coopec
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I suppose someone has already uploaded this link?
Weighing a boat with bathroom scales - The Steamboating Forum
Yes I googled it
Weighing a boat with bathroom scales - The Steamboating Forum
Yes I googled it
Weighing a dinghy on bathroom scales
- Thread starter Greenheart
- Start date
dunedin
Well-Known Member
Have you ever tried righting the Osorey after a capsize? I would have thought you would find it near impossible with just 65kg.
Perhaps a K1 might be better. Or for single handing ........ why not look at single hander boats rather than two person boats? Eg a Solo for example?
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
Wot he said! Dan you’re a hero. And make that an RS200, but if you always single had, get s single hander. RS Aero? Other brands are if course available. I had supposed that you were Osprey typical. I am 505 helm typical. 75 kilos, reasonably fit and strong for age.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Gentlemen, the only answer is a long answer, so settle in. Writing it will hopefully help me work out "what next?"
Yes, I capsized in June 2016. It was only blowing a force 2, but I hadn't put a big enough stopper-knot in my toestrap-adjuster line, and it ran through the clamcleat. I was hiking hard (in about eight knots of breeze) and suddenly I was swimming.
It took a while to come upright, mainly because for my first sail that year I hadn't fitted the righting lines, so I couldn't use the full length of the centreboard - I was grasping the gunwale to avoid falling in. Not enough leverage. But it was do-able.
In general I haven't launched when the wind wasn't likely to be kind, although I sewed slab reefs into my sail and was always impressed how well-balanced this big boat remains with a very small main and no genoa.
I've sailed the reefed Osprey in F4-5 although I don't much like sailing any boat when it's blowing much (especially, gusting irregularly).
But the real point is, I bought the Osprey when I wanted a yacht but couldn't afford one.
The Osprey was massive enough to feel stable as a floating platform for my cruising plans, kitted out with genoa furler, lazyjacks, oars, tiller-tamer, danforth...
...the boat is also a looker in my view, and was very cheap (I wonder why?
) and I was thrilled by the fact that it isn't another tedious little una-rigged singlehander - I don't like anything about most of them...
...the extremely rare Swift Solo is a thing of much more style (but much too skittish (skiffish?) for my kind of sailing. But I really like that it has a jib, as the K1 does. The also-rare Farr 3.7 looks like a possible choice for my size (I've enjoyed early attempts at solo-trapezing the Osprey) but the Farr isn't nearly as quick as its clever design would seem to deserve.
And critically, where does one put cruising kit aboard a race-bred singlehander? The Osprey was only designed to race, but its proportions mean it has space - lots of it. I also liked the high freeboard of the Osprey, unlike most bum-wetting singlehanded classes. But mainly, in perfect (uncommon) conditions, the Osprey is amazing to singlehand because it wasn't meant to be sailed that way.
The fact that the cockpit is also big enough to allow comfort on long day-sails (and while tied up), maintained my interest even after I bought an Achilles 24, which proved to be too costly to berth and not nearly comfortable enough to justify that cost.
So for two years since, I've been getting the Osprey into better cruising order - many little changes including a terrific outboard bracket which sadly may never see use, now...
...all of which I can live with, because I can now afford a more suitable boat, if I can decide what that is. The pity is that I doubt it will be another cheap moor-ashore dinghy, because I know I'll get more use out of a ballasted boat which I'll want to sail in a broad range of wind strengths.
I've lately watched Australian dinghy cruisers, who have the right idea - they don't believe that it ought to be hard work or uncomfortable. Some choose small ballasted cabin boats as their 'dinghies', and by not treating it as a yacht (in which one might hope to be really comfortable), the shortcomings of a tiny cabin still seem like luxury. It's a psychological leap I need to take.
Yes, I capsized in June 2016. It was only blowing a force 2, but I hadn't put a big enough stopper-knot in my toestrap-adjuster line, and it ran through the clamcleat. I was hiking hard (in about eight knots of breeze) and suddenly I was swimming.
