Top five favourite dinghies
Printed From: Yachts and Yachting Online
Category: Dinghy classes
Forum Name: Dinghy development
Forum Discription: The latest moves in the dinghy market
URL: http://www.yachtsandyachting.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11595
Printed Date: 12 Jul 25 at 8:01am
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.665y - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Top five favourite dinghies
Posted By: winging it
Subject: Top five favourite dinghies
Date Posted: 11 Aug 14 at 10:07pm
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That you have sailed or want yo sail. 1. Contender -own one now 2. 470. - owned previously 3. D One - own one now 4. 505 - regular crew 5. Fd - never sailed one, still hoping I have sailed many different boats, but these are still my all time favourites. Clearly I'm an old fashioned girl, apart from the D One! ------------- the same, but different... |
Replies:
Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 11 Aug 14 at 10:10pm
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Cherub 97 Vintage
IC Int Moth Thames Rater struggling to think of a 5th in the same sort of league really, maybe 29er or RS300. |
Posted By: maxibuddah
Date Posted: 11 Aug 14 at 10:14pm
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1. RS300 (owned) 2. D-One (want to) 3. Phantom (own) 4. Finn (wouldn't mind owning) 5. Contender (never owned but need to lose a tad of weight if I really wanted to) ------------- Everything I say is my opinion, honest |
Posted By: GarethT
Date Posted: 11 Aug 14 at 10:23pm
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OK
5o5 Flying Fifteen RS600 Spitfire |
Posted By: Bootscooter
Date Posted: 11 Aug 14 at 10:26pm
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505
Foiling Moth 2.4M Norfolk Punt FD (and D-One, but I've got one) ------------- |
Posted By: craiggo
Date Posted: 11 Aug 14 at 10:42pm
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OK - had a demo in one a few years back
Graduate - Own one and they are simply wonderful 49er - Owned one. One of the nicest boats I've ever sailed RS700 - own one. Rewarding and works brilliantly at my home club RS600 - owned one. Taught me more than any other boat |
Posted By: NeilB-Phantom
Date Posted: 11 Aug 14 at 11:27pm
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In no particular order Phantom - got one D-one - love to try Foiling moth - in my dreams unless I loose 30Kg A-class Cat 18ft Skiff ------------- Phantom 1384 Dazcat D995 |
Posted By: gordon1277
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 8:22am
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505 used to own and sail, with some great people, loved the boats
Phantom great boat still have one better than people believe. Int14 had one I was never good enough helm and to heavy but seen the ones at p&b south and they look fantastic. D one maybe some time in the future. 18 FT SKIFF , why wouldn't you want to? ------------- Gordon Lossc |
Posted By: Thunder Road
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 9:46am
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Finn- own one D-Zero- will own one soon Int.14- owned one when they had a single trapeze, had a great life on and off the water D-One- would like one but fear I'm too much of a 2nd.row forward 470- owned one, I was far too heavy but really enjoyed it . ------------- Finn GBR16 Thunder Road. |
Posted By: CapSizer
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 10:04am
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505 - Sailed and owned, sweet as they come, handles such a wide variety of conditions Fireball - Sailed and owned, responsive and sweet to sail, decent amount of room for the crew Int. 14 - Fiddled around on the periphery, unable to afford, but fascinating class and history Phantom - Tried briefly, loved the responsiveness IC - None around here, but would love to try one |
Posted By: scotsfinn
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 10:06am
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Finn - owned a couple - but did for my knees Icon - but I don't have any friends! Merlin - loved it but don't have any friends! D-one - great upwind and down, but a challenge Had numerous laser, never loved any of them ...... don't mention the RS100, everything I hated about the laser plus the challenge of the d-one but with no reward. In order??? Merlin - would have one if I had a regular crew (full carbon everything and fally over single string thingy) Finn - loved it, must have the right rig - should have started younger D-one - it's the one for me - just need to increase practice and fitness - Gard a here I come!  ------------- Largs Sailing Club. D-Zero GBR 57, B14 744 www.blueseaconsultingllp.com |
Posted By: iiitick
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 10:08am
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Byte C2 ........of course! I don't sail one now so.... .....Lightning 368 because it allows me to sail a nippy boat without falling in all the time. 505, I have crewed a few times in the past and they look so lovely. Contender which is the boat you drew on the back of your maths book before you ever saw one. Foiling Moth, an unobtainable dream! Can you come back to me after Sailfest? I have never seen an Icon sail and I have never seen a D Zero at all. My preferences may revise.
