Dingy alternative

I just know I am making trouble here.

While at the Seattle Boat Show we visited with a rep from minicat.

http://www.minicatamaran.eu/

Many of us tug-o-philes are fallen sailors. Or recovering sailors. Whatever, we love sailing. Some are chagrined to be in stinkpots, but almost every day on the water in the PNW--alleged home of great sailing--we are reminded that 90% of the boats on the water are under power about 90% of the time. Doesn't matter what the boat. So we are over it and glad we dropped rag sailing and went to stinkpot driving. And my beloved is more comfortable.

But I diverge...

Our tired factory RIB will need replacement at some point. It looks like hell from the exhaust stains. A rat got into it in our garage and chewed a 2" hole, which involved an all-day repair (inside patch plus outside patch) with a close friend who is a world expert on hypalon repair. And he denigrated the look of our boat when the scabrous dingy was on the Weaver davits. He said our boat had a big butt. Ouch.

We have been casting about for an alternative that can be both dingy and chance to go sailing. We have looked at the Walker Bay and the Portland Pudgy. I know people love these boats and you can sail them around in the marina. But these boats--the Portland Pudgy in particular--are, to be generous, inelegant and slow. Homely, unprepossessing, undistinguished and, well, ugly are terms that come to mind (specifically the Portland Pudgy, which might be profiled some day in a marketing class on how to name your product---or not to).

So, after insulting many tug owners, I am casting about to see if any of our community has one of these minicat inflatable catamarans (not to be confused with the Takacat). It would fit in the quarter berth, but it is expensive, and we would have to add a motor mount for our Torqeedo. But still, it looks fast and fun. And the latter is why we own boats.

Just askin', not sayin'.

Jeff

I may be the only person on this board who actually had one of those. They are fun and fast under sail. I sold eventually after one summer as it was quite a bit of work to put it together. I had a large cat at that time, and have a dinghy that matched the mothership was in my view the way to go.

As I said, due to its light weight it was very fast and would be prone to flipping over if you did not hike out, something I did not enjoy much.

Assembly on the boat was not doable. You needed more space, and my cat was 35 feet long and 20:feet wide. Doing that on the tug would not be feasible without loosing some parts to Neptune.

Eventually both cats were sold when the family was not interested in a big mothership anymore and I have the tug now. The same question came up and I eventually settled for an inflatable kayak which fits nicely on the roof cradling the chimney. It is 14 ft long and about 3 ft wide and weighs 50 lbs or so. It’s made by kaboats and fits the lines of the tug rather nicely. It’s out of the way when stored on the roof and does not interfere with any few astern or becomes a collector of exhaust fumes or spray.

If I recall, the have some sail options too.

Jeff,

I totally get why you would want to bring a sailing option with you to augment the experience of the Ranger Tug. That's why I interchange between the traditional Ranger RIB and a Walker Bay w/Sailing Kit (and flotation collar). The Walker Bay is one of three small sailing boats I own - along with a Laser and a Mellonseed (made by Gig Harbor Boatworks). These other two are not compatible with the tug and are used on Campbell Lake near Anacortes. All three are a lot of fun to sail - but in different ways.

While the Walker Bay does not have the exhilarating performance of either of these other more sleek sailing dinghy's, there is something truly satisfying in harnessing the power of a moderate breeze and zipping around a favorite anchorages among the islands. (Note of caution: due to more sluggish sailing performance, pay close attention to tides and currents or be prepared to row!) But with the flotation collar, the Walker Bay is rock solid stable minimizing the risk of capsizing. I even bring our Golden Retriever, Moxie, along for a sail! So while the Walker Bay sacrifices top-end sailing characteristics, it provides much of what is gratifying about sailing in a relatively simple design - and is a highly functional dinghy in its own right for rowing or powered by a small outboard without setting up the sail kit.

As previously noted, aside from the issue of stability in open water with the minicat, there is the signficant limitation of minimal available space aboard your Ranger Tug for the complex set up. When we set up the sailing kit for the Walker Bay, the dinghy is already in place to provide a workspace, which mitigates much of this challenge. The other concern would be that the more complex and time consuming to set up, the less likely that you will use it.

If a more exhilarating sailing experience is your goal, you may want to consider a sailboard (and wetsuit) which would be easier to stow and assemble, and at minimal cost. Otherwise, a Walker Bay may be the best compromise...

do you use the walker on davits? if so, doesnt it overhang?

Technically, the Walker Bay (w/Flotation Tub Kit) does overhang slightly. I mounted a 2nd set of davit brackets in different locations on the swim step, and in order to position the Walker Bay precisely to minimize the overhang at the bow, which upturns from the water level, that overhangs minimally.

