Need advice on suitable dinghy

[K9Kampers]

For our first three seasons with the Mac , our dinghy was a sit-on-top kayak, as we already had it. Usually towed, we sometimes had it on the bow while motoring, never tried sailing with it up there, but probably could. Great for transport & fun around anchorages, but had to expect to get a little wet while on it, especially if breezy.
This season we invested in a Walker Bay inflatable with air floor, after considering all types - soft & hard, including building a Nutshell Pram. Fully inflated, I can carry it on the bow, but haven't sailed with it up there. Happy with the way it tows.

[Kelly Hanson East]

Curtiss - Ive towed Turnabouts (N-10) sailing dinghies and they "hunt" horribly - I end up putting a student in them and having her hold the tiller while I tow to keep them stable. I think the presence of a keel chine is important for towing stably.

[DaveB]

I haven't posted my comments as the original post was for a towable dink but after reviewing comments I will add one other.
I have a Solstice 9ft. 6 " Inflatable that weighs 36 lbs and has inflatable floor and Keel. This dink is of high quality and I use a 2.5 Suzuki 4 stroke to move it at 5 knots 1/2 speed. The boat rolls up very nice in a bag supplied and I keep it in the V-berth. They don't recomend it to be towed but I sea no reason to do so in average seas.
I paid $400 for the boat thru West Marine and now see they have a special at $350. Worth considering.
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/st ... SiteSearch

Dave

[Rick Westlake]

Just found something worth adding to the Portland Pudgy posts - this happened December 5th.

Portland Pudgy Saves A Life

Getting harder and harder for me to question its value.

I hava Portland Pudgy. Towed it over 5000 miles. I have towed it at speeds over 16 mph. Gone over bow wakes and seen it take air and it has never flipped. I do recomend that you take off the motor when towing. It fits 3 people easly. You can make 2 trips. A real tough little boat. I can put it on the deck by using the 4:1 block and tackle on the main. Not easy! Tough and it fits so high that you cannot see over it and cannot get to the fordeck. I have stored it on deck but never traveled with it. It is unsinkable. I have had it flip 1 time. I was hit on Nov 23, 2009 at anchor here in Marathong Fl by a waterspout. 117+ winds and 2 full knockdowns. Otherwise it has towed like a dream. At around $ 2000. This boat will last you a lifetime if you take care of it and do not put more than a 2.5 hp on it. I have put it throu so much, Rocks, Shells, Nails, what ever that will kill an inflatable. Only does about 5 mph.

Good luck with your search. Get a hard bottom dink at the least.