Boat Forum / Building / March 2005

On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 00:11:12 GMT, "Auerbach"
<auerbach_no_spam@no_spam_pacbell.net> vaguely proposed a theory
......and in reply I say!:

 remove ns from my header address to reply via email

That could be overcome, I would think.

My concern is wearing of the fabric, although we have some amazing
sutff these days.

Just hope the OP does not intend to get rich, unless they are really
lucky. By which I mean, if you let somebody else pay you for an idea,
and they do the development, you better hope they sell a lot, as your
cut will be 1%.

No only is it not a new idea, but compared to folding kayaks, this
design is the very definition of "rudimentary". Far more imaginative and
higher performance designs are possible in folding craft. Still, a
folding dinghy/tender has some utility.

This proof that "not so great minds" sometimes think alike.  I gave a
lot of thought to a similar boat to solve the "Dinghy Problem" of
sailboats in the 26-32' range that are too small to easily carry a full
size dinghy and do not want to carry an inflateable.
I considered using fiberglas poles through sleeves in the fabric along
the gunnels.  The poles would come to a point at the bow and insert in
a rigid block.  Rigid transom, semi-rigid bottom with a fiberglas pole
running along the bottom.  I considered shaping the bottom fiberglas
pole to nest like tent poles to make a skeg so it would track well.
Rigid thwarts to hold it apart.
The prototype he shows is a start but it really needs a seat, a skeg,
etc.
Not terribly original but with a little work it might make a good
tender for sailboats.  I reccomend he do a little more work on it, make
a beta unit incorporating necessary changes.  Take it to sailboat shows
like the St. Petersburg, FL show in Sept.  Rent a booth, do
demonstrations, sell a few to pay for the booth, learn a lot.  Go home,
make improvements, go to another show...

Good Luck

David OHara

I really do like the idea to solve the "Dinghy Problem".  I wonder if
the material he uses incorporates floatation in the material?  Maybe he
could incorporate floatation in a seat.  It really needs some tough
material for pulling it up onto oyster bars but inflateables have this
so maybe his is tough enough.  He should be able to demonstrate
patching the material for when you run it into an oyster covered
piling.
Maybe use an inflateable skeg?  Lots of possibilities.
I doubt it has much use as a boat by itself, but as a tender for
sailboats, it really does.
How difficult would it be to translate the site into English?

My day is ruined now.  After seeing this I'll spend all my time
thinking about it instead of what I should be doing.
Compare his concept to other folding boats.
Porta-Boat is a good and well done concept but is still too unwieldy to
assemble on the deck of a small sailboat.  When folded, it is too long
to store anywhere on my 28' boat except against the lifelines where it
would produce too much windage.
Nesting Dinghys are another concept and I actually built the Two-Paw 9
to see if it would work well for me.  It is "ok" but has many problems.
It is lightweight but is still unwieldy to assemble.  For storage, it
sits on my foredeck and covers my foreward hatch.  It is also a problem
to see over when steering while sitting.
Inflateables you can forget, they dont row worth anything and rowing is
a necessity for me.
Inflateable kayaks might work but have too little capacity to be
useful.
Other folding boats I have seen are all too long when folded.

The ideal dinghy would be:
Lightweight for hoisting out of the water.
Would carry 3 people
would have floatation
would row well ( I mean for at least 1 Km)
Easy to assemble
would store in a small volume (1m X 1m X .33 m)

With some work, his boat might fit this need.

David OHara