This is barely detectible if looking at the vessel from astern. When the R27 is on the trailer, and you stand well in front of the trailer hitch looking toward the bow of the tug, you cannot see the Walker Bay at all. On the rare occasion when we dock, or when we launch, the width of a standard fender easily prevents the Walker Bay from rubbing on the dock. I've not noticed any performance difference when running our R27 with the Walker Bay on the davits vs. running with the standard issue Ranger RIB on the davits.

However, the Walker Bay has a bit more beam (and slightly more weight), so when pull up the dinghy in the vertical position it obscures visibility to aft slightly more than the RIB. I also use a block & tackle mechanism to more easily (and quickly) deploy/retrieve either dinghy rather than using the slow winch system equipped by Ranger.

Note: without the float tube kit, the Walker Bay would not overhang. However, it is a completely different vessel with/without the float tubes. Not only do the float tubes make the vessel more comfortable for sailing, the stability is dramatically improved when rowing as well. In addition to sailing, the other occasion we choose to bring the Walker Bay vs. the RIB is when we bring grandchildren, as it has increased bench seating that is more "grandchildren-friendly" than the RIB (three benches vs. just one) and we prefer the grandchildren to sit completely inside the dinghy rather than atop the tube where they could more easily fall overboard.

By boat is not dingy, In fact my dinghy is rather fine looking too!

The irony of a misspelled post pointing out the misspelling in my subject line! Yes, I have a dingy dinghy!

Thanks for feedback on my bad idea. The minicat is not a viable option as a dingy dinghy.

But I am intrigued by the Walker Bay and wondering if you could live without the rib. It really reduces the beam on the boat even if it makes it a bit more unstable. It would make the stern visibility better when mounted on the swim step. Also wondering about how you would attach a weaver davit to the boat (but I am sure that has been worked out).

Thanks for the input!

Jeff

Jeff, yes, I could certainly live without the RIB and go with the Walker Bay exclusively. It is certainly a bit of excess that I have set up my R27 to handle both, but that is the luxury of trailering - and also having a dedicated boat garage large enough to garage an extra dinghy. If you look at my image gallery for Seaquel, you will see rolling carts I constructed for interchanging these dinghy's without having to lift the weight, which makes this a simple single-handed job. It used to be difficult to have my wife help me lift the dinghy's up and down.

I have both dinghy's, and they do have different characteristics, so I use both. I kept the Walker Bay from a SeaRay that I owned previously; and the RIB came with the R27 when I bought her from the factory. If forced to choose, I'd probably keep the Walker Bay exclusively because of its versatility and the way its advantages align to my preferences for how I use a dinghy:

Advantages of the Ranger RIB dinghy:
1. Handles better under power (2.5hp outboard, can handle up to 6hp I believe, vs. a max of 4hp for the Walker Bay)
2. Slightly less beam = slightly less interference to aft visibility
3. Slightly less weight (at least if comparing the Walker Bay w/Flotation Kit)

Advantages of the Walker Bay dinghy:
1. Superior for rowing (molded lapstrake hull tracks better, especially in wind; real wood, full-length oars provide greater rowing power)
2. Works as a fun sailboat option.
3. Polyurathene hull is far more resistant to damage when beaching on barnacle-encrusted beaches
4. Superior seating for children/grandchildren.

Notes:
A) The visibility "issue" of the wider-beam Walker Bay (w/Tube Kit) is nearly a non-issue because rear view mirrors largely mitigate this, at least for me.
B) As to opting for the Walker Bay without the Tube Kit (thereby minimizing the height and lessening the loss of aft visibility), I would strongly discourage this option because the tube kit makes all the difference in terms of stability. A RIB has terrific stability, let's say a 9 on a scale of 10. For the Walker Bay, with the tube kit it would match the RIB with a 9 out of 10. But my understanding is without the tube kit, stability would drop to a 1 out of 10, highly unstable for any sort of use, whether under sail or just rowing.
C) The Walker Bay requires an additional hardware kit designed for this application from Weaver Davits. It is not inexpensive, but works well. The issue is that the attachment points must coincide with two of the bench seats, as the polyurethane hull is too flexible and cannot support the strain. The bench seats have sufficient strength, but the added hardware adds cost, complexity, and some weight.

Looking at the comparison above, your own personal use and values will help determine which is better for your mission. Because I rarely use my outboard, and because I like to row and have the option to sail, along with wanting to have better seating for grandchildren, the Walker Bay is my preference - but this is largely because we use the dinghy a lot. If I rarely used my dinghy, and wanted the simplest set up, then opting for the Ranger RIB is the way to go.

thanks Mark, interesting findings. The urge to sail in a nice little bay whilst the cutwater is at anchor is strong. and a wetsuit and windsurfer seems too chilly for the PNW 😀