which sailing dinghy

chris46

chris46

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which sailing dinghy for a beginner ,i have been advised to buy a laser type for around £500, bearing in mind im a big lad at 6ft 7 and 16 stone

which would you recommend,and no i dont need a tug boat .after a few more pies i might though:D
 
In Tyne & Wear there will be plenty of cheap, beat-up lazers to be had. You'll be selling on after a season and not losing money. They are frisky though. You'll need to be fit!

Perhaps a cheap low performance boat that you sit in. Gull, Heron?

Visit Sunderland S.C., South Shields S.C. and Tynemouth S.C. Look at the notice boards and see what's for sale.
 
claymore said:
Laser with a radial rig if you are just beginning. They are high performance boats and someting a little less challenging might be advised.
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Oh pur-lease. The OP is 16 stone! That's at least twice the design weight of the radial rig! Could you get a "feel" for sailing your yacht in a F2 with storm jib and deep reefed main? And Lasers are NOT high performance boats. Badly designed with inherent "handling issues", but not high performance. Right, I'll get down from my soapbox for a mo.

I would personally steer the OP towards one of the boats designed to carry weight, namely the Finn or Phantom. Chris, you are just too big for a Laser, and besides they are a horrible little boat!

The Finn is great, but very unconventional in many ways, and you will struggle to get under the very low boom. I think the Phantom would be the best bet...a conventional stayed rig, active class association for grass roots rather than Olympic sailors, and plenty of older, cheaper boats out there too.

Good luck, and rather than going for a tiny rigged boat, get something designed for your weight, and just start off in lower wind strengths and build up to it.

If Lasers really are the dominant boat at your club then fine, but look at a full rig boat, or even better a Rooster 8.1 rig, an "oversized" rig for the larger gent, if you can find one. You will need big sails, because with the leverage you will produce with your height, you would be forever sat hunched up on the side of your boat, pretty much hating sailing!

But I really would say...Phantom!
 
Totally agree with Iain (what a surprise)
I'm 12 st and I sail a Laser for winter fun but I need a good breeze before I'm properly hiking with a full rig.
I also thought Supernova or lightening but these are also a bit small rig wise for the bigger sailors.

If you're not racing and want cheap, or you can find a small crew an old Laser II might be OK although it's also a horrible boat unless it's very windy and in survival mode.
 
I'm 6'6" and 15 stone, so my experience will probably be helpful.

First of all a Laser is just too small whatever the rig. At our height you just cannot use the toestrap properly, so if there is any type of breeze they are not easy to use - actually they are painful to use. Having said that there are loads about and you can get away with it in light winds with the big rig, so it is the kind of boat you can buy for 6 months, use and sell for almost no loss.

The Solo is perhaps a better place to start and is indeed what I first used. It has more space than a Laser, less vices IMO and there are loads about, so you have lots of people to learn from. It is not the most exciting of boats to sail, but the racing is generally very good. In the end I sold mine after 6 months, because alas it is also too small. Like the Laser you cannot use the toestraps easily, so end up jamming your feet into the holes on top of the centreboard box. It is not as bad as a Laser so you can make do for longer with the compromise.

In the end there are only two boats are designed to be sailed by us larger folk and that is the Finn and the Phantom. I've not sailed a Finn, but seems to be a very well respected boat. The downsides to me I know from it's reputation: it's very heavy, it can be a technical boat to sail (although I'm sure you can start simply), the boom is very low and it is quite rolly downwind. All things that actually make it a great Olympian boat - physically and mentally demanding to race.

That leaves the boat I have and that I find ideal, which is the Phantom. Can easily take up to twenty stone, relatively stable so within reach of beginners, beautiful feel to the helm and so much space to get comfortable in. It is half the weight of the Finn and is a real performer given it's other attributes. At my club I sail off PY 1020 (which is faster than the RYA handicap) and still manage to win my fare share of races. The only other mono sail singlehander that is quicker (an RS300) is far more difficult to sail.

The downside of the Phantom is that you do a lot of kneeling downwind which is the inevitable compromise with a self draining cockpit. It would also need a steeper learning curve than the Solo, but ultimately would be the boat you can keep forever.

It is difficult to give a total recommendation as it really depends on how naturally adventurous you are in your learning. If you are the very adventurous learner type and are willing to be punished a little more earlier on, the Phantom would be a good choice. If you want an easier introduction that doesn't force your pace of learning then start with a Solo, get comfortable sailing and then progress to a Phantom later on. I think many would benefit from the latter approach, but it really is down to you and where you are now and how quickly you want to progress.
 
To wet your appetite here is me on my stead at my local club....