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Posted By: 2547
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 10:23am
| Isn't this just a list of the classes people have owned? |
Posted By: iiitick
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 10:49am
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OK, worst five then.....Laser 2, (owned), Ancient Solo, (owned), Zoom, (owned)......How about Javelin, Merlin or geriatric Lark? Undecided there.....Then I have special place in my heart for my Tasar (still owned). Years of 'Just messing about with boats'.
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Posted By: GarethT
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 10:52am
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Laser 2?
I loved mine. Cheap, simple, and good big fleets with decent piss ups after racing. For the stage in my life I was at, it was perfect. |
Posted By: Bootscooter
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 11:56am
Totally agree - easily (feels like) the fastest boat you'll ever sail, spray everywhere on a 3 sail reach, twitchy steering, great parties,loads of hot girls sailing them..... great times in my early 20's.  ------------- |
Posted By: GarethT
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 11:59am
To be fair, it was your mid to late twenties! |
Posted By: Iain C
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 12:13pm
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18' Skiff Foiling Moth 49er Cherub/12' skiff Fireball in 20kts Speeeeeeeed!! ------------- RS700 GBR922 "Wirespeed" Fireball GBR14474 "Eleven Parsecs" Enterprise GBR21970 Bavaria 32 GBR4755L "Adastra" |
Posted By: Bootscooter
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 12:13pm
whatever...  ------------- |
Posted By: iiitick
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 2:01pm
| Problems with L2? Crap on a lake where the kite is too big and the pole too long...unstable on wire in gusty stuff......and.....I was 58 when we got it. Replaced with Tasar..much better. |
Posted By: Bootscooter
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 2:19pm
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That would be like Grumph slating a Skipper 14 because it was rubbish on his bit of sea (though I don't believe a Skipper 14 would be good anywhere other than disappearing down a whirlpool. As an aside, how many of those infernal things did they make? They're always on ebay and elsewhere, so unless it's the same pile of poo being passed around...)
The LII is and was a fabulous boat, you just put it in a place that it wasn't suited to.... 18 Ft Skiff on a gravel pit-esque. ------------- |
Posted By: iiitick
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 2:39pm
| Yes of course but we can only judge what we know and where we experienced it. I will weigh up those 18 footers at Sailfest.....you gave me an idea there! |
Posted By: transient
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 2:47pm
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L2 lovely boat. Goes like stink..needs some commitment though and a good crew, (by todays standards anyway). Lively as hell, light, empties quickly, minimal string, manageable in big winds, tough as old boots...the go-kart of the sailing world.
Now has a one piece mast and on open water a PY that's just a bit embarrassing. (+ 20 this year) |
Posted By: iiitick
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 3:11pm
Ah....I usually was the crew. Perhaps that was the problem!
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Posted By: transient
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 3:26pm
| Lol.....not sure I could cope with the crew position either, my wife used to do it....She's much better at multi tasking. When sailing boats that were less demanding of the crew she got bored and started picking holes in what I was doing......;-) disaster. |
Posted By: tgruitt
Date Posted: 12 Aug 14 at 5:45pm
They've got to be one of the most underrated boats ever? They are fun, cheap, quick and you can just chuck them around in any breeze! ------------- Needs to sail more... |
Posted By: OultonBen
Date Posted: 13 Aug 14 at 11:37am
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LOVE: (1) Fireball (at speed, on the wire dragging trailing leg and watch helm Drown in my controlled spray; haaa-ha ! Actually just cannot stop grinning in a Fireball. )(2=) Phantom (totally responsive, huge range of conditions ..... but MUST-HAVE cushions sewn onto my knees!) (2=) D-One (Challenging in a blow, but a huge NEW exciting experience.) (4) Merlin Rocket (again sooo responsive and able to cope with very wide range of conditions; huge bandwidth of experience to sail against; large Opens & e.g. Salcombe Week) (5) OK (For their Champs'14, wishing really Good-Luck to them at Dabchicks next week !) HATE: (1)  No you won't recognise it; this was a barely floating "Park-Bench" designed by the famous Jack Chippendale; test sailed it on Barton Broad; respectfully tried to be very 'nice' to Jack about the disaster he'd generated; nope I think he sold not a single one !)(2) No-one can 'Love' a  ? It's a (fitness-) machine,  hateful to sail, breaks knees and backs; however it has its place ..... where it was designed to stay:- On the Beach.(3)  Simply lost too much range of conditions to race in (too light, too windy, too wavey, too reachy ....). However, when conditions were right, boy was that a neat boat !)(4) Finn (  There's a great deal of skill involved in Bullfighting, provocatively flapping red cloth at them and sticking sharp knives in them to make them Really Angry; ..... but Why ?)(5)  )------------- No-one can squeeze past ..... when you're as "Chunky" as myself ! |
