Experience with a 'Portland Pudgy'

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by sneuman

It would just be the admiral and I. A nesting pram would be half the size and half the weight, present less windage on the foredeck, etc. So, there's that. I've gone back and forth on this a lot.

How would you compare the Pudgy's performance vis-a-vis a typically hard dinghy? How much better is it than an inflatable, sans a rigid bottom?

The Pudgy rows and motors very well, compared to a soft-bottom (or even a high-pressure floor) inflatable. The motor I use is a Torqueedo, which doesn't get the Pudgy up on a plane (with me in it -- I'm pretty heavy). I usually just row.

You really need a long-shaft outboard for the Pudgy, There is a cutout in the stern that lets you use a short-shaft, but when I tried my Honda 2.5 HP with it, I couldn't steer it well because it interfered with the sides of the cutout. This was several years ago, and I don't recall all the details of that experiment. It might have been that I couldn't spin the outboard 180 degrees (which is how you get put the Honda in reverse). I keep the stern panel in the cutout, which needs to be there for the rudder gudgeons if you want to use the sailing kit. It sails better than you might expect.

It's a nice dinghy with some interesting features, but I find that the inflatable with the HP air floor is more practical as a utility dinghy.