IMGP3747.jpg
 
I would also suggest a Solo in preference to a Laser.

More room, versatile enough to take SWMBO or chums for a picnic, still very reasonable performance.

Having said that I'm not sure any Una rig boat is ideal for learning, so something like a Heron or more likely a Miracle would be an idea; the latter is also very versatile, and available cheaply secondhand.

The laser has a nasty habit of repeated capsizes when inexperienced people try to right them, I know experienced sailors who have struggled with them in this respect.

Overall I'd recommend a Miracle, a better learning experience, versatile, cheap and light to lug around on shore.
Miracle1-5.jpg

Miracle2-5.jpg
 
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I don't know the Miracle personally, but the problem you have when you are our size is that most two person dinghies force you far too far back in the boat. For this reason I would struggle to recommend any two person dinghy under 14 foot for a v. large helm.

The Phantom is already 14.5 feet and with a Unarig being further forward than a twin sail boat, you still need to consciously keep weight forward in lighter airs.

Size of helm really does make a big difference in small boats!
 
Well, like my old Contender, get a long tiller extension then !

I'm thinking a twin sail boat is better training, and handier for a beginner; Una rigs can feel a bit woolly to windward and usually easily semi-stall or get into irons, while a headsail luff is much easier to monitor and teaches sail balance and trim better, purely IMO.
 
Just looked up Miracle dimensions, 3.89m*1.59m.

Given I found the Solo too small at 3.79m*1.55m, I would definitely think the Miracle is too small.

As comparison Phantom is 4.42m*1.64m and Finn is 4.5m*1.5m, so the big boys singlehanders are bigger than many double handers!
 
Old lasers are good fun, if not the nicest boats in the world.
They are readily bought and sold again, often for very little lost.

A Phantom is a far nicer boat, but I can only wish you luck in finding one in working order for under £500. If you do, it will likely be wood. That's OK, but implies caring a bit more about covers etc.
Don't forget to budget for things like covers, dinghy park fees, insurance etc.
Solo is not as ideal for the bigger chap, but they are more readily available.
Finn is a good option, but the boom is very low, so you need to be fairly agile at times, perhaps not ideal as a first dinghy.
 
Excellent advice chaps,i had a feeling that the laser may not suit my needs,
all i am looking for is something i can learn the ropes on ,i am not wanting to race boats at any time,the idea is to relax and enjoy the water and enjoy what sailing can offer me ,but not at high speed.
a wooden pallet with a sail on would probably do as long as it was big enough to hold my height without getting banged about and me struggling to get around a small craft.
i think ill look for a phantom or similar as they look about right for me ,at least there is room to sit and move to mop up my mistakes which i know will be many at the start so should be more forgiving.
Thanks again for all of your great advice and time ,much appreciated :)
 
Being an instructor I would say given your size (no offence!) you need to think along the lines of a double hander as some others have suggested. However I would say think bigger than a gull, heron etc and consider an Enterprise, Wanderer, Wayfarer or something of a similar but more modern ilk. Whilst some can be pricey there are plenty around that are cheap and if you can cope with the weight (a good launching trolley helps here) then you will take to sailing far better than lasers, finns etc. Lots of space, nice and stable and importantly relatively dry in comparison. And I promise you that if you can stay dry(ish) then you will enjoy it far more and as such learn faster. You can then look at other boats in the future.




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Sorry, but I have to disagree. The OP is after a singlehander (please correct me if wrong Chris) so an Enterprise, which not only has a jib, but also aft sheeting meaning you tack backwards, is not a great choice to learn in IMHO.

I would also say that unless you are wearing totally innappropriate clothing, how dry a boat is to sail is totally irrelevant. You are likely to be wading at least knee deep to launch, so wetsuit etc is utterly essential. Any dinghy is going to be wet when you really get it going, and whether you capsize a Wayfarer or a Moth, you end up equally wet. A Phantom is designed as a singlehander for big people, but light enough to be launched easily, and righted easily by one person...why look further?
 
Iain C said:
You are likely to be wading at least knee deep to launch, so wetsuit etc is utterly essential.
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Tell that to my 13-year-old self :)

(Or even my five-years-ago self when I briefly joined the dinghy club at work. Didn't stick with it long enough to be worth buying any special kit.)

Pete
 
Iain C said:
I would also say that unless you are wearing totally innappropriate clothing, how dry a boat is to sail is totally irrelevant. You are likely to be wading at least knee deep to launch, so wetsuit etc is utterly essential.
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Not disagreeing with you, but I consider it a very bad day if my feet get wet when launching/sailing a Wayfarer.
 
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