Posted By: OultonBen
Date Posted: 13 Aug 14 at 11:41am
Of course it is, to an extent, since otherwise their opinions would not be genuine or credible feedback. ------------- No-one can squeeze past ..... when you're as "Chunky" as myself ! |
Posted By: iiitick
Date Posted: 13 Aug 14 at 11:42am
Very good...thank you. (clap emotican)
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Posted By: jeffers
Date Posted: 13 Aug 14 at 12:02pm
Nice to know I am not the only FB crew who did this. Usually after being dipped into the water whilst on the wire or getting battered with the spinny pole. ------------- Paul ---------------------- D-Zero GBR 74 |
Posted By: JimC
Date Posted: 13 Aug 14 at 12:05pm
It would be a bit odd, maybe even rather sad if we hadn't all owned a reasonable selection of our favourite boats... |
Posted By: winging it
Date Posted: 13 Aug 14 at 8:35pm
Good grief no, there are loads missing. These are simply those I love most. ------------- the same, but different... |
Posted By: rogerd
Date Posted: 13 Aug 14 at 9:21pm
| It would be quicker to ask Nessa what classes she hasn't owned. |
Posted By: winging it
Date Posted: 13 Aug 14 at 9:44pm
------------- the same, but different... |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 11:35am
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Firefly Scow moth with original shape rig (never owned one) Fairey Mk4 14 (worked on, sailed, but not owned) Thames A Rater (Just amazing to watch - bad to be to leeward of) Lightning 368 (I know, boring... but actually, the 1st singlehander I've owned for more than 5 years without swapping it for something else - must mean something! ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 11:40am
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Can't think of any boats I hate. "Funboat" maybe? Had a good sail in a Skipper 14 once before it sank.
------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: GarethT
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 11:47am
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Ha ha.
That's all I can remember about the skipper. In the 70s there was one in the shed at Bury Lake, and as a very small boy all I can remember about it is that people would say "it sinks"! |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 11:51am
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The hull and deck mouldings would come apart, and the level it settled at when full was below the water surface. The Sea Cadet one I was asked to quote for a mend many years ago (my quote was "take it to the tip") seemed to have very little positive buoyancy inside it, and what there was was waterlogged.
------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: gordon1277
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 11:58am
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They always scare me when I see people who have probably bought skippers on ebay about to launch into the solent from the public slip in a force 5 sw. No Bouncy aids or wet suits in site.
That and very old Ents and Fireballs seem to be favourite. ------------- Gordon Lossc |
Posted By: kneewrecker
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 12:09pm
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In no particular order
505 Int Moth Int Canoe (not AC) D Zero Finn (Owned none of them) ------------- |
Posted By: maxibuddah
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 12:31pm
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There's a skipper hull afloat in the lagoon at West Bay by the rowing boats. Surprising really. Still looks awful ------------- Everything I say is my opinion, honest |
Posted By: Thunder Road
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 12:37pm
Perhaps we could start a Skipper thread, covering all aspects of design, handling, colour schemes, quality of design, boat manufacture, sails, spars and cushions that could be bought as a must have option ------------- Finn GBR16 Thunder Road. |
Posted By: iiitick
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 12:53pm
| Has anyone ever owned a Wineglass ? Not a joke....only ever sailed in a Nottinghamshire club? I have seen one on ebay and I seem to remember one winning a persuit race somewhere in the distant past. |
Posted By: Punky
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 1:59pm
| I've not owned one, but my old club had one about 25-30 years ago and I crewed in it a fair bit. It seemed old and beaten up even then, but that's quite nice in many ways because you can just relax and not worry about scratching it. Not sure I'd put it in my top 5 though! |
Posted By: Thunder Road
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 2:10pm
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I went to school with somebody who had one, not seen him or his boat since! ------------- Finn GBR16 Thunder Road. |
Posted By: Caveman
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 2:31pm
