Trinka or Not to Trinka

[Brett I. Miller]

I've been looking for a dingy to serve as a tender for my CD25 (current boat), as well as the "big" boat that I hope is in my future. At the Annapolis Boat Show last month I saw a Trinka 8 and it looked kinda nice (light, salty, sailable, and not too expensive). Although this not really a CD question, I would very much appreciate any opinions (for or against) the Trinka. Suggestions for other alternatives would also be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Brett Miller





mill7846@mlb.com

[Joe Wysong]

I've been looking for a dingy to serve as a tender for my CD25 (current boat), as well as the "big" boat that I hope is in my future. At the Annapolis Boat Show last month I saw a Trinka 8 and it looked kinda nice (light, salty, sailable, and not too expensive). Although this not really a CD question, I would very much appreciate any opinions (for or against) the Trinka. Suggestions for other alternatives would also be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Brett Miller

We had a Trinka 8 for six years to tend to our Dana 24. We now have a 10 for our CD330. Classic boats, beautiful and well-made. Undoubtedly the best rowing dinghy made, either the 8 or the 10 although the original Bingham design was the 10, the 8 is a faithfully scaled down version.

Joe



tgjournal@gestalt.org

[Patrick Turner]

Brett,


I've been exploring this a little myself and I've come up with a couple of other options. Blue Water Sailing (good mag by the way) did a survey of "stowable" hard dinghies last year and at least a couple of them look pretty interesting. One is a "foldable" 8' Pram type dinghy. It is built by Brittanina Boats Ltd.
http://www.britanniaboats.com/ .

Another interesting option is a "nesting" dinghy, designed by a naval architect...Danny Greene...it's called "Chameleon" and I was able to find a web page of a guy who built one. There are some pictures so you can get an idea of how it looks. This actually looks like a good option......if your handy with some tools and have the time....
http://oll.temple.edu/economics/Voyage/chriscraft.html .

Then there is the "Porta-bote" a folding row/powerboat type dinghy. It looks funky, but everything I've read about them indicates that they are great, plane well and are practically indestructable!
http://www.porta-bote.com/

And one more...."The Cherub" built by Sam Morse (Brilstol Channal Cutter). It's not foldable or nesting, but it is a pretty small package, and that is what I am looking for.
http://www.samlmorse.com/ .

I'd certainly be interested in anything else that's out there....small...to fit on deck of a cutter.

Pat



patturner@earthlink.net

[Skip Medeiros]

Brett

I have also been evaluating hard dinghies. I have given serious consideration of the Trinka relative to the alternatives. In the process, I built a Bolger woody, bought the Nutshell plans, rowed and/or motored the foldboat, Dyer, Skimmar, Bauer, and eventually narrowed the candidates to the 9' Lyle Hess Fatty Knees and the 8' Trinka.

Prime consideration in my search was rowing ability and fore-mast on-deck storage on our CD33, as we occasionally make lumpy passages of ~ 75 nm and have those "Someday Dreams".... Also important is the documented sailing capabilities and evident construction quality and beauty of the Trinka. Of secondary importance was the provision carrying capacity, which the Fattty Knees won in terms of mass, but not in terms of its load distribution.

For a 25' CD, I strongly support Joe's recommendation of the Trinka 8'.

After years of bugging the builders at the boat shows and cornering, testing every dinghy I could find between St. Michaels Md. and Marblehead, Mass, I bought the Trinka 8 at Annapolis this year and look forward to picking it up this winter. As Joe points out there are definite advantages to the 10 over the 8, but I believe that I have as excellent a dinghy as possible for a match with our CD 33 & our requirements.

Joe, are you able to get your 10' Trinka on the deck of your cutter, with sufficient workspace left?
If it works on the 330, I would consideer re-evaluating the 10 for the 8 for our CD33.

Skip



Whmedeiros@aol.com

[Joe]

Brett

I have also been evaluating hard dinghies. I have given serious consideration of the Trinka relative to the alternatives. In the process, I built a Bolger woody, bought the Nutshell plans, rowed and/or motored the foldboat, Dyer, Skimmar, Bauer, and eventually narrowed the candidates to the 9' Lyle Hess Fatty Knees and the 8' Trinka.

Prime consideration in my search was rowing ability and fore-mast on-deck storage on our CD33, as we occasionally make lumpy passages of ~ 75 nm and have those "Someday Dreams".... Also important is the documented sailing capabilities and evident construction quality and beauty of the Trinka. Of secondary importance was the provision carrying capacity, which the Fattty Knees won in terms of mass, but not in terms of its load distribution.

For a 25' CD, I strongly support Joe's recommendation of the Trinka 8'.

After years of bugging the builders at the boat shows and cornering, testing every dinghy I could find between St. Michaels Md. and Marblehead, Mass, I bought the Trinka 8 at Annapolis this year and look forward to picking it up this winter. As Joe points out there are definite advantages to the 10 over the 8, but I believe that I have as excellent a dinghy as possible for a match with our CD 33 & our requirements.

