This nesting alu dinghy as a tender!!??

[Fuss]

3.5 meters long, 1.3m wide, 480cm high. 60kg
Nested it is 1.2m long, 1.3m wide and 550cm high.
up to 10hp outboard and 300kg of weight.
It has 3 parts, if you wish you can leave out the middle part making it 2.3m long and 45kg, then it takes up to 6hp and 200kg of weight.
Its unsinkable as the seats have floatation (seats not in pic).
Its made of seawater resistant alu AlMg4,5 Mn
Its EU cat D for lakes and is normally used for fishing. Most hard dinghy's would be cat D.

So what do you think of this compared to other hard dinghy's?
It has the typical hard dinghy problems like needing rubrail protection.
Of course, its not looking as nice as other nesting dinghy's and you can't assemble it in the water. It takes 20 minutes to assemble/disassemble.

From a purely practical point of view....
its length and weight adjustable 2.3m 45kg or 3.5m 60kg.

Most cruisers with hard dinghys also have some form of inflatable too. So I'm not suggesting this as a replacement.

[freshalaska]

Looks interesting. So where to buy and what is the cost?
Does it have picking eyes?
Welded or riveted?

[Bill O]

Looks nice and also would like to hear more. Surprised it weighs 60kg though.

We have a 2 piece 10' Spindrft nesting dink (ply w/fg and epoxy skin) and it weighs ~ 80lb (36kg). We run a 5hp 2 stroke (44lb; ~20kg) and that is about the maximum wt. it can use. We tested a 6hp 4 stroke 55 lb and it was too much weight.

With 5 hp, 2 people and 3 gal. of fuel (forward), we can do 11kts in calm water.

Would like to see pics of your nester with the seats installed. In version 2.0 of a new Spindrift for us, it would be nice to make it out of aluminum, 11' instead of 10' and I would increase the free board to allow for better rowing. Like ours, it looks like your boat would row well, just possibly needs more oar height so you don't have to row with your legs straight out.

Bill O.

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Looks nice and also would like to hear more. Surprised it weighs 60kg though.

We have a 2 piece 10' Spindrft nesting dink (ply w/fg and epoxy skin) and it weighs ~ 80lb (36kg). We run a 5hp 2 stroke (44lb; ~20kg) and that is about the maximum wt. it can use. We tested a 6hp 4 stroke 55 lb and it was too much weight.

With 5 hp, 2 people and 3 gal. of fuel (forward), we can do 11kts in calm water.

Would like to see pics of your nester with the seats installed. In version 2.0 of a new Spindrift for us, it would be nice to make it out of aluminum, 11' instead of 10' and I would increase the free board to allow for better rowing. Like ours, it looks like your boat would row well, just possibly needs more oar height so you don't have to row with your legs straight out.

Bill O.

I will try to get some pics of the seats.
60 kg seems reasonable to me as it has to be built reasonably strong to withstand the environment that a cruising tender is subjected to. (If it was too flimsy, I would not have suggested it here).
If weight is a concern, then the middle part can be left out, making it only 45kg.

[Bill O]

Great look forward to the pics. What thickness plate did you use?

Bill O.

[JPA Cate]

For use in salt water, it would need to have been made from one of the grades of aluminum that resists salt water corrosion.

Ann

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

For use in salt water, it would need to have been made from one of the grades of aluminum that resists salt water corrosion.

Ann

I won't use it if there is salt water in the bay I'm anchored in.

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Bill O

Great look forward to the pics. What thickness plate did you use?

Bill O.

Its 1.5mm AlMg4,5.

The seat is filled with foam, attached is an example.

Of course, with the seats its not quite as space saving.
(thats why I initially did not show them)
But the seats could take up less room by having some form of inflatable tube under them instead.

I'm surprised that this has not created more interested from the hard, none nesting, dinghy cruisers. I guess they are all happy with their dinghys taking up 10ft of deck space.

One big difference between this and other nesting dinghys is that you cannot assemble it in the water. (I guess you could modify it to have higher bulkheads and then it might sort of work)

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

For use in salt water, it would need to have been made from one of the grades of aluminum that resists salt water corrosion.

Ann

Ann,
The OP is using a saltwater resistant grade aluminum (AlMg4,5 Mn) as indicated in the original description.

Bill O.

[Bill O]

Fuss,
That is some really nice work.

Personally I like the nesting dinghy to save space on deck vs. a RIB of similar size. We store ours nested under the mizzen boom for passages to be out of froward visual interference. A benefit of a CC boat.

Also the hull shape usually requires less motor hp to move it efficiently through the water. I'm thinking an 8 hp 2 stroke would move your fully loaded dinghy well and they only weigh ~25kg (easy to handle).

Not that we need a dinghy yet, but you've inspired me to look at our plans for the 2.0 version of our next hard dink. It could be alu as you did or glassed over HDU board as we have used in other projects instead of wood.

Again, great job!
Bill O.

[Colin A]

I like it. I think to get more people interested it would need to be lighter or able to assemble in the water. 3.5 meter means you need a fair bit of deck space to assemble. If you raised the joining bulkheads higher it might make it in water assembly possible. As I recall Dave Gerr had sort of a reverse clamping mechanism he designed for his nesting designs that can be seen in his book the nature of boats.

[Bill O]

The Dave Gerr connector looks interesting, but a bit complicated to make. Do like his dory design for the nester as his 11' is probably equivalent to a 13' with a pointy bow like on our Spindrift. Still think more free board is needed to row easier (so oars don't hit your knees when sitting normally).

I've made and use these connectors. Much easier to make and then we still use bolts to tightly hold the 2 halves together. Even in heavy use and chop, no problem everything stays tight.

Bill O.

[Blue Lagoon SV]

A sailor a couple of doors down had a nesting wood and fiberglass rowing dinghy. It had gasket flanges that bolted together. I like the idea because it create a hard clam shell for storage. The aluminum idea is nice because of its low maintenance. As for corrosion, add a zinc or paint the bottom. The weight is a concern @ 140lbs but I have a spinnaker pole I can use to crane the boat on and off.

Is there a price and source yet?

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Blue Lagoon SV

A sailor a couple of doors down had a nesting wood and fiberglass rowing dinghy. It had gasket flanges that bolted together. I like the idea because it create a hard clam shell for storage. The aluminum idea is nice because of its low maintenance. As for corrosion, add a zinc or paint the bottom. The weight is a concern @ 140lbs but I have a spinnaker pole I can use to crane the boat on and off.

Is there a price and source yet?

They are made in Germany and sell used for 900-1200€
Ebay has them sometimes, the newer model that is even more for fishing, has a flatter bottom and squared bow.
This might impact your abilities to visit others and drink their cold beers.
Www.lorsby.de is the link to the manufacturer of the newer model.

[Fuss]

Originally Posted by Fuss

They are made in Germany and sell used for 900-1200€
Ebay has them sometimes, the newer model that is even more for fishing, has a flatter bottom and squared bow.
This might impact your abilities to visit others and drink their cold beers.
<<--- Lorsby - Boote --->> is the link to the manufacturer of the newer model.

Hmm, no replies so far.

Actually, they are much better than all other tenders,
They are stronger than all other tenders that are aluminium and nestable.
They take up less space than all other aluminium tenders, once nested.
They will outlast all inflatable tenders.
They theoretically should outlast wooden/fiberglass nestable tenders
The individual parts are lighter than all non nestable tenders.
They are for real sailors and can be customized to suite their advanced skills.


These forums have so much to say about all sorts of useless subjects, yet when I present an interesting solution (maybe not perfect) all goes quiet and I have to rewrite in a more provocative tone.