A dinghy to row. Galifreya

Most dinghies today aren't designed to row, Even ones that you might think are. I was lucky to grow up with two nice rowing dinghies and no outboard motors.

Part of the decision to go for a bigger boat was to be able to get a bigger dinghy on deck that will row much better than the 8 footer on Snow petrel. I can fit a 12 footer onto Snow Petrel II.

Anyway, A good friend was going to build an Auk for his beautiful atkins cutter. I couldn't help myself designing a 8.5x4 foot rowing dinghy that was more suited to him.

Here's the result. I called it Galifreya to go with his yacht Galifrey.

 It had to look good, especially upside down on his deck, And fit under the boom.

The dinghy also had to row exceedingly well, He has a bolger light dory and that was the standard that it was being judged against. But more stability was needed, and better towing. He wanted high freeboard to get a comfortable rowing position,

I chose to pull the quarters up to reduce wetter surface and transom drag when heavily loaded. The waterline beam is also pretty narrow, but wide enough to carry the weight and give about twice the initial stability of the bolger light dory. Most small rowing dinghies have broader low sterns to carry more weight and give more stability. Good for outboards and sailing but very very bad for rowing, especially when loaded.

The bow is fine underwater but rapidly flares to a fuller bow to lift it over any waves and stop bow steering when towing. Coupled with the high freeboard the dinghy is very dry, The sheer is pretty flat to give the comfortable rowing position he wanted, And to give more capacity for deep loading.

 The keel is long and straight with a big skeg. It makes it track very well. possibly two well for my liking, I would probably take 25mm of the skeg and 10 mm of the keel to make it more nimble. But it is a joy to row, You don't need to focus on keeping it going straight. Even when gliding or with a beam wind. It surfs well down the smallest waves. And is stable enough to stand up in.

 Happy! A smooth wake and nice curl to the bow. The dinghy rowed better than any other I have tried in this size range. Next we need to do some speed trials against other dinghies and row it in all sort of conditions but our first trails were better than I could have hoped. Just needs some paint and a few finishing touches and she's done.

The lines plan, the waterline shown is roughly with two light to medium weight people onboard and no gear. It was not a quick and easy dinghy to build, but it is within the capabilities of most people. I generated offsets for the hull planks which where mostly pretty close, except at the bottom of the bow, where they were about 10mm off. It is 6mm ply over bulkheads and temporary stations.

Learn to sail in a dinghy first

John Vigor has just written an excellent piece extolling the virtues of learning to sail in a dinghy rather than a keelboat. Like all his stuff it's well worth a look. John is an author of many fantastic sailing books, and if you haven't read any of John's excellent books... well... get reading.

I can highly recommend his Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat as a brilliant place to start, and it has informed many of my better decisions, and the Boatowner's Handbook is a great resource with  lots of useful formulas and such for a boat nerd like me... Oh and John Vigor is also the inventor of the black box theory on safety, something I credit with helping to keep me alive at sea all these years...

So my ears (eyes?) perked up when I saw John's post about faster learning in a dinghy. Since I learnt to sail in a dinghy naturally I  reckon it is the best way to start... And I think the good grounding in seamanship and the "feel" it has given me has helped me at sea on everything from the 290 meter (950ft) Tokyo bay, down to my 17 foot kayak.

So a bit of background (or a chance for me to reminisce...), after sailing borrowed Optimists and Sabots for a few years we got a couple of cheap "P classes" when I was 8, they were beat up 7 foot 7 inch catboat style dinghys with an array of complex controls and a nasty streak such as a tendency to violently pitchpole (pigroot) given a moment's inattention, and they also carried some serious weather helm... But they were the best christmas and birthday presents ever, and over the years have taught many of the great NZ sailors such as Sir Peter Blake and Cris Dickson. We were very proud of our little boats.

Built from plywood, we repainted them black and put Swallows and Amazons skulls on the sides and I called mine "Death 'n Glory"... Well I didn't get much glory, but neither did I die so I guess I can't complain.

We first sailed them on a local lake, chasing each other around. The best trick we learnt was to sail through the underwater gate (in summer it was a paddock) and then close the gate behind us, trapping the pursuer until he could figure it out...

