Are too many dinghies too short?

and they're more fun....(apart from 18 footers, they're long and fun!)


Edited by tgruitt - 11 Mar 13 at 2:29pm

Originally posted by tgruitt and they're more fun....(apart from 18 footers, they're long and fun!)

and they are lighter ( to trolley, car top ), they fit in your garage ( if you want to make one at home or repair ) take up less space in the dinghy park and use less materials when being built, thus cheaper.

Originally posted by pondmonkey Originally posted by Jack Sparrow Originally posted by tgruitt and they're more fun....(apart from 18 footers, they're long and fun!) and they are lighter ( to trolley, car top ), they fit in your garage ( if you want to make one at home or repair ) take up less space in the dinghy park and use less materials when being built, thus cheaper. yep... and if all else fails, you can stick a FO big gantry off the back anyway.

You don't need all that hull anyway, gantries and bowsprits ahoy!

For every long boat from the classic era, there are probably several short ones, all those Herons, Gulls, 11pluses, it's the long ones that have stood the test of time best perhaps?

My personal view is that length is the easiest way to increase performance in light air, if you can keep the weight down.
But the penalty is that a long boat will carry heavy crews with no penalty and they will be faster.
So if you want to have a class with racing over a range of crew weight, you need the boat to be short enough that it punishes the heavy people just enough to offset their power advantage.
At my weight, the RS400 could do with being longer (or a lot lighter) in sub-planing conditions, but it seems to deliver good racing over a range of crew weights, provided the course is not full of fetches and kite-stretching exercises.

I think in anything other than flat water, upwind a fine angle to the bow is key, which basicallly means a long boat for a given volume, and/or the max beam a long way back.

Originally posted by RS400atC For every long boat from the classic era, there are probably several short ones, all those Herons, Gulls, 11pluses, it's the long ones that have stood the test of time best perhaps?

Or perhaps not. Averaged out since the Millenium there have been about 30 new Herons registered per year. I believe that Hartleys are aiming to build about 20 Gulls per year. Don't know about the Mirror but I can't imagine it being less. The 11 plus was a sweet little boat but never caught on in a big way. And not all the longer designs prospered e.g., Jollyboat.