Caer Urfa
Well-known member
As a RYA Instructor with the kids safety is your no 1 priority suggest you look at and try a GP14 which you can have both sailing with the kids and racing
Where to start… first dinghy
- Thread starter Novice2024
- Start date
Greenheart
Well-known member
I like the GP14 for its rugged practicality and versatility, but ashore, I doubt madam and the two kids could shift it more than ten feet on the flat. Very heavy.
ashtead
Well-known member
Next someone will suggest a bosun in memory of their naval cadets sailing. The trick really is to find a club where the children will fit in . Visit a few clubs and listen to the children in the dinghy park . On the Solent there are many different types of clubs and those who sail at one club on the South Island often feel out of water at another club. Look for a club with a busy cadet week and parents who are active and engaged with the cadets. Just don’t underestimate the kit cost once a dinghy is found.
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
This is very much a case of ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’. Or When Harry met Sally if you like. I’m having whatever she’s having. There’ll be a suitable class at the club, the one with the most boats in all likelihood. Buy that.
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Sticky Fingers
Well-known member
I agree. Lol. It's still the right answer.
This thread has done what they usually do, ie resulted in people recommending what they themselves own / have / had
Puffin10032
Active member
I've clearly messed up there as I haven't recommended either an Osprey or Merlin Rocket to the OP
Sticky Fingers
Well-known member
And I've not recommended a GP14, Enterprise, Fireball or National 12!
[193211]
...
Having owned both, an GP is easy compared with a Wayfarer. Both can be managed around ashore with lateral thinking.
The GP14 is a great and active class. Best enjoyed on the sea.
Sticky Fingers
Well-known member
GP14 is a good (old)` boat but I don't agree that it's suitable for the OP, specifically on weight grounds. Wayfarer doubly so!
Metalicmike
Active member
Could always get a wayfarer, never owned one but sailed a few. Could take the kids camping
Sticky Fingers
Well-known member
And impossible for the OP to move around on land.Could always get a wayfarer, never owned one but sailed a few. Could take the kids camping
[193211]
...
I disagree. It’s an old design with an active fleet- 85 boats at Pwllheli the other week. None of those boats are shabby and very few are “old”. Vintage, perhaps and meticulously maintained.
That weight means stability. In the case of the Wayfarer there’s also a massive amount of form stability. Teaching capsize recovery on a W is hard because it’s difficult to get the thing over in the first place. Righting it is pretty trivial. These are good characteristics for beginner boats.
Managing them ashore is a question of either teamwork or cunning. The later is just another aspect of seamanship.
You’ll also find the later generation of plastic training boats to be hernia inducing.
IMHO the op’s requirement is best filled with a dh and a sh. What class should be determined by what’s sailed at the proposed club. This makes the choice of club the most important consideration.
Chiara’s slave
Well-known member
One other suggestion from me. The boat should be plastic, of one sort or another. I know that most here are strongly drawn to the stuff they grew up with, but modern life dictates otherwise. A busy parent is not likely to enjoy the maintenance vitally necessary for wooden dinghy ownership, even varnished gunwales. Us old gits like that kind of thing, not everyone does, particularly twice over for 2 boats. Rotomoulded or GRP. That is the law, OP, or you’ll be taking up boatbuilding as a hobby.
Metalicmike
Active member
We didn't have epoxy in them days, probably would have saved us a lot of re varnishing.
Greenheart
Well-known member
With genuine respect gentlemen, this is getting ridiculous.
If anyone was ready to recommend the boat they had themselves known and loved (and whose problematic size or weight, or virtual immobility ashore, or complexity in use, or challenging maintenance, they had somehow learned to deal with)...
...if any of those excellent reasons for not selecting a particular dinghy were not part of the reasonable process of picking a class, nobody would be quicker than me in suggesting the Osprey.
So sleek, so spacious, so quick and well-bred and so darned beautiful...
...and unless you're two sturdy fellows totalling about 27 stone in weight, a right royal pain in the ar5e!
