trailer for it, and typically would 'dry launch' it onto a beach while the tide was out by simply pushing/sliding it manually off the back of the still hitched trailer, put out an anchor on foot (just in case), and then go and park the car. Sit in the cockpit, perhaps make a cuppa, and wait for tide to come in. Recovery being the reverse of this, but aided by a small hand winch on the trailer. An acquaintance let me store it in her domestic garage during the winter.

I would ask the Owners' Association on advice on ballast. My own boat had no additional ballast (apart from all my cruising kit!) and didn't strike me as requiring any.

If I remember rightly, a few members in the Association had added ballast to their boats with the intention of reducing the possibility of a capsize. (How effectively it would achieve this, who knows?) I have a vague idea that someone reported putting 50lbs of ballast alongside the centreboard case. You could use just plain steel or lead ingots or chunky offcuts (beware of rust and hence stains), or bags of sand, or mould yourself some custom concrete blocks. Do ensure that ballast it is fixed down so it cannot move around (which can be dangerous). I'd recommend not fixing it permanently - you might change your mind later, or appreciate the boat being lighter when manoeuvring it around or for maintenance.

I am reminded of Charlie Stock writing in his book 'Sailing Just for Fun' of adding ballast to the 17' Fairey dinghy hull he was adding deck and coachroof to to make himself a pocket cruiser. If I remember correctly he added 75lbs of ballast, and then tested the result by him and his wife standing in shallow water and hauling on a halyard from the masthead. As the the heeling boat was lifting the two of the ground before the mast would come down towards horizontal, he pronounced himself satisfied. It seemed to serve his purpose, as he went on to sail many thousands of miles over many years in that boat, 'Shoal Waters' (and last I heard it was still in use, many decades later, by the subsequent owner).