using a sailing dinghy as a tender

[solent clown]

We towed a mirror (33' yacht) for many years, including on holidays on the Dutch inland waterways (with lots of locks). In general a small child was tasked with watching it during manoeuvres as we had a ready supply. Without a dedicated fender operator you would probably want a dinghy with a good rope fender, and simply shorten the painter up hard. For coming alongside it is possible to put the dinghy alongside the yacht (obviously on the outer side), which keeps it out of the way and allows you to reverse without incident.

I would say that a mirror may be a little large for two, though the ability to leave the mast up while rowing and towing is nice. On the Norfolk Broads they have some slightly smaller tenders with very basic lugsail rigs. These have the advantage that they can be un-rigged for rowing at the drop of a hat. Also have a centreboard so no worry about flooding through the slot*.

*I vividly remember leaping into the mirror mid North Sea crossing to bail after a particularly bouncy night.

Mirror is favourite idea right now as they are available, plentiful, and I have a lot of mirror spares here. That bailing out sounded like fun! I may consider a bilge pump and a long power cable via a waterproof jack plug if we go for it.

 

[seumask]

For several years we used an old GRP gull sailing dinghy from the shore to the mooring and ocasionally towed it around Chichester harbour. I liked it a lot more than a mirror as it was possible to fit up to 4 adults in it, had a rubber gunwhal ,sailed well ,boom was higher, it was GRP, center board meant the boat can be run up the beach easily, took a small motor well and had more space in it for luggage. Look back on it fondly, but I would'nt tow it in the open sea as you'd need to take the mast down and it had the sloop rig which was rather a long mast, gunter rig would be a better option, but quite rare in gull dinghys.

 

[TLouth7]

We use(d) a 1hp outboard on the Mirror which seems to be plenty. You may need to beef up the join between the transom and aft thwart*, ours came loose from the vibration (and possibly also people jumping off the back of the boat). Some glass on the join sorted it out effectively if not overly elegantly.

*this panel forms the top of the aft buoyancy tank, so worth maintaining its integrity.

 

[NealB]

I'm going to build one of these:

http://boatplans.cc/woods-designs/duo/

Not as cheap as an old Mirror, but (hopefully) will be fun to make, and it's very light.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

What you need is a small (12') light (45kg) fun little sailing skiff that has different rig configurations to suit the conditions. In fact, I used to race these, here you go, perfect for getting back to the boat from the pub after a skinful.

I'd need to have had a skinful to have the nerve to get into one of those!

 

[Tranona]

Many years ago I attempted to make a living building boats for just this purpose. My solution was an 8' praam style built using the epoxy clinker ply method much like Minn's stem dinghy. It did the job well with a dagger board and a rig similar to an Optimist. Light, stable and tolerable sailing ability. Everybody who saw it loved it, but very few enough to buy it given with all the sailing rig it was more expensive than an Avon!

This is the holy grail of small boats for cruisers with children (including grown up children!) but in reality it really doesn't work out well. towing a hard dinghy is not always easy, the opportunities for actually using it for sailing are limited, having the rig can present storage problems and compromise the boat as a tender.

So, you find very few people actually try it and in many cases they are home made solutions or adaptations as professionally built boats are so expensive. There is a lot to be said for towing a proper dinghy down to an anchorage and then sailing it up creeks etc as a specific activity, but it is a big jump to towing in the open sea 20 or 30 miles down the coast in the off chance that when you get to the next harbour there might be an opportunity for a dinghy sail.

Having said all that I was envious of the lady I saw drifting (slowly) up and down Newtown River a couple of weeks ago in her Tinker Tramp.

 

[steve62]

Best Tender I had was a mirror dinghy. As my son and I can only really be described as Prop Forwards, it was great. Big enough to deal with our weight and bags, directionally very stable when rowing, able to cope with a bit of a chop or swell under oars or motor and with I high freeboard. Plus, I could sail her single handed with either two sails for move the mast forward and use the main only. I have been looking for a west 11 as a replacement (all GRP) but they are a bit like hens teeth.

If you go with a mirror and you tow, check the front transom whether the ring is normally positioned. On our last Mirror, I was working on the boat while she was on her mooring in a fairly choppy estuary wind over tide. I had the mirror on a shortish painter buy the jarring in the chop pulled the ring out of the transom. I only noticed when I picked up the painter to go home. Fortunately, I could have waited for the tide to go out but out dinghy racing support boat picked me up:encouragement:

 

[Kukri]

My 9ft stem dinghy is a Nutshell and you can buy the kit here:

http://www.barrowboat.com/new/nutshell.htm

If I could build the kit, I am sure that anyone can!

She's actually my second Nutshell, as I sold the one I built (no. 142) with the ex boat, and bought another (no. 90) from a friend. Weighs 90lbs without the sailing gear. I usually carry the boat on deck, but she can, and does, tow well.

It's a really well thought through design; very stable and well behaved, good for three adults rowing and two sailing, and sails not quite as well as a Fairey Duckling but almost. When the children were growing up she was "their boat" at anchor and the parents used the Avon and a Seagull. We did this for years and we still have the same number of offspring.

 

[Stemar]

I had a Mirror for a season. It towed fine, but I found I wasn't really agile enough for dinghy sailing any more.