I did it singlehanded for years, so I know it's possible, and equally I know it's stark lunacy. I launched and hauled mine out alone, and I swore it was worth it and with the benefit of hindsight I've no regrets, but in all humility, I can now admit it made no sense.
The same applies to the Wayfarer, Wanderer, GP14, and all the other biggish cruising dinghies that are glorious once you're aboard, but a nightmare to move on shore. Anything which really needs others' assistance or a car to recover from the water at the end of the day, will discourage the new sailor from going back for more.
If anyone was ready to recommend the boat they had themselves known and loved (and whose problematic size or weight, or virtual immobility ashore, or complexity in use, or challenging maintenance, they had somehow learned to deal with)...
...if any of those excellent reasons for not selecting a particular dinghy were not part of the reasonable process of picking a class, nobody would be quicker than me in suggesting the Osprey.
So sleek, so spacious, so quick and well-bred and so darned beautiful...
...and unless you're two sturdy fellows totalling about 27 stone in weight, a right royal pain in the ar5e!
I did it singlehanded for years, so I know it's possible, and equally I know it's stark lunacy. I launched and hauled mine out alone, and I swore it was worth it and with the benefit of hindsight I've no regrets, but in all humility, I can now admit it made no sense.
The same applies to the Wayfarer, Wanderer, GP14, and all the other biggish cruising dinghies that are glorious once you're aboard, but a nightmare to move on shore. Anything which really needs others' assistance or a car to recover from the water at the end of the day, will discourage the new sailor from going back for more.
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Sticky Fingers
Well-known member
Agreed. I could easily launch and recover my Nat 12 on my own but the Ent was a pita.
dunedin
Well-known member
Problem with a GP14 for OP requirement is not just weight but the huge genoa. Totally impractical/ unmanageable by a small child.
The Graduate originally suggested, or even modern Mirror, much more manageable.
The Graduate originally suggested, or even modern Mirror, much more manageable.
Greenheart
Well-known member
I'm seriously thinking about getting a Mirror. As a plywood home-built boat from sixty years ago, it mightn't be an obvious choice if it hadn't been so hugely, continuously popular. That widespread experience and accessibility led to an enduring wealth of knowledge of getting the best from them, and keeping them operable and fun on the tiniest budget.
It's not remotely cool like the Laser still is, or as slick or quick as more modern super-lightweight designs. I just like the Mirror's matchless box-ticking compact versatility.
Kids want to race together? They can in a Mirror.
One child wants to race alone? Can in a Mirror.
Kids want to try fishing or rowing without the mast and sails? Mirror.
Mum wants to race alone, or with one of the kids? Can in a Mirror.
Want to take a year off without sailing or club fees? The Mirror can easily be slung aloft in the garage, it's only 10ft 10".
The lady who asked the opening question could show her kids the video below. However keen they all are on sailing, it'll be weird if they don't think a Mirror might be fun.
It's not remotely cool like the Laser still is, or as slick or quick as more modern super-lightweight designs. I just like the Mirror's matchless box-ticking compact versatility.
Kids want to race together? They can in a Mirror.
One child wants to race alone? Can in a Mirror.
Kids want to try fishing or rowing without the mast and sails? Mirror.
Mum wants to race alone, or with one of the kids? Can in a Mirror.
Want to take a year off without sailing or club fees? The Mirror can easily be slung aloft in the garage, it's only 10ft 10".
The lady who asked the opening question could show her kids the video below. However keen they all are on sailing, it'll be weird if they don't think a Mirror might be fun.
Metalicmike
Active member
Go for it, but maybe put a bolt on pointy bit on the bow
vyv_cox
Well-known member
Our 5 year old grand-daughter racing a Mirror at Stone Week with her dad. Prize (trophy and framed photograph) given for youngest competitor.
They also used it as a tender on their Beneteau 42, carried on davits with outboard in and around the Morbihan.