It took a while to come upright, mainly because for my first sail that year I hadn't fitted the righting lines, so I couldn't use the full length of the centreboard - I was grasping the gunwale to avoid falling in. Not enough leverage. But it was do-able.
In general I haven't launched when the wind wasn't likely to be kind, although I sewed slab reefs into my sail and was always impressed how well-balanced this big boat remains with a very small main and no genoa.
I've sailed the reefed Osprey in F4-5 although I don't much like sailing any boat when it's blowing much (especially, gusting irregularly).
But the real point is, I bought the Osprey when I wanted a yacht but couldn't afford one.
The Osprey was massive enough to feel stable as a floating platform for my cruising plans, kitted out with genoa furler, lazyjacks, oars, tiller-tamer, danforth...
...the boat is also a looker in my view, and was very cheap (I wonder why?
) and I was thrilled by the fact that it isn't another tedious little una-rigged singlehander - I don't like anything about most of them......the extremely rare Swift Solo is a thing of much more style (but much too skittish (skiffish?) for my kind of sailing. But I really like that it has a jib, as the K1 does. The also-rare Farr 3.7 looks like a possible choice for my size (I've enjoyed early attempts at solo-trapezing the Osprey) but the Farr isn't nearly as quick as its clever design would seem to deserve.
And critically, where does one put cruising kit aboard a race-bred singlehander? The Osprey was only designed to race, but its proportions mean it has space - lots of it. I also liked the high freeboard of the Osprey, unlike most bum-wetting singlehanded classes. But mainly, in perfect (uncommon) conditions, the Osprey is amazing to singlehand because it wasn't meant to be sailed that way.
The fact that the cockpit is also big enough to allow comfort on long day-sails (and while tied up), maintained my interest even after I bought an Achilles 24, which proved to be too costly to berth and not nearly comfortable enough to justify that cost.
So for two years since, I've been getting the Osprey into better cruising order - many little changes including a terrific outboard bracket which sadly may never see use, now...
...all of which I can live with, because I can now afford a more suitable boat, if I can decide what that is. The pity is that I doubt it will be another cheap moor-ashore dinghy, because I know I'll get more use out of a ballasted boat which I'll want to sail in a broad range of wind strengths.
I've lately watched Australian dinghy cruisers, who have the right idea - they don't believe that it ought to be hard work or uncomfortable. Some choose small ballasted cabin boats as their 'dinghies', and by not treating it as a yacht (in which one might hope to be really comfortable), the shortcomings of a tiny cabin still seem like luxury. It's a psychological leap I need to take.
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Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
Have you thought of something like a Hawk 20 then? Reputed to be good under sail, enough room for a bed, a bucket and a spirit stove. Just don’t try and pull it up the slipway unaided! I understand your liking the Osprey, they are a fine boat.
I must measure the height of the power lines. They were way too low for my Dart 15 Sting?
I must measure the height of the power lines. They were way too low for my Dart 15 Sting?
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Greenheart
Well-Known Member
I hear good things about the open Hawk 20, but I'm not sure who its buyers are. As you say, it can't be treated like a dinghy on shore. At over 800KG, it's as heavy as plenty of well-respected small yachts, any of which must be nicer boats to cruise in an unreliable climate. And a mooring (or being prepared to haul out with the car every time) is essential, so the minimalist appeal of real dinghy cruising has gone without trace. Nor is it a ballasted sports boat like a K6 or SB20, so performance is only middling.
Perhaps I'll find a compromise - a Leisure 17 in a marina berth for Aussie-style tentless dinghy cruising, and a Laser Radial at the club where I'm paid up for the year, to make me glad I have a boat which doesn't need a wetsuit. I've owned two boats at the same time before, and the dinghy was wholly neglected.
Hope you find the biggest rig you can fit under the power-lines. Can't you slacken the forestay and limbo under them each time? Just don't forget...
