Onderwerp: [English] Best Cruising Dinghy in NL

Hello,

I'm sorry about the english!!!

I'm an argentine with some time sailing in the south sea doing dinghy cruising (sleeping, etc) over the argentine coast. I'm living in Wien now and i cant see the dutch boats other than in pictures...i plan to drive to .NL and buy one dinghy in the next months (here, there's no market).

I just dont know which one is better for me.

dinghy requirements:

a/ wood made (this is a must!)
b/ without fixed keel (this is a must!)
c/ roomy enough for 1 person sleep (i usually put a tent on the boat)
d/ stable enough for one person to sail under force 4 (with reefs, etc).

dutch options:

1/ "16m2", is simply great. but i need a dinghy without fixed keel. is there any experience replacing the fixed keel for a centre board?
2/ "spanker", i dont like much the non-rounded hulls, but i feel this is a good option too. i'm worried that it might not be as "stable" as the "16m2"?
3/ "Switch", a bit too small i think.

can anyone please advice me? if you need more details, i'm happy to give them, i just did not want to write that much here...

thanks!!!

Example of dinghy cruising lifestyle...not really glamorous but a lot of fun!

Hi Esteban,

Welcome to the friendly forum.

You already got two things right.

1. Search for a dinghy boat in the number 1 country for boats like this.

2. Address to this forum

Can't help, but I assure you: help is underway!

I think you mean a Schakel in stead of a Switch (Switch is the English translation). I know the 16m^2 is also available with a retractable sword. I don't know if that version is also available in wood. They are built in polyester and wood.
I don't know any Other wooden dinghies without fixed keel. In polyester you might want to consider the Polywood (wooden deck, poyesther hull), Efsix (polyesther 150kg fully retractable keel), Sailhorse (like Efsix (just not fully retractable keel)).

Fixed keel wooden boats like the Valk (hard chined hull), Pampus, 16 m^2, 30m^2, Regenboog.

I hope this helps,


Erik Jan
Efsix 1397

I think a Spanker or Schakel might be your best shot. 16m2's is not really a dinghy - it's more of an open keelboat actually - and as far as I know not available with daggerboard constructions whatsoever.

I've read about a few people cruising and sleeping with two with a Spanker in Friesland. The Spanker's flattened hull is fairly stable.

Why is wood a must?

edit: a Spanker is certainly not as stable as a 16m2, mainly because of its light daggerboard versus the 16m2's 80kg keel. However the 16m2 weighs up to a total of 450kg fully rigged, in comparison to the Spankers mere 180kg.

I agree with Rinus that Spanker or Schakel are the only options for a wooden boat with a centreboard. It will not be easy to find a good one, most are more than 30 years old.
Why do you not hire a Valk (GRP/keel) first for a try out. The type of boat that will fits you also depends from the aera you want to sail.

Kees

Ik you like a more stable, but slower model, you can look for a Drascombe like model. Quite rare, and more expensive of course.

The "Top" is also a wooden boat with centreboard, about the size of a Spanker. The Top is a bit rare but not expensive and has a gaff rig.

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Hello Esteban,

You may also consider a Sharpy, this is a wooden open keelboat of 5.99 meter and still an European regatta class.
Mine if for sale at 2500 euro and includes a road trailer, awning and very complete sailing gear.

If you like I can send you more pictures,

best regards,

Fons

Hello Esteban,
good luck in your search.
To give some better advice maybe you can tell something about your list of demands, for the boat that is. I assume you don't want a fixed keel for easy trailering and easy launch, where there are no good trailerramps.
In that case, a good type of trailer you might want to look at is the 'kanteltrailer'
[img size=drascombe]www.drascombe.nl/fotos/2008_81.jpg[/img]
This can be a good choice for less maintenance (trailer axels don't enter the water) and of course much more lanch possibilities so it is a good choice. I've never seen one for a keelboat however.
In the dinghy range I'm interested in your choice for wood: why? It limits your possibilities to under 10 types of boat.
The boat on this picture is a Drascombe, by the way. There are also open 'longboat' versions available.

And one more photo, to illustrate how this works.

