Dinghy, most popular size and type

[Jimbo2010]

What size is the most popular, I assume 10'

What type,
ridged fiberglass
Ridged aluminum
Fold-able

[rslifkin]

There's no one correct answer for dinghy size. It depends both on your needs and what's practical to carry on the boat you have. Some people have 8 or 9 foot dinghies, some have 12+ footers.

[Mike OReilly]

Popular? As in which size is the most common? I've never seen any data on that, although I would guesstimate that 10-12 feet is the mid-part of the bell curve.


Type is more dependent on needs.

[Zanshin]

Sailing in Europe where most of the time you dock or tie stern-to gives you different requirements from the Caribbean, where sometimes you need to dinghy several miles in order to get to a dinghy dock. I've had several soft-bottomed dinghies and, in the end, hated them all. I've had fiberglass Carib dinghies and have now gone to Highfield aluminum ones. But when aboard I will dock only twice a season (haul-out and haul-in) so my dinghy is used several times a day so I prefer bigger and faster. I have the ultralight 11 feet model with a 20HP 2-Stroke outboard. I can plane with 4 (normal-sized) people aboard.

[rls8r]

On my 40' boat I carry two dinghies (neither of which is dingy). I have a 7'11" Dyer midget hard sailing dinghy that rides on the foredeck (when not being towed) and a 9'8" White Marlin inflatable (inflatable floor) Sport Boat which rides in the lazarette (when not being towed).

I'll generally use the hard dinghy when the winds are favorable, I don't have much to carry (including people), I don't have too far to go, and/or when I'll put the dinghy on the beach. I'll generally use the inflatable (with motor) when I have more stuff to transport, the winds are contrary, I have a fair distance to go, and/or when I'll tie the dinghy to a dock.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Jimbo2010

What size is the most popular, I assume 10'

What type,
ridged fiberglass
Ridged aluminum
Fold-able

Depends very much where you are. Probably 12' fiberglass in Florida, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Fiberglass is cheaper and easier to repair. Aluminum is tougher and slightly lighter.



Elsewhere there's greater variety, in part because the dinghy rides are shorter and there's more use of dockage of one kind or another.

[Shrew]

The dinghy is another of many compromises in boating. There are IMHO 3 variables in deciding:

Distance/Sea State

Capacity

Storage

The easiest to store is an 7 or 8 foot roll-up. The best at handling chop and distances will a rib. Capacity for gear and people will need a larger dinghy. Ability to store will be impacted by an increased size.

Fiberglass is easy to fix, but heavier. Aluminum is harder to fix, but harder to damage and lighter.

With a larger dinghy, comes a larger motor to haul and store. Higher HP is needed to travel distances or at speed for a length of time, or with more people.

I would not exceed 12 feet. In some places, this is the magic cutoff for dinghies at the dinghy dock (not all places, but some. Many if you're in the Northeast US. for example.)

The best answer to this question is...


1) How many people?

2) How are you going to use it?

[Fintry]

Bigger is better, up to about 12' as noted above. While on our circumnav a bunch of us got together in Opua, NZ and tested a variety of dinghys in 10-15 knots of wind and a light chop. It was clear that the 12 footers were faster (with the same HP) and much drier than the 10s.

[rslifkin]

At the larger and probably less common end of the spectrum, we carry a rigid 12 foot aluminum skiff in davits. It's a bit short on weight capacity compared to a RIB and the hull shape doesn't ride great in chop when lightly loaded (a heavier load improves the ride dramatically even at the same speed). But it's a pretty dry ride, it's relatively fast, has lots of space inside due to no tubes, and it's very durable.

[desodave]

I think there are a couple of other factors to consider imo. I replaced our 9ft dinghy about 4 years ago and wanted more space in it ... I'm very tall and also want to carry prawn traps in it along with a second person. But 10ft was the longest I could reasonably fit on our foredeck. Some of the dinghies are wider than others though and have much more interior space, so I bought the widest of those easily available to me. IMO the wider beam is also a bit more stable for pulling the traps. I went with an aluminum RIB because of the rocky shorelines and beaches around here, and because it was a bit lighter and easier for me to manhandle when necessary.

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by desodave

I think there are a couple of other factors to consider imo. I replaced our 9ft dinghy about 4 years ago and wanted more space in it ... I'm very tall and also want to carry prawn traps in it along with a second person. But 10ft was the longest I could reasonably fit on our foredeck. Some of the dinghies are wider than others though and have much more interior space, so I bought the widest of those easily available to me. IMO the wider beam is also a bit more stable for pulling the traps. I went with an aluminum RIB because of the rocky shorelines and beaches around here, and because it was a bit lighter and easier for me to manhandle when necessary.

What are the 'other' factors? (You indicated there were 'a couple'), however the only one you mention is beam...as a factor of capacity and stability. Which technically is constituted with 'size'.

[desodave]

Originally Posted by Shrew

What are the 'other' factors? (You indicated there were 'a couple'), however the only one you mention is beam...as a factor of capacity and stability. Which technically is constituted with 'size'.

How you're carrying the dinghy is the other factor ... I mentioned the limiting size of my foredeck ... sorry if I wasn't sufficiently explicit. Size is more than length, and some 10ft dinghies were almost a foot narrower than the one I bought. The discussion to date has been largely about length.

[Ryban]

I think the most important questions are:

1) How do you plan to stow the dinghy on passage?
2) How big is your boat if you're going to be stowing it on deck
3) What is important to you in a dinghy?

The first two questions decide whether a hard or folding "soft" bottom suitable. Hard bottoms are nice because they can plane a lot easier, but they also can't be collapsed to nearly as small of a volume as folding-floor dinghy.

The answer to the 3rd question is really where the majority of the differing opinions here will emerge. If having a big carrying capacity and going fast are important to you, then a bigger hard bottom is the only choice. But even a 9ft hard bottom dinghy will plane well with 2 people and the right engine. If you don't mind chugging along at hull speed, then just about any Hypalon inflatable will do. Another advantage to the "soft" bottom dinghy is that you won't need the bigger more expensive motors to power it. A 2.5-5hp is plenty.

For what it's worth, I cruised entirely with a folding bottom dinghy for 3 years on a 27-foot boat and thought it was just fine. The only time I ever wished I had a faster dinghy was when I was anchored in Marigot Bay and had to get over across the lagoon in St. Martin for happy hour -- that's a long dinghy ride at 5kts.

I don't think you're considering it, and most people would advise against it, but for our Westsail 32 we're building a 10ft nesting sailing dinghy. Definitely less practical, but sailing the world on a sailboat isn't really the most practical form of travel either. It's the same dinghy as Florence's, just 1 foot longer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDf3zkRpdk0

Also, one last plug for considering something slower: most accidents that resulted in injury or death that I encountered while I was cruising were dinghy related accidents, and speed was a factor in most of these. You can't really hurt yourself that badly puttering/sailing/rowing along.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by rls8r

On my 40' boat I carry two dinghies (neither of which is dingy)...

Nice distinction!

[mvweebles]

Originally Posted by Jimbo2010

What size is the most popular, I assume 10'

What type,
ridged fiberglass
Ridged aluminum
Fold-able

By far, most common dinksI see amongst active cruisers in Pacific Mexico are RIBs, 300-320 size (about 11' +/-) with 15hp-20hp outboards - probably 80% or so. Most are Fiberglass, many are Aluminum. Also see a smattering of OC Tenders. Lower budget cruisers are all over the map. Chatted with someone yesterday who was on a Walker Bay with small Suzuki OB. Something to be said for small, non-descript dinks as they are less attractive to thieves.