Perhaps I'll find a compromise - a Leisure 17 in a marina berth for Aussie-style tentless dinghy cruising, and a Laser Radial at the club where I'm paid up for the year, to make me glad I have a boat which doesn't need a wetsuit. I've owned two boats at the same time before, and the dinghy was wholly neglected.
Hope you find the biggest rig you can fit under the power-lines. Can't you slacken the forestay and limbo under them each time? Just don't forget...
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
Have you considered a catamaran, Dan? If you want it to be sporty yet manageable solo. A tent on the tramp at night.
LittleSister
Well-Known Member
What you need is to increase the weight of the Osprey!
Seriously - adding enough ballast will make it more manageable and difficult to capsize. You'll just need your added ballast to be (a) removable, but (b) locking into place when you put it in the boat. And/or a smaller rig.
Less seriously, for getting the existing boat up the slipway, you'll be wanting helium in the buoyancy tanks, ratchets on the trolley wheels, or a catapult arrangement using some surplus bungee jumping cable. ?
Seriously - adding enough ballast will make it more manageable and difficult to capsize. You'll just need your added ballast to be (a) removable, but (b) locking into place when you put it in the boat. And/or a smaller rig.
Less seriously, for getting the existing boat up the slipway, you'll be wanting helium in the buoyancy tanks, ratchets on the trolley wheels, or a catapult arrangement using some surplus bungee jumping cable. ?
Wansworth
Well-Known Member
Measure the area of grp and ply and multi ply by weight of the material,there must be figuires for thickness.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Some interesting ideas, thank you, although I'm moving steadily towards a new dawn.
Strange that until Saturday, I had no doubt about my plans for this year. I had even finally joined the Dinghy Cruising Association, believing I'd be one of their most notable eccentrics.
But moving the Osprey to a new position in the club pound this weekend, and feeling a twinge in the musculature (psychosomatic, seeing the readings on the scales?), I am recalled to the fact that I only bought the Osprey because I wanted as big a boat as I could afford, for bicycle money. I really wanted a yacht, and I still do.
I remain tight-fisted which is a risk, because I bought a cheap Achilles 24 in 2019 and spent far more time fixing things than out sailing, and I'm simply too busy working for that approach to make sense.
Occasional jobs can be a pleasure, but mainly I need a boat that isn't afflicted by anything structural, or that makes the accommodation uncomfortable, and which stands up happily in a fresh breeze without me needing to anticipate by donning a drysuit.
I think my dinghy days are done - not because it wasn't fun, but because I'm too lazy.
Anybody want a very old, very uncompetitive Osprey? Words I thought I'd never say. ?
Strange that until Saturday, I had no doubt about my plans for this year. I had even finally joined the Dinghy Cruising Association, believing I'd be one of their most notable eccentrics.
But moving the Osprey to a new position in the club pound this weekend, and feeling a twinge in the musculature (psychosomatic, seeing the readings on the scales?), I am recalled to the fact that I only bought the Osprey because I wanted as big a boat as I could afford, for bicycle money. I really wanted a yacht, and I still do.
I remain tight-fisted which is a risk, because I bought a cheap Achilles 24 in 2019 and spent far more time fixing things than out sailing, and I'm simply too busy working for that approach to make sense.
Occasional jobs can be a pleasure, but mainly I need a boat that isn't afflicted by anything structural, or that makes the accommodation uncomfortable, and which stands up happily in a fresh breeze without me needing to anticipate by donning a drysuit.
I think my dinghy days are done - not because it wasn't fun, but because I'm too lazy.
Anybody want a very old, very uncompetitive Osprey? Words I thought I'd never say. ?
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
If your dinghy days are really done but you still want performance….. I sense the Hawk isn't sporty enough for you, another sort of cat. A Strider 24, dagger board version. It's quick, dry, has berths, toilet, galley, will stand up to a breeze, esy to reef, I have no idea why the light cruising world isn't full of them. I have owned one in the past. We sold ours when my pregnant wife couldn’t fit so comfortably down the hatches. The performance won’t be much different to the Osprey.