Dinghy sailing

[cisamcgu]

Miss Cisamcgu and myself have had a couple of days sailing recently, and have rather taken to it. We would like to buy a second-hand one, since hiring them for any length of time is very expensive. Does anyone have any knowledge of the subject and could point us in the right directions. We want a boat that is:
a) Not too tippy
b) Big enough for two, three at a push
c) Cheap to buy second hand
d) Easy to get spares

We would plan to keep it, probably, at Ullswater (2 hours away - I know a long way, but much more fun than sailing around Southport marine lake), rather than towing it around the place.

We have thought of two at the moment, the GP14 and the Enterprise, but does anyone have any advice, opinion, different ideas .... anything anyone can think of would be gratefully recieved.



Cheers
Andrew

 

[Globalti]

In the dim and distant past when I had a buddy who was into sailing the Mirror and the Lark were the beginners' boats.

 

[snorri]

If you plan to keep it at Ullswater, go to Ullswater and ask for advice at clubs there. Club members will be able to help you with local knowledge of the sailing area and will know of second hand boats on the market, and can advise which classes are suitable for you or are popular in the area. If you just want to potter around, it makes little difference, but if your interest deepens, you may decide to race, in which case it makes for more interesting sport if you have a boat of the same class as the boats you are competing against. Handicap racing is quite common, but you never really know if it is you or the boat that most influences the result, and there can be endless debate regarding the fairness of individual boat handicaps .
That's enough from me to begin with.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I did about two days in a Wayfarer to learn. Jolly good fun. Quite stable but limited in the strength of the wind they are safe in. So I'd check out the ones locally - see what the typical winds are etc etc

 

[numbnuts]

Wayfarer +1 I too learnt to sail in one

 

[Piemaster]

How much work do you want to put into a boat? Cheap boats will probably be wood and may need some work if water has gathered in the bottom or on a sagging and soggy cover (I speak from experience) GRP boats will need less maintenance but are generally more expensive to buy initially.

I've bought a National 12 (N12) (like this)with road trailer and trolley in the past, a double handed technical (tippy)+boat - not really for beginners and sailed it single handed, 'cos I'm a fat git. £250. Bit of scraping and painting involved.
Same story and price with a old wood Phantom,a heavy sailors single hander. Again work required, sailed it for 2 seasons (one more than I thought I would as it really was in poor nick).
Just to illustrate cheap can be had BUT it may be a farly obscure class in your area (both above were, part of reason for price)

Wayfarer - 3 people easy. I've sailed the Solent to IoW and camped there in one. Enterprise, GP14, Lark as above all good. Mirror would be cramped for 2 adults, let alone 3.
Also depends on what type of sailing you are gravitating towards more relaxed cruising or blasting along with a spinnaker up.
Don't underestimate how much extra value a road trailer/trolley can add as well to a deal. Can be an expensive extra on boat price. The boats in my examples above came with them, making the boats pretty much free.

 

[guitarpete247]

+ another 1 for Wayfarer. I also learnt in one and sailed one at Rother Valley a couple of years ago. It was like riding a bike ( ), I remembered all I'd been taught 10 years earlier.
When being taught I was told stories of Wayfarers being sailed across to Iceland to explain how stable they were. When we did the capsize drill they had to be forced over with a lot of difficulty so I believe they are very stable.
I had part ownership of a Merlin Rocket for a couple of years and would say they are totally the opposite. I think that the more racing pedigree a boat has then it becomes more inherently unstable handled by the inexperienced.

 

[Brains]

I used to do a lot of Estuarine sailing as a kid, I remember GP14 and Enterprise are both potentially tippy boats, as you could always spot the crews afterwards (they were the one with the wet £5 notes in the bar)

I'd go with the Wayfarer as well as a good sailing/racing dingy, but as one of the other posts said, if you already have a place to keep the boat then you want to get the same class of boat as the others in the club.
If the club is a mixed bag of boats then another very versatile dingy is the Drancombe Shrimper/Lugger. you can row, motor, sail, fish even sleep (at a push) and they are very stable (also quite heavy, so not something you drag out on your own on a trolley. The other obvious dinghy to look at is the VW beetle of the dingy world. The Mirror. brilliant boats, take them anywhere, do anything, and you can even get them on the roof of a car
.

 

[benb]

I used to do a lot of sailing in GP14s. They're good boats: solid, but not desperately exciting.

More recently I've sailed the Laser Stratos which is great.

I can't comment on costs, as I've only ever rented.

Good luck.

 

[Graham O]

Of the older, cheaper boats, both the Enterprise and the GP14 are good learner boats, the Enterprise being a bit more of a handful, but also more exciting. Forget what people say about either being tippy and always ending up capsizing as any boat is tippy until you get used to it. I sailed an Enterprise for 5 years and in the early days, we got wet a few times, but we were racing so perhaps trying too hard. The Wayfarer is a big boat for 2 people and much more suited to coastal sailing. It is also heavy. A buying tip for an Enterprise is to make sure there is a bulkhead under the foredeck otherwise if/when you capsize, you'll have a lot of water in the boat and it takes a while to empty it. A wooden boat does need TLC, but if you can get it under cover in the Winter, maintenance is straightforward. Don't buy a wooden boat with a painted inside. It has probably been painted to hide rot. If it is varnished inside, you can see any rot around the base of the centre board.
Once you get onto the modern boats, Lasers, Toppers etc, there is much more choice although many are designed for high performance sailing and are quite exciting.
The ancient Mirror dinghy still takes a lot of beating though for a fun stable boat to learn in.
Join a club, see what they sail, go out in other boats and see what takes your fancy. Sailing is a great sport.

 

[benb]

I love sailing, but haven't been for a year or so. I really enjoy sailing the big yachts too, but dinghys are great fun.

 

[gavintc]

I am being roped into racing next Sunday - there some old ex-RN Bosun dinghies in a club near here. My wife and I raced earlier in the year, and we have been asked to make up the numbers to make a team. The boats are stable, but a bit heavy and ponderous.

 

[benb]

Bosuns were the first boats I sailed in, fond memories. Virtually indestructible.

 

[cisamcgu]

Thank you for your very helpful replies. I am not interested in racing or even sailing with a club at the moment, more like just pottering around and stopping for picnics etc...

Andrew

 

[cisamcgu]

Update: Bought a Mirror last week, first sailing planned for tomorrow - I'll let you know how it goes



Andrew