I did a Sailing School weekend at our local yacht club and after approximately 1 million capsizes and careering out of control around the harbour for a day or so, due to being a such a skinny little runt, far too light for the boat (thats my excuse anyway). I was awarded my most prized certificate, (see below) I was more proud getting this at 9 than when I got my chief mates. I particularly liked the bit where it says I was Safe and Competent, because I certainly wasn't fast..

"Death 'n Glory"

Slowly I graduated into bigger dinghys after a 4 years racing P classes. I even got a newer faster "P" called "Privateer". But I had learnt many things the hard way as skipper of my little vessel... like:

• Make sure the bungs are in before you go sailing... (sinking isn't fun..)
• Don't lose the rudder, and then the centreboard.... (rescue is embarrassing)
• Tie the forestay lanyard up properly (masts are impossible to put back up at sea)
• Check the forecast, and respect 20 knots, (and cold fronts are untrustworthy)
• Make your own decision on safety, and retire after 1 or 2 capsizes (a safety margin)
• Don't be afraid to put in a reef (once won a race by reefing before I went out)
• look under the sail occasionally (I hit a yacht, he wasn't looking either... and I was on starboard) 
• learn to duck really quickly... (the boom is called the boom for a reason)

Many these lessons are much better learnt on a little boat with help nearby, than far offshore on my own... Basically I learnt how to handle a boat in all conditions, on my own, and how to make my own decisions on tactics, weather and safety (as a sailing wimp I withdrew sometimes..) We sailed in an open bay outside of Napier, NZ, with strong 15-20 knot sea breezes, big swells and nasty southerly westerly cold fronts blowing us out to sea. I also learnt sail trim, how to surf down waves, and how to gybe the nasty wee boat without pitchpoling by getting her surfing first to reduce the apparent wind.

Over the years I have often heard the saying " if you can sail a P Class, you can sail anything"  , and there is certainly a grain of truth in it. The "Feel" learnt from sailing a small boat with nasty habits like the P class has never left me (at least I hope not..), and sometimes sailing Snow Petrel I close my eyes and sit on the windward coaming with the tiller extension in my hand and I can almost feel the memories and sensations of that little P class, bobbing into the short steep chop from 20+ years ago. Even when helming the 100 foot brigantine "Soren Larsen" echos from that little boat remain, in the slight kick of the helm as she slides over a swell, or the subtle heel and surge as a puff comes though....

So if you want to really learn to sail well, a good cheap way is to jump in a small overpowered dinghy for a season or two and start getting wet.... You will learn many fundamental skills much quicker than you will as crew on a larger boat.

And thanks John for the chance to dredge up those old memories.

Cheers

Ben

Ps I think I have broken the spell checker on this thing, overuse perhaps... so you can blame the dictionary for any errors

Wooden Boat Show = Yachty Heaven

The star of the show for me... A simple two part dingy..

I feel like I am back at school, having to ask for an extension again... so here goes, Storm Tactics 2 is still not ready for posting, It is however sitting somewhere in a dusty server awaiting a few tweaks before being revealed to the world.... At least I have a better excuse than I normally manage, (although I honestly did have a pet possum wee on my school assignment once...).

My excuse is the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, And what sailor can resist acres of gleaming varnish, and polished brass, and more enticingly the chance to sit round drinking beer and discussing boats day and night. This year is the biggest ever, and it was also free, so truly it is a slice of Fiddlers Green,  and right on my doorstep every two years.

Anyway in typical Ben Tucker style, (or rather with the absence of any...) I found the acres of varnish  bought back painful memories of scraping and sanding my way around the pacific on the Brigantine Soren Larsen. And I missed the quirky solid little cruising boats that I normally admire. But I did spot this great looking two part dingy with a sailing rig... And I also saw a Farrier Tri with a little aft cabin much like I would like to put on snow petrel one day...

Anyway a big thank you to all who entered their boats, to the organisers and to the sponsors, and finally to the buses for being free this weekend (A good start in an oil constrained world). If you ever get the chance to get down to Tassie, try to time it to catch this event.

Cheers

Ben