Whatever you get, I'd want a Mirror-like rig that stows inside the boat and I'd make a cover for the dagger board hole to keep the 'oggin from coming in from underneath and a complete cover to keep it from climbing over the sides.

 

[KellysEye]

One other though is a dinghy with sails has been mentioned. it will sail fine downwind and reaching but because a dinghy has no keel weight it won't sail upwind.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

One other though is a dinghy with sails has been mentioned. it will sail fine downwind and reaching but because a dinghy has no keel weight it won't sail upwind.

Wow, that's going to come as a shock to dinghy sailors.
I guess triangular courses for dinghy racing are simply reach/reach/run.
I never knew.
It always seemed to involve a lot of beating to me. Perhaps I wasn't doing it right.

 

[solent clown]

Wow, that's going to come as a shock to dinghy sailors.
I guess triangular courses for dinghy racing are simply reach/reach/run.
I never knew.
It always seemed to involve a lot of beating to me. Perhaps I wasn't doing it right.

I wasnt going to say anything........

 

[steve62]

I wasnt going to say anything........

+1

 

[solent clown]

as a result of this thread we dug the dinghy out this afternoon and went for a sail. here was very little wind, but the gusts that came up were glorious and we had a good couple of hours messing about. Great nostalgia to hear the water gurgling underneath, and the immediacy of the whole dinghy experience again. One large mobo that set itself on a collision course with us on its way into Ocean Village at speed was a tad annoying, especially as there was virtually no wind and nowhere for us to go. I got a good look at him and his boat, I will be having words. I might inflate him and stick a mast up his backside, that would make him TENDER.

 

[ashtead]

If you do decide to pick up a Mirror you might also want to track down a copy of Mirrormania . We used to keep a half length daggerboard to go in the slot for outboarding along under the seagull OB once it had started . We have never tried towing our mirror but might be tempted on a short trip to Chi. I suspect the main issue might be logistics of storage of the mirror when not in use but you obviously have a slipway near OV so might not be an issue . As for the mobo they don't just target dingies there BTW I have found as peacefully dropping sails before entry .

 

[londonpiper]

Have you thought of a Seahopper?
http://www.seahopperfoldingboats.com/

 

[solent clown]

Have you thought of a Seahopper?
http://www.seahopperfoldingboats.com/

yes, we looked at I think these ones last year at the baot show. They are great, just way to pricey for us.

 

[solent clown]

If you do decide to pick up a Mirror you might also want to track down a copy of Mirrormania . We used to keep a half length daggerboard to go in the slot for outboarding along under the seagull OB once it had started . We have never tried towing our mirror but might be tempted on a short trip to Chi. I suspect the main issue might be logistics of storage of the mirror when not in use but you obviously have a slipway near OV so might not be an issue . As for the mobo they don't just target dingies there BTW I have found as peacefully dropping sails before entry .

yes, the storage issue is not unsurmountable, but it does add a logistal challenge and an extra task to perform

 

[ShinyShoe]

yes, we looked at I think these ones last year at the boat show. They are great, just way to pricey for us.

A man of your talents.. couple of sheets of ply wood.. Some Tarpaulin..

However, the sceptic in me is actually not convinced its the right boat for what you want. Great as a concept. But would it tow well? How well would the tubes last? Or would you have to fold it up every time... might as well have a inflatable dinghy by the time you've unpacked it, built it, added buoyancy bags etc.

Something like a mirror / pram. String of small fenders round the outside which adds buoyancy and erm... fendering. Decent length tow rope. Self bailer so it drains under tow. Gaff / Sprit rig so it can all stow in the boat with straps to hold it in place.

But the question was about Marinas wasn't it. Come in with it alongside on springs on the "Outside".

When you are "parked" bring it to the stern and find a way to lift it vertical so its freeboard is all it extends your length by...

 

[solent clown]

A man of your talents.. couple of sheets of ply wood.. Some Tarpaulin..

However, the sceptic in me is actually not convinced its the right boat for what you want. Great as a concept. But would it tow well? How well would the tubes last? Or would you have to fold it up every time... might as well have a inflatable dinghy by the time you've unpacked it, built it, added buoyancy bags etc.

Something like a mirror / pram. String of small fenders round the outside which adds buoyancy and erm... fendering. Decent length tow rope. Self bailer so it drains under tow. Gaff / Sprit rig so it can all stow in the boat with straps to hold it in place.

But the question was about Marinas wasn't it. Come in with it alongside on springs on the "Outside".

When you are "parked" bring it to the stern and find a way to lift it vertical so its freeboard is all it extends your length by...

that all makes sense. If we cant find an inflatable with a sail, I think we will look for a small pram, I think mirror will still be a bit big at 10ft (they are 10ft arent they?)
We could just tow our 12ft dinghy but it would be too large to tuck away at moorings I guess, not to mention a drag.
We have two mirror rigs, and many sails, so we could make something work, maybe even by glassing in a centreboard slot to a grp tender.
I am still toying with the ides of just adding a mast and leeboards to our new inflatable, it is built tough with aan inflatable vee bottom. I think I could add a hole to the thwart, and make a box cradle under and attached it to take the mast base. I will blow it up and take some pics today, see what you guys think. Leeboards could be secured at each end of a tube going across the boat maybe. It has a grp transom so rudder easy, in fact I have some old mirror ones laying about too. this is starting to look like a plan. Pics this afternoon for you lot to laugh at the concept.