Hi all, would like some advice on which dinghies would be best, would like a family boat for cruising, but at the same time something that can be launched and sailed single handed, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
try a National 125
Has a main/jib and spinnaker and a trapeze if you want to try.
Light enough to lift with two people and is very stable due to hard chine design. Plenty of good second hand ones about as well as an association in each mainland State.
Select to expand quoteK143 said..
Hi all, would like some advice on which dinghies would be best, would like a family boat for cruising, but at the same time something that can be launched and sailed single handed, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Do you want to buy it or build it?
Sailing season has just started in most places, go around to the various sailing clubs and introduce yourselfand make it known to the members what you want.
Have a look at what the locals are sailing and maybe go from there.
Your opening statement was a bit broad which is possibly why you have had limited response to your query.
A family boat for cruising that can also be single handed is a tall order. How big is your family? What is the total weight the boat will be expected to carry and what sort of performance are you looking for?
thanks, family consists of 2 adults 1 younger teenager, so on the rare occasion that all 3 are in the boat & a few years for teenager to fill out maybe 200 kg max. Am thinking Pacer, Heron, 125, something like that, the local club has Pacers, Sabres. Doesn't need to be quick as it will be a learning boat.
Go for a ride and try them for size, the sabre is strictly a one man boat, after you have had a go, think about going to another club that sail other classes and do the evolution again and keep doing till you find what you want and need. Others can make estimated guesses but only you will know when have found that boat.
We bought an old Hobie 16 catamaran for $500 a few years ago. The whole family, including 2 kids around about 9 and 12 would all go sailing on it Together. Room to take a couple of bags etc.
It's not really a beginners boat, but our boat had reefing points on the main. Just pick your days at first and go out with the main reefed. May also be worth getting mast filled with foam so that it won't tip upside down. You could even get roller reeling for the jib if wind comes in.
Advantage of something like a Hobie is that you can push the boat when you want to, and the way we had our boat setup , cruise if you want to. Even cursing you still tend to go faster than most other boats out there.
Stick a teenager on something boring like a mirror dingy and you"ll never get then near the water. Do you blame them.
Ps before I get flamed I did'nt read the , launch single handed. You can however sail them one up, flying a hull in about 8 knots.
Select to expand quoteK143 said..
thanks, family consists of 2 adults 1 younger teenager, so on the rare occasion that all 3 are in the boat & a few years for teenager to fill out maybe 200 kg max. Am thinking Pacer, Heron, 125, something like that, the local club has Pacers, Sabres. Doesn't need to be quick as it will be a learning boat.
I bought a Corsair in Victoria a few months ago to teach the grandkids to sail. Launches off a trailer singlehanded. Very stable and roomy. Designed by Alan Payne so it is very pleasant to sail. Fairly cheap to buy now, they have been around for a long time but built well. Herons and Mirrors are too small though they can be obtained very cheap or free. Pacers are often on eBay very cheap as well. Carton of beer will get a good 125 in Canberra good enough for club racing.
Pacers, Herons, 125 's etc will need two people to lift them off cradles into the water or a trolley will enable launching by one person. I would suggest a day down at Lake Albert sailing club and see what is popular there with family groups.
+1 ^^^ Corsairs, one of the best trainer sail boats ever built.
A Corsair was the first boat I ever sailed on in July 1966. It was a T.S. Sydney boat at Schnapper Island off Balmian.
A brand new one will cost around $15,000 but if you are lucky you might pick up a secondhander for 1/10 th of that price.
I paid $660 for mine off eBay naturally. Galvanized trailer that has never seen salt water. Good set of well worn North racing sails, two spinnakers, one brand new and well set up deck gear. I reckon it has just sat about in storage for 20 years. The first day I sailed it at Jervis Bay there was a similar one at the kids sailing school. Someone had just donated it so I could have saved some money!
