A nail sticking out of a dock piling can ruin your whole day, so yes, it is important to approach landings with a critical eye out for projections from above or below.

Coming up with the recipe for the ideal tender comes from a lot of time cruising in faraway places. Bottom line: an inflatable opens up all kinds of activities and destinations not available in a hard rowing dinghy.

By having less of the drive in the water your dinghy will not only run faster but run in shallower water without hitting bottom. The hull is built over a male mould in foam sandwich construction. That said, for seasonal sailors with only short-term cruising in mind, a 9.5ft dinghy is light and easy to store. An inflatable is stable to enter from the water, so you can head out to the reefs and anchor the dinghy and snorkel for hours. In fact, chaps offer several advantages. © 2020 Cruz Bay Publishing, Inc. an Active Interest Media company. However, if your storage solution involves deflating the dinghy and rolling it up each time you go sailing, a low-pressure high volume 12 volt inflator pump can be mighty handy. The cockpit is commodious and after a RIB it takes a while to realize you have a lot more space thanks to the lack of side tubes encroaching into the interior. Life jackets: In my cruising, I have found that running around in the dinghy apparently makes me much more visible to the local marine law enforcement than the main boat. A look underneath and the heritage of the OC Tender becomes apparent. The first thing to assess when looking to purchase a dinghy is how you plan on using it. A 10.5ftinflatable with 16in tubes, for example, is a much wetter ride than a 9.5ft dinghy with 19in tubes. Based on your answers to these questions, the type and size of dinghy and the form of propulsion you choose can vary greatly. Few boats in the world can outdo the AB for long-distance, heavyweight offshore cruising. The OC Tender thrives on the punishment. (Four-stroke engines also pollute a lot less!) Storing a dinghy on the foredeck is inexpensive and generally out of the way, but it requires that you remove the outboard each time you retrieve it, and it can be very hard to launch or retrieve in a heavy blow or rough seas. I have yet to see a lost dinghy with two painters, and if you are going to tow your dinghy, having two painters is essential. The same is true of inflatables. However, make sure you are aware of the traffic coming in and out of the dock, as no one wants to be “that guy” at the dinghy dock. The sharp rails and rocker profile held a tight grip of the corner and by the end of the day laying down curves is all I wanted to do. NZ $8000 + GST. Careful LandingWhere and how you land your inflatable takes a little more attention than with a hard dinghy. A 9.9hp weighs about 90lb, and will plane two people in a 10ft inflatable. Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro).

Human nature being what it is, though, sailors and the boatbuilding industry have continued doing what they love and know best. If you mount your dinghy on a davit, having strong straps is key. Some chaps have straps and buckles to hold a pair of oars inside the dinghy, while chaps with several mesh pockets will give you places to store things like the anchor line, a second painter, bug spray and sunscreen. In each case, it seems that the dinghies had not been strapped diagonally. For more, click here. Unfortunately, it is fairly common to accidentally put a hole in the top of the tube as the crew steps out onto the dock and the dinghy rubs against the pilings or gets under the dock.

Packages start at $6500 plus GST./>.

I started helming from my favourite standing position and as I laid the boat into the first turn I had a familiar sensation. One of the advantages of reaching a certain age is that you know what you want and aren’t afraid to ask for it. Their new boat has opened up fresh horizons for the pair, who are taking full advantage of its capabilities. When you tie up your dinghy, plan for any predicted wind shifts so that it does not swing into something sharp. After Covid cancellations and a spying controversy, the latest news is that the Challenger of the Record, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli of Italy, has ...read more, Following the latest national lockdown measures announced by French President Emmanuel Macron as part of the fight against Covid-19, the 2020-21 Vendée Globe Race Village will be closed to the public beginning Friday, October 30th. The twin-engined Stingher 800 is radically rapid but very user-friendly. With its lighter weight and increased capacity and speed, on the other hand, the inflatable dinghy has developed to fill a different role. Now the hard dinghy has made a comeback with the development of the Offshore Cruising Tender (OC Tender) thanks to some clever design and windsurfing know-how. NZ $ 8000 + GST. Smuggler’s latest Strata 700 – with its centre-console configuration – will add further impetus. The sun and the rocks played havoc with the pontoons. Odds and ends: Other gear you might want to carry when you are off exploring includes a dry bag with bug spray, a multitool, spare engine lanyard and a hand held VHF always comes in handy. Now we simply approach the beach and toss out the anchor.

Few boats in the world can outdo the AB for long-distance, heavyweight offshore cruising. Generally speaking, dinghy tubes range between 16in and 19in, with a larger tube diameter providing an appreciable dryer ride. Because so much happens before you even untie the dock lines, the first day, in particular, can not only seem like barely ...read more, Despite this year’s myriad cancellations and postponements, the show will go on for the IMOCA 60 class.

There are no thwarts across the boat. When cargo carrying, the cockpit can absorb surfboards, dive bottles and chilly bins, while still maintaining comfortable seating on the side decks for passengers. Photo by Peter nielsen. Find out now. Carrying and sourcing fuel in out of the way places is the bane of the cruising sailor’s life. Unidirectional carbon is used for the bottom and around the transom area where the foam is increased to 30mm to absorb the stresses in this critical area of the boat. Learn More. My eyes have always been bigger than my stomach so I took the OC350 first. In this configuration the OC350 would take you and all your mates anywhere fast, but for most cruisers it is the 8hp and 3hp OC300 configuration which make more sense. To view the discussion with English subtitles, click on the closed captioning button and ...read more, The following story is part of SAIL magazine’s recent 50th-anniversary coverage.

Aiding the clear cockpit is the storage of oars on loop bungees out of sight beneath the gunwales. The Vendée Globe is scheduled to move ahead as planned, with sailors setting out from Les Sables d’Olonne, France, November 8. You may choose to power it with oars, an electric motor, a small outboard or a large one. 2020 VERSION INCLUDES.