Hello,

Thank you everyone for your kind comments and help! my conclusions are the following:

1/ you Dutch people have an amazing list of home-made dinghy's I've seen in Europe (well, Brits have many interesting stuff as well).
2/ in line with some colleges (koeze, rinus, keeszeiler and beewee) logic says that a spanker is a fine choice. downside are the limited wooden editions, not as stable as 16m2 (for obvious reasons) and likely, a lot more trailer-friendly.
3/ those trailers are really interesting (vince83) and you are right, one of the main concerns of 16m2 is the difficulty to launch and recover without a
4/ the 16m2 is stable over all of them and that's a very (if not the most) important topic for me now (family wise, some adventure i have in mind) but the keel needs to be replaced with a dagger-board.

why wood? i've sailed, repaired, etc the same wooden boat (german frers, 30 feet) most of my life and ... well, maybe it's a bad, expensive habit? i just simply like them more.

I'll be checking your ebay sort of websites in jan/feb and i'll pick a few boats to see and then drive to NL for a few days to make my decision.

btw:
a/ the best way to buy is over the internet or just going to sailing clubs is also a good choice?
b/ when you buy a dinghy + trailer in NL, the trailer needs 1) new plates 2) the same plates as the car has 3) some paperwork? (my car doesnt have NL plates of course!) does anyone knows?

i'm not an expert in wooden boats, in particular keel related issues, but i have the feeling is not impossible to swap a keel for a dagger-board.

I've found a few good illustrative pictures of the keel section of a 16m2, which is a one piece and might allow a 50cmx5cm "whole" for the dagger-board. of course a small case on the inside will be needed for various reasons.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/f2KTuysVV_6tCHornsC7MZI68ft6WeFMru6qo22zJl0?feat=directlink

i will need some help from an experienced carpenter tough. if it's too much issue, i'll go for the spanker.

i might bug you in a few months when i drive to NL!

dankzij!!!
Esteban

If you take a look at www.spanker.nl/index.php?id=342 you can find some Spankers for sale and other cool pictures of Spanker boats. Maybe a Spanker is not that stable but it is possible to just stand on the edge of the boat leaning forward and not flipping over. So that looks stable enough for me. Good luck with finding a nice dinghy.

kisero schrijft:You will probably find better maintained boats at class organisations. At clubs you may find slightly better maintained boats and at Marktplaats.nl, you will find all qualities available.The trailer needs to have the same plates as your car, not matter whether it's Dutch or not. I don't know about regulations in Germany/Austria. If you are planning to buy a 16m2, you will probably need a stronger/larger trailer and than you will have to make sure you have the correct license to drive that heavier trailer. I can't rememeber whether the license thing was about the maximum load capacity of the trailer or the weight of the trailer itself.I agree. If you plan on replacing the keel, make sure that the keelbeam (or whatever it's called in English) and the slats (also not sure about that word) between actual keel and keelbeam are in good shape. Otherwise you will have a hard time making the daggerboard system strong and waterproof.
This is 'thanks to', proper Dutch would be 'bedankt'

You're welcome! (de nada?)

Hi Kisero,

A great part of the stability of the 16m2 comes from the heavy keel.
If you would replace this wit a daggerboard, you loose a lot of the stability and I think it would be no more stable (or even lesse stable) then the spanker.
I've sailed a Polyester Spanker for quite some time and though it's not as stable as a 16m2, it's perfectly suited for sailing with your family. Just be sure to reduce sail in time.
If you want a truly stable boat, you should look for boats with a raisable keel. As far as I know there are two types of open dinghies like that, the Efsix and the sailhorse, both Polyester.

Good luck with your search.
Wybe

There is also a wooden boat with retractable keel: the German "Kielzugvogel". There is/was one for sale in the Netherlands: www.boten.nl/boten/Zeilboot/20...ielzugvogel-KZV.html

It seams quite similar tot a Spanker, but wih a retractable keel. Looks okay to me. There is also a "Schwertzugvogel" with daggerboard, so please be beware of the difference between them.

Translated from German: "Kiel"= keel, "Schwert"=daggerboard
Translated from Dutch: "Kiel"= keel, "Zwaard"=daggerboard, "Ophaalbaar"=retractable, "Hefkiel"=retractable keel

If you would switch to GRP/fibreglass, the "Efsix" is the best not so very expensive boat with retractable keel. The "Sailhorse" is also okay but has some problems with the foam inside, which gets wet sometimes.