Dear Martin,

I saw your letter in the recent DCA Bulletin, and thought I would drop you a line. I hope you won’t mind me sending a copy of this letter to the editor, but they might like to publish some of it!

Firstly, I think the major point to remember when giving advice about a dinghy is that sea or lake conditions vary so much that what might be suitable for one area will be of no use at all elsewhere. Certainly, if you go around the coasts of Britain, you will find that the traditional small boats, developed over centuries of local experience, differ greatly. Anyway, all I can do is write about my own experience and tell you how I solved my problems. If this letter is published you will probably find a lot of people disagreeing most strongly — you never know — we might come to some consensus of opinion.

It seems that the USA is similar to Britain in that boat shows and show rooms are concentrating either on the sailing cruiser or power boats. Obviously, a move to large scale manufacture of ‘Instant Boating’, with large potential profits, attracts manufacturers.

The picture is not all black, however. Some builders continue to cater for the small boat enthusiast, realising that some people wish to perfect their seamanship and sailing ability, rather than use craft that would be more suitable for a caravan camp site or to go from marina to marina. We should never allow ourselves to feel inferior because of the size of our craft or lack of berths, horsepower, etc.

I do not know if you have seen the magazine Wooden Boat; it is published in the USA and is written by people who love boats — canoes to clippers. Quite a number of American builders of traditional USA dinghies advertise in it, and unless you have now bought your boat, you might like to contact them.

My own circumstances are that I am in my forties with a wife who tolerates boats, but would rather sit on the beach, a ten year old son who likes sailing but prefers his canoe, and a three year old daughter who loves the sea. Most of my sailing is done in the Bristol Channel, which is on the west coast of Britain. It has a large tidal range and is exposed to the prevalent south-westerlies and some Atlantic swell. My present boat is an eleven footer which started life as a Heron class dinghy but has been extensively altered. Like you I trailer my boat, so:—

1. WEIGHT

Following Eric Coleman’s advice I have made the boat heavier by adding a fibreglass sheathing. Together with structural alterations it now weighs over 300 lbs fully equipped. This has resulted in greater ‘step-in-stability’. I can stand up and move about, within reason, without any alarming tipping of the craft. It must be a bit slower now, but nothing noticeable. It will punch to windward in a determined manner and is, of course, very strong structurally.

The main problem I find with a heavy boat is handling ashore, and launching.

2. THE TRAILER

At present I use a simple A-frame trailer, which has a couple of pads at the back and a keel pad at the front to support the boat. Launching is achieved by immersing the trailer to float the boat off. The nose weight at the hitching point is about 40 lbs. Now, many books on trailing recommend a nose weight of 110-150 lbs. If you adjust matters to produce this weight, handling the trailer at launch becomes nearly impossible.

I used to use a lightweight trolley to launch and recover, then pull boat and trolley onto the trailer. However, this could only be done on flat ground, which meant pulling a heavy boat up the long slipways we have here to cope with the tides. I now reverse the car and trailer down the slip, and only unhitch at the water’s edge.

Allowing the trailer to go into the water causes rust in the (wheel) bearings. I inspect these frequently and keep them well packed with grease.

3. LAUNCHING

a) Because I launch at an unsheltered site and do it singlehanded, I find that even a moderate swell on the sea makes for problems with a small boat. That is why I do not go for anything larger. It is true that bystanders will often help, but it is essential to be able to do it alone. If you launch in a harbour where the water is always calm, you will not get my problem and can go up in size.

b) Ease of rigging. I feel it is essential to be able to launch and sail within 5-10 minutes, otherwise every outing becomes an expedition and in the end you give up. Besides, the family gets bored just waiting around. That is why I say gunter or lug every time. My mast sits inside the boat when taken down. Only the forestay is undone; the side stays remain shackled. All ropes and fittings are altered to go together as quickly as possible, mainly by using either ‘snap-shackles’ or elastic cords. The full sequence of launching my boat is as follows:—

i) Remove boat cover — held on by elastics with hook ends which hook on to the trailer.

ii) Detach road lighting board — held on by two ropes ending in steel hooks and one elastic with hook.

iii) Untie two bands holding boat to trailer — these are webbing straps made from old car seat belts. One end terminates in ropes with loops to fit projections on the trailer, the other in rope tails which are tied to the trailer.

iv) Step mast — this is simple. The mast is lying in the boat with both shrouds fitted and connected. I lift the mast with one hand, pull the forestay, already fitted at the mast head, to the bow and can let go of the mast which just stands in a small, 1” deep square on the foredeck. The forestay ends in a lanyard which is tied to a shroud plate in the bow. This is much quicker than a bottle screw.

v) Sails, rudder etc — the jib, already fitted to the jib sheets which are already led through their fairleads, is taken from the boat and hanked on. Its tack and halyard are fitted with snap shackles.

