temptress
Well-Known Member
....
Brings back memories, I used to have one of these. Great boat in a blow and big waves
The OK dinghy...is that the world's smallest cockpit?
- Thread starter Greenheart
- Start date
Brings back memories, I used to have one of these. Great boat in a blow and big waves
scorpion395
New Member
Hi,
don't underestimate Solo's they are huge handicap bandits on lakes, virtually unbeatable.
Steve (Laser sailor)
don't underestimate Solo's they are huge handicap bandits on lakes, virtually unbeatable.
Steve (Laser sailor)
single
Well-Known Member
I have got an OK dinghy in the garden somewhere.I think the hull is knackered but if anyone needs parts ,sails etc they are all somewhere in the workshop i think.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
Decades of varied dinghying, largely forgotten; that's the danger - I'm excited by thoughts of almost any sailing now, so I'm at risk of plumping for any appealing style or any well-described class. Just as well I haven't a bean, or I'd be cluttered with dinghies.
I sailed lots of beach-cats in Australia ten years back, in rougher seas than I'd known here, somehow staying upright. I saw days and nights on tired old yachting 'projects' there and later in France, which should have taught me not to fancy 'doing-up an oldie like new'...
...but my various trips since aboard newish AWBs in the UK, didn't inspire any great fondness for slick plastic sloops.
Daft of me to be vague, though; if I'm honest, the most appealing small boats I've been aboard were simply those whose design didn't require me to come home, back to base at the end of the day. So, any accommodating hull will do; but fast & pretty if poss...
...because the many lumpsome, hefty, less-rewarding designs will have me yearning for the planing hulls I recall, however unsuitable.
So I'm still thinking Westerly Nimrod...I'm not tall, but who the heck could sleep in an OK cockpit?
Ha! Just rescued it, there...
Dan
thanks for the background info.
Two more vital bits of info: will you be sailing singlehanded, with crew, or some combination of the above? Secondly, will the boat live on a mooring, or be dry sailed?
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Simple answer: yes. To all of the above. Hence, I'd like the advantages of a swift dinghy in calm weather, with a cut-down mainsail to raise when it's getting hairy. I've read examples of this working well, but most crews' racing-obsession means they don't ever even consider it...
...so there's little exploration of what is actually possible. Seems to me lots of big dinghies are capable seaboats, so would make useful fast cruisers if their cockpits can accommodate for an overnight.
As to mooring or towing, I picture keeping the boat on or close by the water - more likely near, if the hull form and weight allow reasonably easy hauling-out.
It's really not a problem, more an unresolved question, all answers to which I enjoy considering before I finally buy.
Croak
Well-Known Member
As for clubs, have you thought about the Dinghy Cruising Association.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Good thought. I tried to join them at least a year ago, but got tangled up in their neglected site (or that could have been the Wayfarer association - I forget)...but if I haven't already joined, I certainly will. Thanks.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
Well seeing as some of the above positions are mutually incompatible, you need more than one boat!
The best way to make a dinghy go 'swiftly' is to have it set up and crewed as originally designed. So if you're on your own, you'll have more fun in a singlehander than a reefed down doublehander.
Reefing down, or the use of training sails, is very common in the Wayfarer scene. One reason being that they may be one of the few dinghies stable enough to be able to do these sorts of operations whilst underway (IMHO). If you're contemplating being able to shorten sail whilst afloat, especially whilst singlehanded, you will need a very stable and well set up boat.
Personally, I find higher performance dinghies to be very tiring, physically and mentally, to sail for more than an hour or so at a time. There's maybe also a limit on how long you want to be in a wet or dry suit.
Another aspect is the sheer weight of the boat. The more momentum you have, the less your performance is affected by a chop. Hence a lightweight boat will never be as good at sea- they are designed to plane on flat water. It would be like trying to do a rally in a F1 car. But wetter.
fishermantwo
Well-Known Member
Raced OK's and Finns for 36 years. The OK seems to attract interesting sailors and in heavy weather is character building. The Finn is easier and more pleasant to sail. Now as an older person I have just bought a Solo, apparently the most common boat bought off ebay to restore!
FistralG
Well-Known Member
Doesn't that award go to the foiling moth?
Or doesn't that count?
