Dinghy


A "dinghy" is a small boat and this is a loanword from either Urdu or Bengali. This term usually refer to recreational open sailing boats or small racing yachts. This type of boats usually is used as a ship's boats to transport people. Dinghies usually have an outboard motor or are rowboats.

Wood model dinghy

This type of boat is excellent and more suitable for beginners in sailing, because dinghies are smaller than other types and responds quickly to maneuvers, thereby facilitating the learning of navigation for beginners. Full-sized yachts are more complicated to maneuver and could cause you a bad impression in sailing.

A dinghy often has between two and six meters or between six and twenty feet. These boats are usually called pinnaces, tenders or lifeboats, and a take-down and folding multi-piece dinghy is used in place where space is limited .There are a large number of newer dinghies with more carrying capacity and much greater buoyancy than older dinghies of the same size.

A new Dinghy

Nowadays, synthetic materials are used in the manufacture of many dinghies; however, other dinghies are made of neoprene, Hypalon, PVC, glass-fibre, wood and marine plywood.

There are two important methods to build a dinghy, especially historical or classic form: clinker and carvel methods. Some types of favored wood are: black locust, white oak, pine, species of cedar, Asian and African spruce, fir and mahoganies.

There are a large number of different types of dinghies, so the most important are below:

  • Skiffs: Skiffs are the fastest dinghies. It is designed to be used in most conditions and has sail areas such as a massive foresail, often a asymmetric spinnaker or Gennaker. Some examples are: a single hander, the Musto Skiff, and the 18ft Skiff for a crew of three.
  • High performance dinghies: This type of dinghy is designed for Olympic racing courses. High performance dinghies are powerful and fast. Anyone can plane easy this type of boats. Some examples are: The Five oh five 505, the Flying Dutchman, the popular 470 and the Fireball.
  • Cruising dinghies: Cruising dinghies are designed for family and leisure sailing and are often more stable than other dinghies. You can convert a cruising dinghy on a fishing boat and have a nice day of fishing with the family. Some examples are: the Mirror, the Wayfarer and the Laser 16. You can get exciting moments sailing these types of dinghies.
  • Catamarans: Catamarans are high masted, fast and double hulled boats, and have adjustable daggerboards. The most famous catamaran is the Tornado because it is a high performance Olympic catamaran.

Finally, it is important to talk about additional equipment for a dinghy that is legally required or necessary: a mouth-blown horn (a breath-blown foghorn, but not a loud-hailer), a hand-bailer, signal mirror, a large torch/flashlight, signal whistle, flares and life-jackets for every occupant.