The yard is fitted to the mast by placing the jaws around the mast, passing a rope, tied to one jaw, around the mast, through a hole in the other jaw and then through a jamming cleat. The main halyard ends in a snap shackle which is joined to the yard.

The mainsail is left fitted to both yard and boom. The boom gooseneck is a pin arrangement fitted in seconds. The mainsheet is left fitted to both boom and transom.

Next the rudder, with tiller left attached, is fitted to the gudgeon pins. Both rowlocks are tied to the boat with lanyards and only need to be placed in their holes. The oars are taken from inside the boat, fitted to the rowlocks and you are ready to go.

GETTING THE FAMILY TO GO WITH YOU

Not easy I admit. Remember it is easy to terrify them. You must take it in easy stages. Start by giving pills to anyone likely to get seasick. For your first time out, do not sail. Pick a calm day, raise the mast but do not fit the sails. Just row or use an outboard, if you have one. Don’t stay out too long. Your aim is to give them confidence in what a safe, stable boat you have. You can only awaken their interest in being on the water when you have dispelled all their fears. Once they know that the boat can be safely rowed or motored, they will be more ready to try sailing.

Start off just using the jib. Sit in the boat with them. Nothing can be more alarming to novices than to see the skipper doing desperate things by sitting out over the side. Let them take the tiller. The whole aim is to show that the boat is safe and docile, just like the family car.

Introducing them to the mainsail should be considered equivalent to putting your right foot down in the car. Faster, true, but not necessarily dangerous if you know what you are doing. Done this way, they will have the confidence to know that they can always ask you to return to just the jib, or even the oars.

Teach them the names of all the ropes and equipment so that later, when things are happening quickly, orders can be given and understood without the rising panic that can occur if someone does the wrong thing.

Frankly, Martin, I don’t know what will suit you. From your letter you seem to have a good appreciation of what to look for. I quite liked the look of the Javelin, but it is a Bermudian rig. The main problem is number of crew. The DCA recommend a minimum of 14 lbs crew weight to every foot of waterline. If you are going to do much single-handed sailing you will be limited in the length of your craft by your own weight. Some people suggest that reefing is the answer, so that a 120 lb woman should be able to sail a sixteen footer. The problem is that having reefed sufficiently to allow a light weight person sitting on the side decks to hold the craft upright, insufficient drive will come from the sail to go to weather. Furthermore, if you do capsize, do you have enough weight and strength to pull the boat upright?

Perhaps you can see now why I favour short boats. By the way, I have never capsized and do not intend to do so.

REEFING

I have fitted one deep slab reef to the mainsail. My reefing schedule is as follows:—

(1) Full main and jib (2) Reefed main and jib (3) Jib only (4) Oars!

You ask about performance — Wayfarer v Roamer. I advise you to forget performance with a young family; get out on the water in something safe and enjoy yourselves.

COMFORT, COCKPIT DEPTH

I have fitted buoyancy tanks to the stern and sides of my boat. The side tanks end at the centreboard thwart. In front there is sufficient room for both children to sit on the bottom boards. Their heads are just about up to the coamings.

Coamings can be altered in two ways if you wish to fit wider ones: —

a)

In this alteration, the depth of the coaming is increased to make a more comfortable back rest. Its height above the side deck remains the same.

Alternatively you can fit seats onto the side deck as recommended by Eric Coleman if you want to raise the coaming, and thus freeboard height.

(b)

REMOVING SEATS

Certainly not thwarts. They are part of the structural strength of the hull. Side seats are either buoyancy tanks or slatted seats over buoyancy bags. You cannot remove buoyancy tanks. To remove slatted seats might be possible, but is there any advantage? The buoyancy bags will still be in the way. Remember they have to be strongly fitted, and wedging them under a seat, besides tying them down, is an added safety factor. Even small boats should have enough room for your wife to sit on the bottom boards.

I prefer a reasonable amount of freeboard, and I think that you should look towards the older, traditional dinghies in your search. Let me know when you find, one — I’ve been looking for ages!

Taking a last look at your letter before closing, I wonder about your sailing technique. Conventional theory is to sit out the gusts and make progress. This also leads to capsizing, heeling violently and taking on lots of water. I am afraid that performance and the kind of family sailing you and I require do not go together. Never fasten your mainsheet, always hold it. Luff and loosen the mainsheet in gusts — this way the craft will hardly heel at all. Do not be afraid to sail on jib only, which is considerably safer when the wind starts to get up. Yours faithfully, D M Stevens (Mike)