Or doesn't that count?
rwoofer
Well-Known Member
Just tell that to the Vendee skippers. The best 60 footers weight less than 7 tonnes and carry over 600m2 of cloth downwind to just smash through the waves. Heavy is rarely better for performance, although the motion is easier.
Kelpie
Well-Known Member
Interesting. Maybe it's more complex than I made out.
For one thing, Open 60s are optimised for downwind sailing, are they not? Compare them to the Challenge boats built to do the RTW upwind- much heavier.
Secondly, the kind of waves that cause a problem for a 60ft boat are not the same as the ones that will stop a 14ft boat!
single
Well-Known Member
<7 tonnes? Honestly.(Can't be bothered looking)
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Hmm...this is where I doubt, and where I possibly go off the rails.
Let me say first, I love the Wayfarer for its stability and versatility, and would enjoy the benefit of its considerable displacement as you describe it; but I've seen brisk two-handed boats like the 470, Laser 2, even a Javelin, easily singlehanded in light winds, and I know that something deep inside me would die as they went planing past my Wayf.
I like the idea of a good singlehander matched to my weight/physique/ability, but I find the sail-combinations aboard two-handers much more interesting, even if they'd be more than I could cope with alone in even a moderate breeze...
...plus, I won't invariably be alone, and I don't want a boat that's positively cramped for two, or whose performance is severely compromised by any extra weight. For the use I envisage, I'll be happy to accept somewhat cranky sailing characteristics under non-standard reduced sail area in F3+...at least if that can be made workable and safe...
...the same way the Albacore can carry the Firefly mainsail (which moves the centre of effort forward)...I'm guessing the smaller 75sq ft main, without a headsail, would make the Alb manageable for one man, even though under full sail she's a tough hike for two...
...following that logic, I'm hoping something like a Hornet (or Kestrel, Osprey, even a 505) might offer thrills and useful pace in light winds, plus lots of space, whilst easily down-shifting into tamer power output, using the perfectly-formed main from a much smaller dinghy.
I'll welcome tales of previous experiments that showed how right or wrong I am! Sorry, we're way off the OK dinghy theme...
Good grief!! From all I've heard of the Finn's recalcitrant upwind handling in a fresh breeze, surely it's hard to think of anything more damning to say of another dinghy by comparison?
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westernman
Well-Known Member
You might be better off with a nice stable catamaran rather than a tippy dinghy. Plenty of space to stretch out and faster.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Edit: I reckon was wrong, not for the first time...
What nonsense. I was always a slow sailor anyway.
I don't really care; if I did, I wouldn't care about comfort...
...this clip reminds me that I'd be perfectly happy in a Wayfarer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zfhYoPlqR4
I like that natural soundtrack, too, very atmospheric.
Plus, the old Wayfarer isn't such a slug...it's faster than an Enterprise, according to the PY...and the Solo...and the OK...
What nonsense. I was always a slow sailor anyway.
I don't really care; if I did, I wouldn't care about comfort......this clip reminds me that I'd be perfectly happy in a Wayfarer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zfhYoPlqR4
I like that natural soundtrack, too, very atmospheric.
Plus, the old Wayfarer isn't such a slug...it's faster than an Enterprise, according to the PY...and the Solo...and the OK...
rwoofer
Well-Known Member
In an interview with Vincent Roiu he would not say what his boat PRB weighed, but just said less than 7 tonnes. Others had declared their boats to be around 7 tonnes.
rwoofer
Well-Known Member
The real issue with lightweight is strength. Those two together mean expensive. The Challenge boats are built heavily because they were designed to be strong, relatively cheap and relatively benign to sail, rather than perform at the top level. Having done a few short sails on them myself I know they are not as fast as pro racing boats (including upwind), however the motion in a blow is relatively comfortable, which makes them ideal for predominantly amateur crews going upwind in the southern oceans.
nathanlee
Well-Known Member
I own a wooden oppie. I'm 29.
Boats a boat. All fun.
Boats a boat. All fun.
Wunja
Well-Known Member
Our first boat was an OK (Flook - K429). The cockpit seemed a reasonable size, though I was only 14 at the time.
I remember it had a rotating wooden mast with no gooseneck - The boom fitted into t mortice going through the mast.
I remember it had a rotating wooden mast with no gooseneck - The boom fitted into t mortice going through the mast.