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I admit that my list looks a bit "alternative". But it reflects my own personal experiences. 1. A Salcombe dayboat I know, I know. I can hear you now. How can a clinker built boat with a cast iron centreboard be my favourite boat? I had my first experience of sailing in one of these as a 13 year old. It was during a glorious summer holiday in Salcombe back in the 1970's. I still get misty eyed thinking about it now and can still vividly remember that day. 2. Enterprise. It took me another 17 years to get back to sailing again. Having been forced by injury to give up my first sport of rugby, I needed to find something to take its place. I chose sailing, bought an old Ent and joined a club. Initially I did a lot of crewing and learned quickly thanks to being able to closely observe good helms at work (so much better than a formal sailing course). Within a few years, my daughter was crewing for me and by then we were winning the odd cup at our local club. I really enjoyed the cut and thrust of close but friendly racing in the Ent fleet. 3. RS400. I have sailed one these quite a bit. The boat always feels well sorted and refined with just about as much performance as I could handle (sometimes much more). I would have bought one years ago but my crew (daughter) was rather too small. 4. Solo. With daughter packed off to Uni, I was crewless. So I bought a Solo. I tried the Laser and quite liked it but felt I would never be very competitive with the uber-fit club hotshots. The Solo may be old school in some ways but it is a great boat and the fleet racing is simply amazing. On almost any Sunday in the year I can race in a fleet of ten other competitive Solos at my local club. 5. DZero. I admit that I have not yet sailed one of these but they look great and appear to have as much performance and power as I could comfortably handle. If the opportunity were to arise and the funds were available, this would be my second boat. That or a J88! ------------- Enthusiasm>Skill |
Posted By: bernie
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 3:56pm
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In order or preference:- 1./ 12ft Skiff (in over 10kts of breeze, you always come off the water with a grin) 2./ 97-rules Cherub (in over 15kts of breeze, you always come off the water with a grin) 1./ AC Canoe (in over 10kts of breeze, you always come off the water with a grin) 1./ 18ft Skiff (in over 10kts of breeze, you always come off the water with a grin) Ones I haven't tried (but would love to):- 1./ A Class Cat 2./ Foiling Moth Can you guess why? ------------- Never sheet out. |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 4:00pm
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Actually, the A class cat is another I'd have on the list, if I could have 6, not 5, or on a different day. Never sailed one, but they just seem so smooth, and able to go so fast with a fairly small sail area.
------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: OultonBen
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 5:56pm
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Humm, so Cats, Foilers and Keelboats are now categorised as, "Dinghies", in this thread of, ".... Favourite Dinghies"; skiffs I reckon barely make it .... but just. ------------- No-one can squeeze past ..... when you're as "Chunky" as myself ! |
Posted By: craiggo
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 6:29pm
Yes! I don't get why people feel the need to segregate. |
Posted By: kneewrecker
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 6:31pm
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Oh, in that case there's four windsurf boards which get ahead of any dinghy on my list... Plus a Finn.
witchcraft chakra 105L - own one Kona Carb-One longboard - own one Witchcraft Ouija 118L - can't afford one right now Custom built Mistral Pan-Am longboard replica, in carbon / dyneema with an RS:X track - definitely can't afford one right now ------------- |
Posted By: craiggo
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 6:51pm
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Windsurfing is a different sport with a whole different set of skills.
I just don't get why people segregate multihulls, monohulls etc. but perhaps that's because I sail at a club that allows all boats to be sailed against each other and we aren't constrained by stupid decisions made by water board bureaucrats. No cats appeared on my top five even though I have sailed a fair few, but the closest cat to my top 5 would be the A-class. Having sailed around with Nigel Lovett for many years I have always been impressed by the design evolution and the technology improvements, although Im not a fan of them moving towards full foiling which is one of the reasons it doesn't quite get into the top 5. |
Posted By: kneewrecker
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 7:14pm
A view I wouldn't disagree with personally, however ISAF still does. ------------- |
Posted By: GarethT
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 7:32pm
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Having watched the techno worlds, I'd disagree completely.
Around the racecourse I would suggest they're closer to skiffs and cats than a lot of 'dinghies' are. |
Posted By: kneewrecker
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 10:26pm
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Yes, but what happens at 18 when they all stop racing technos?
Course racing windsurfing Is more pollaxed than dinghy racing ;-) Kids do spelling bees too.... Don't see that in the Olympics. ------------- |
Posted By: GarethT
Date Posted: 14 Aug 14 at 10:36pm
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They've just introduced a Techno Plus class - same board but with 8.5 rig and no age limit - with the intention of giving the older ones who don't want to go full on with the RS:X somewhere to go.
