Victoria Shadow Association Members' Forum

Jeremy_Ingram

Member

Registered: 2022-02-24

Posts: 19

F26 hard dinghy on foredeck

Hi to all,
    Trust the sailing´s been good so far this season.  We are thinking of replacing the Avon, currently carried on the foredeck, which is a bit in the way when you need to get at the mooring bitts or windlass, plus it´s not that pretty . Preferred option would be a nesting pram which , for example, at 4ft 9ins x 4 ft(nested) would be ideal. However the weight seems to be about 35 kgs all up so say 17kgs each piece. I can´t quite visualise if this would be very difficult to get aboard. Has anyone any experience of this, please?

Charles_Grossie

Committee Member

Registered: 2017-08-10

Posts: 160

Re: F26 hard dinghy on foredeck

Hi Jeremy,
I'm not sure whether you use Facebook, but if you do, you will see some interesting info and details in respect of Bill Robinson's F26 and his recent completion of Eastport nesting dinghy.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1855129 … 511911372/

I hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Charlie.

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Victoria 34 Cutter - 'Anitra'

Jeremy_Ingram

Member

Registered: 2022-02-24

Posts: 19

Re: F26 hard dinghy on foredeck

Hi Charles ,
      Thanks so much for that.  Funnily enough I was in touch with Bill earlier in the year and later on maybe even saw that post re. his Eastport pram but it had slipped my mind as at the time I wasn´t  really thinking much about it but really good to get that reminder.
                    All the best,
                          Jeremy

Mo_Jefferies

Additional Member

Registered: 2011-03-14

Posts: 29

Re: F26 hard dinghy on foredeck

Hi Jeremy,
We use a halyard to lift our ENP , with careful fending off! Ours can, in theory, be dismantled in the water, but not tried that. We modified the design with small decks fore and aft, so that the dinghy wouldn't ship water when llaunching.
See " Vita- The cuckoo cruise"  in cruising log section.
Good luck!
Mo

Simon_Dewing

Member

From: Torquay / Texas

Registered: 2022-08-04

Posts: 63

Re: F26 hard dinghy on foredeck

Mithril came with a Heyland Tadpole dinghy on the foredeck, guess it weighs ~35Kg.
Still not convinced I will keep it as it has very low freeboard with more than one aboard.
It can be successfully launched without shipping too much water by dropping the guardrails then sliding in stern first whilst holding the  painter.
Recovery is another story as when you lift the bow to deck level it begins shipping water over the stern and fills before it can be lifted out.
Only way I have found to get it back on single handed is lift to a pontoon then to the deck.
So if used it ends up being towed back.
Been mulling over lifting with a halyard but can't see a good way to attach it.
Other solution would be to go back to the old Avon, but that involves carrying an outboard as they are so hard to row.
Interested to hear and see others solutions to this as I am still trying to find the best solution.

Simon

Jeremy_Ingram

Member

Registered: 2022-02-24

Posts: 19

Re: F26 hard dinghy on foredeck

Thanks so much everybody  for  the input so far.
      I hadn´t even thought about a coach roof stowage as Mo has  ,it´s obviously a possibility  but  we have a spray hood so I think it  wouldn´t work for us. The size would actually be  great on the foredeck and I think it´d look really good as well, much better than the Avon and of course much better spacewise and in terms of useability.( But I must say that the Avon out of all the inflatables on the market is the only one you can row with any oomph because of the rowlocks they have.)
     I really like a lot about the nester idea , and I´d think the launching /recovery with halyard and or guard rails down would work but just don´t want to end up bashing either dinghy or boat too much  in the process. Or being too much of a project so reluctant to use it.
                In the meantime we´ll just give it a bit more pondering!

Simon_Dewing

Member

From: Torquay / Texas

Registered: 2022-08-04

Posts: 63

Re: F26 hard dinghy on foredeck

Coach roof dinghy stowage would badly obscure vision for'ard which would be a pain.
I currently have my life-raft stowed there and curse it frequently.
Mithril has a custom made 'roofrack' for additional stowage but I have not used it for anything other than the life-raft for the same reason

wrt Avon's I have never found them easy to row, neither of mine have floor boards which may be why they don't row well, the floor just bulges upwards when moving.
Mithril also came with a rather complex folding dinghy which I have never tried as it has no inherent buoyancy so that one is sitting on a garage shelf along with the 2 Avon's.
I need to decide which one of the 4 dinghies I have to keep then sell the remainder
Anyone in need a dinghy?

Simon

Mo_Jefferies

Additional Member

Registered: 2011-03-14

Posts: 29

Re: F26 hard dinghy on foredeck

Simon's right about the coach roof dinghy stowage obscuring vision, so we only stow it on board for long passages.
Mostly we tend to tow the dinghy, and reckon to lose 1/3 to 1/2 kn max, fairly similar to towing our Avon , but we arrive at our destination with a dry dinghy the right way up!
We modified the design a bit to incorporate twin long skegs ang a pair of 50mm nylon wheels at the aft end for beaching and slipways.
Mo