Joe, are you able to get your 10' Trinka on the deck of your cutter, with sufficient workspace left?
If it works on the 330, I would consideer re-evaluating the 10 for the 8 for our CD33.

Skip

Skip,

My wife is an avid rower and loves to explore every little harbor/anchorage we visit. Thus, on-deck storage would be a drawback rather than a benefit. As we had Mark (Johanson) build us the entire menu (teak floor boards, hardwood runners, stainless skeg, etc., etc.), hauling her on deck would be a fearsome endeavor, especially since we would be doing it every other day or so.

I doubt that a Trinka 10 is a viable option for on deck storage.

Joe



tgjournal@gestalt.org

[Brett I. Miller]

Gentleman:

Thank you very much for your input -- the Trinka 8 it shall be. As far as I'm concerned, there's no better source of information on this sort of thing than this board. If only you all could pick stocks for me. I am actually going to Florida in 10 days and I'm planning a day trip to Vero to bother Mr. Johanson in person. Thanks again.

Brett

Brett

I have also been evaluating hard dinghies. I have given serious consideration of the Trinka relative to the alternatives. In the process, I built a Bolger woody, bought the Nutshell plans, rowed and/or motored the foldboat, Dyer, Skimmar, Bauer, and eventually narrowed the candidates to the 9' Lyle Hess Fatty Knees and the 8' Trinka.

Prime consideration in my search was rowing ability and fore-mast on-deck storage on our CD33, as we occasionally make lumpy passages of ~ 75 nm and have those "Someday Dreams".... Also important is the documented sailing capabilities and evident construction quality and beauty of the Trinka. Of secondary importance was the provision carrying capacity, which the Fattty Knees won in terms of mass, but not in terms of its load distribution.

For a 25' CD, I strongly support Joe's recommendation of the Trinka 8'.

After years of bugging the builders at the boat shows and cornering, testing every dinghy I could find between St. Michaels Md. and Marblehead, Mass, I bought the Trinka 8 at Annapolis this year and look forward to picking it up this winter. As Joe points out there are definite advantages to the 10 over the 8, but I believe that I have as excellent a dinghy as possible for a match with our CD 33 & our requirements.

Joe, are you able to get your 10' Trinka on the deck of your cutter, with sufficient workspace left?
If it works on the 330, I would consideer re-evaluating the 10 for the 8 for our CD33.

Skip

Skip,

My wife is an avid rower and loves to explore every little harbor/anchorage we visit. Thus, on-deck storage would be a drawback rather than a benefit. As we had Mark (Johanson) build us the entire menu (teak floor boards, hardwood runners, stainless skeg, etc., etc.), hauling her on deck would be a fearsome endeavor, especially since we would be doing it every other day or so.

I doubt that a Trinka 10 is a viable option for on deck storage.

Joe

mill7846@mlb.com

[Brett I. Miller]

Gentlemen:

Thank you very much for your input -- the Trinka 8 it shall be. As far as I'm concerned, there's no better source of information on this sort of thing than this board. If only you all could pick stocks for me. I am actually going to Florida in 10 days and I'm planning a day trip to Vero to bother Mr. Johanson in person. Thanks again.

Brett

Brett

I have also been evaluating hard dinghies. I have given serious consideration of the Trinka relative to the alternatives. In the process, I built a Bolger woody, bought the Nutshell plans, rowed and/or motored the foldboat, Dyer, Skimmar, Bauer, and eventually narrowed the candidates to the 9' Lyle Hess Fatty Knees and the 8' Trinka.

Prime consideration in my search was rowing ability and fore-mast on-deck storage on our CD33, as we occasionally make lumpy passages of ~ 75 nm and have those "Someday Dreams".... Also important is the documented sailing capabilities and evident construction quality and beauty of the Trinka. Of secondary importance was the provision carrying capacity, which the Fattty Knees won in terms of mass, but not in terms of its load distribution.

For a 25' CD, I strongly support Joe's recommendation of the Trinka 8'.

After years of bugging the builders at the boat shows and cornering, testing every dinghy I could find between St. Michaels Md. and Marblehead, Mass, I bought the Trinka 8 at Annapolis this year and look forward to picking it up this winter. As Joe points out there are definite advantages to the 10 over the 8, but I believe that I have as excellent a dinghy as possible for a match with our CD 33 & our requirements.

Joe, are you able to get your 10' Trinka on the deck of your cutter, with sufficient workspace left?
If it works on the 330, I would consideer re-evaluating the 10 for the 8 for our CD33.

Skip

Skip,

My wife is an avid rower and loves to explore every little harbor/anchorage we visit. Thus, on-deck storage would be a drawback rather than a benefit. As we had Mark (Johanson) build us the entire menu (teak floor boards, hardwood runners, stainless skeg, etc., etc.), hauling her on deck would be a fearsome endeavor, especially since we would be doing it every other day or so.

I doubt that a Trinka 10 is a viable option for on deck storage.

Joe

mill7846@mlb.com