It's early days but seemed well received at Brest. |
Posted By: NeilB-Phantom
Date Posted: 15 Aug 14 at 12:26am
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In my book if it hasn't got bunks and you don't have to hold the mast up yourself its a dinghy. Doesn't matter how many hulls or if it sits on foils. ------------- Phantom 1384 Dazcat D995 |
Posted By: kneewrecker
Date Posted: 15 Aug 14 at 12:40am
That's an interesting development- cheers Gareth. ------------- |
Posted By: getafix
Date Posted: 15 Aug 14 at 8:30am
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I cannot bring myself to put numbers against them, so in no particular order: Merlin Rocket National 12 Int 14 RS100 Mirror
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Posted By: JohnJack
Date Posted: 17 Aug 14 at 7:14pm
| Whats the general consensus on the Scorpion at the moment? |
Posted By: robin34024
Date Posted: 17 Aug 14 at 9:42pm
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In no particular order: 97 Rules Cherub - Has just been incredible every time I have sailed one Skinny Lowrider moth - Never sailed one but looks like a great challenge National 12 - A great all round boat, handles well and nice in pretty much any conditions Streaker - For similar reasons to the national 12, just a simple comfortable and fun boat 18ft Skiff - Because watching the awesome aussie 18 videos as a kid was amazing Plenty more that id love to have a go in, like the VX1, Icon and a foiling moth, but those are the top 5 i guess :) ------------- |
Posted By: Jack Sparrow
Date Posted: 18 Aug 14 at 1:00pm
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Farr 3.7
R-Class 16ft Skiff Skate Int Moth ------------- 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: Null
Date Posted: 18 Aug 14 at 1:57pm
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Try to avoid selecting classes I own: Rs300 Finn D-One 505 Contender
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Posted By: mongrel
Date Posted: 18 Aug 14 at 4:35pm
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Contender Int.14 Fireball Int. Moth Merlin Rocket
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Posted By: timeintheboat
Date Posted: 18 Aug 14 at 10:19pm
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Laser - it got me into sailing, still great fun on the sea Fireball - the best boat to helm and that noise N12 - always too heavy, never could get it going, frustrating but the best looking most intersting boat I have owned Merlin Rocket - one day, one day I can't really think of another - though I'd love a D-0! ------------- Like some other things - sailing is more enjoyable when you do it with someone else |
Posted By: Thunder Road
Date Posted: 19 Aug 14 at 9:22am
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Just a thought, but maybe we could put a date limit on the thread and count the votes, thus completing the worlds most significant survey on best boats and crowning the world champion design as it is universally agreed that we forumites are the brightest and most knowledgeable people in the marine world ------------- Finn GBR16 Thunder Road. |
Posted By: iiitick
Date Posted: 19 Aug 14 at 9:34am
| .....and the youngest with the most hair. |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 19 Aug 14 at 11:19am
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Don't you end up with a list that is actually a list of the top 5 that nobody has stated, unless by pure chance? An overall top 5 doesn't make my favorites any different. But it is true that we are the litmus paper of the dinghy petri dish. ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: ChrisB14
Date Posted: 19 Aug 14 at 2:17pm
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I actually couldn't help myself and did that yesterday. The top three (all with 8 mentions) are: Foiling Moth (plus 1 lowrider and 1 scow Moth) D-One 505 Of course Rupert is right: that doesn't tell us much. Other than perhaps that the forum has a "Need for Speed" :) ------------- B14 GBR 748 Bullet B In build: Farr 3.7 GBR 410 (both sail number and the current number of loose parts) |
Posted By: Bootscooter
Date Posted: 19 Aug 14 at 2:33pm
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Ok.... I'll ask a slightly different question on a new thread, that may allow us to come up with better conclusions.. ------------- |
Posted By: Rupert
Date Posted: 19 Aug 14 at 3:49pm
Or that we love speed, but maybe just looking at it! ------------- Firefly 2324, Puffin 229, Minisail 3446 Mirror 70686 |
Posted By: 2547
Date Posted: 19 Aug 14 at 4:36pm
Funny the D-1 features so well; wasn't that long ago the D-1 was getting royally slated on this forum by all the RS100 fanboys ... funny how eventually quality shines through all the BS ...
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Posted By: Roger
Date Posted: 19 Aug 14 at 8:46pm
That's because they hadn't sailed it yet. |