What Dinghy to buy
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: General
Forum Name: Beginner questions
Forum Discription: Advice for those who are new to sailing
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10298
Printed Date: 25 Jun 25 at 11:01pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: What Dinghy to buy
Posted By: vectra89
Subject: What Dinghy to buy
Date Posted: 15 Dec 12 at 5:37pm
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I am new to sailing having just completed a RYA course , the club I joined do not have any club boats that can be used other than for training.
My question is what dinghy is suitable for a 6 foot, 19 stone, 60 year old who just wants to sail around the lake and not to race YET maybe when I get some confidence with my own dinghy.
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Replies:
Posted By: radixon
Date Posted: 15 Dec 12 at 6:23pm
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A Solo. It might not carry your weight as well but will allow you to move around. Moving on to a Finn or phantom when you are more advanced ------------- |
Posted By: NickM
Date Posted: 15 Dec 12 at 7:21pm
| I second that |
Posted By: ex laser
Date Posted: 15 Dec 12 at 7:31pm
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+2 buy a cheap solo to play around in, until your sure what you want. ------------- |
Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 15 Dec 12 at 7:56pm
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19 Stone?
Phantom, don't listen to anyone suggesting that antiquarian, relic of a bygone era sailed by zombies, the solo. You'll have more fun in a Phantom. |
Posted By: ex laser
Date Posted: 15 Dec 12 at 8:55pm
grf. he is a newbe with no sailing experiance, asking for impartial advice.( which is what radixon gave) and you tell him to buy a expensive high performance boat thats hard on the knees as his first boat!!!!  ( phantoms are great boats, but not for a 60 year old new to sailing )what planet are you on? just for once can you give un bigoted advice. you have really gone down in my estimation. ------------- |
Posted By: craiggo
Date Posted: 15 Dec 12 at 8:56pm
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Given that you don't want to race yet, it really doesn't matter too much what you buy, as long as it is a hiking singlehander.
However on the assumption that you do eventually get confident enough to race, I'd suggest buying whatever is the most popular singlehanded hiking dinghy at the club, even if you are really too big for it. The variance in crew skill and boat finish will mean that while you probably wont win straight away, you'll at least be able to develop the skills to at least get in the mix. |
Posted By: vectra89
Date Posted: 16 Dec 12 at 4:17pm
Thank you everyone for your reply`s, I have rang some one who is selling a Solo and explained what I wanted it for, he said he would not recomend it for me as the dagger board box would hamper me and going down wind having to crouch on your knee`s . ------------- Richard |
Posted By: Kev M
Date Posted: 16 Dec 12 at 5:19pm
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I cant think of a single hander that won't have an element of crouching going downwind. Of course you can always stand up down wind and only crouch when you need to gybe. ------------- Successfully confusing ambition with ability since 1980. |
Posted By: NickM
Date Posted: 16 Dec 12 at 7:07pm
| Given the sort of sailing you are looking to do, I would not have thought that was really an issue to start with. Take a Solo out for a try. (It has a centreboard actually. That's why there is a box.) |
Posted By: winging it
Date Posted: 16 Dec 12 at 8:12pm
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I agree with almost all of this, but you shouldn't rule out a Finn, which doesn't have to be high performance or high spec and would actually be pretty much the best boat for you, a deep cockpit single floor phantom which will have a comfy thwart to sit on, and, if you can find one, a megabyte, which would be perfect for you - like a Finn, but easier. You really DO need to take account of your size and weight and a get a boat to suit, otherwise you will be uncomfortable and put off and eventually stop sailing, which would be tragic. Try to get a test sail in all of these boats before you buy one so you can work out what suits you, don't just buy on spec. ------------- the same, but different... |
Posted By: vectra89
Date Posted: 18 Dec 12 at 4:56pm
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Hi Thanks for the reply,I rang someone who is selling a Solo and that is what he said, he did not recommend it for me. ------------- Richard |
Posted By: iGRF
Date Posted: 18 Dec 12 at 5:02pm
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Hey, that's not bigoted advice, my pal is four years older than me, similar weight and he sails a Phantom and is also relatively inexperienced, although he did spend some time in a Supernova, another better choice than a bloody Solo what is it with you people and Solo's? They are not even a nice boat ffs. The only reason given for using them is because there are lots of other retarded folk being sold the 'oh it's got a class we can all race together' bollox.
The Phantom is a great weight carrier it's a relatively easy boat to sail, stable, fast, performs well, what's not to like? |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 18 Dec 12 at 6:08pm
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I'm not sure ANY of the boats described at 19 stone and age 60 would be right. Something rather more forgiving of the weight being in the wrong place would be much better, as any capsize will be followed by a long wait for the rescue boat. Singlehanding a cruising doublehander with a reefable sail would seem to make more sense - something like a Wanderer, maybe?
------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: rogerd
Date Posted: 18 Dec 12 at 8:12pm
| Or a GP I sail my geep single handed and my father used to put a suit of old gull sails on to take the grandchildren out in. |
Posted By: pondmonkey
Date Posted: 18 Dec 12 at 11:40pm
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You sit on the side of a Solo downwind, if not on the side, then on the thwart. It really is the comfiest boat I've sailed. The Phantom on the otherhand requires kneeling in the bottom of it. It really isn't that cosy, in fact I found it rather irksome from an ergonomics point of view- maybe an old deep cockpit one is different. But at 19 stone you are big for a Solo, not impossibly big, but I'd probably look to getting a classic Finn if one comes up instead. ------------- |
Posted By: Jack Sparrow
Date Posted: 19 Dec 12 at 3:52pm
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here's a left field idea:
WETA [TUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5ZJX8aQ3I[/TUBE] ------------- http://www.uk3-7class.org/index.html" rel="nofollow - Farr 3.7 Class Website https://www.facebook.com/groups/1092602470772759/" rel="nofollow - Farr 3.7 Building - Facebook Group |
Posted By: vectra89
Date Posted: 19 Dec 12 at 5:30pm
I Like your idea its like having training wheels on your bike ------------- Richard |