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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Best & safest dinghy on the market?

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zeil
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
1314 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/18/2013 : 17:00:59

Although pricey, one would be seriously tempted to obtain one of these sweet little dinghy's including its sailing kit and a few accessories.

The nice thing about it is that it fits before the mast when transporting or in rough weather...

Only thing though, it may appeal and tempt some "weaker brother", beyond restraint or "get lost", when left unattended or... would you suggest not worry about it?

http://www.portlandpudgy.com/sailing_dinghy.htm

Henk & Johanna
"Floating", a few off your "barnacles".
"Someday Lady" '95 C250WB #151 ('03 - 2016)
"Sea ya" 30ft Bayliner (04-2018 - 09-2018)
"Mariah" '96 C250WB #191 (05-2019 - 15-05-2023)
"Lady J" '00 C250WK #499 (05-2021 - 09-2022)

Edited by - zeil on 01/18/2013 17:02:54

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2013 : 17:17:47

Naw... While it and it's cousin the Fatty Knees version can be converted to self rescue life boats, sailed, rowed, or motored, they are sorta fugly and kinda rare. I'm thinking a thief would be more attracted to a much more generic Zodiac...

sten
DPO "Zephyr" '82 C25 SR FK #3220
SV "Lysistrata" '73 C&C39 - Dunedin FL

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awetmore
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1144 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2013 : 19:25:33

Aren't most dinghies stolen to pull the outboard motor off of? If you don't have an outboard you can probably eliminate 90% of potential thefts.

The problem with a rigid dinghy on the 25' Catalinas is that it won't fit anywhere on the boat. Dragging it all of the time is both annoying and potentially unsafe in rough seas. For that reason I would argue that an inflatable is the best option for a 25' boat, despite rowing terribly and not working with sais. A 2-part nesting dinghy might fit, but still takes up a lot of the fore deck.

My Pearson 28 has a lot more foredeck (due to 2' wider beam and 2' more length between the bow and mast) than a Catalina 25 and my just under 8' rigid Dyer Dhow Midget barely fits. The Portland Pudgy is even larger. I do greatly prefer rowing the rigid dinghy and it's fun to sail.

The Catalina 25 with a dinette has a great storage location for a dinghy if you usually keep the dinette down as a big couch/small bed. A deflated 8' Zodiac will roll up and just fit under the table, making great use of an otherwise not very useful space.

To keep your dinghy from being stolen you can move the outboard to the sailboat (where it should be anyway when you aren't at anchor) and then lock it to the boat.

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DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2013 : 06:56:33

pretty dern small .............[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kZGxo8Plqc"]Portland Pudgy dinghy video[/url]

Now the [url="http://www.fattyknees.com/video.html"]Fatty Knees[/url], not bad!

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islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2013 : 08:25:18

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The nice thing about it is that it fits before the mast when transporting or in rough weather...
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Maybe, Remember our 8ft beam boats get substantially smaller the more forward you go. If you try to lay it on the deck in front of the mast your more than likely to have a conflict with the lifelines and anchor hatch also your non working jib sheet can get jambed between the dink and the mast. This happened to me once when it had the forward hatch open about 3 inches while sailing. At 128lbs your going to need a gorilla to pull it up on to the deck from the water but it looks like a lot of fun to use at anchor for a weekend.

Edited by - islander on 01/19/2013 08:38:37

britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 01/19/2013 : 10:04:05

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">At 128lbs your going to need a gorilla to pull it up on to the deck from the water<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Our dink (inflatable) is not that heavy, it's about 80lbs. But even then, pulling it up on to the deck is a strain. So I made a harness that attaches to the lifting bridal rings on the dink, and tie that to the spare jib halyard. Now getting the dink onto the deck is pretty easy, pulling down on the halyard is a whole lot easier than pulling up on the dink. When the dink lifts, it swings to the vertical position (and drains if needed) and once over the lifelines, it swings onto the deck. As I lower it, the aft tube ends fit on each side of the mast and the dink's bow lowers to fit between the pulpit tubes. I have on occasion rotated it while it hangs in order to lower it upside own.

Paul

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.