Use of CD 14 as tender/"dinghy"; stability

[Sea Hunt Video]

For those who are using or have used a CD 14 as a tender/"dinghy" what is the stability of a CD 14 for this purpose

In my situation I would be climbing into the CD 14 from a CD 25D. I am not 21 years old and I am not a gymnast.

Thanks in advance for any and all information and advise.

[Steve Laume]

It's not an inflatable. That said and if you are not too used to the stability of the ugly, blow up, boats it is pretty stable. You just need to get into the habit of stepping into the center of the dinghy. Once you are in it is very good.

The CD-14 is rather large for a tender by the average standards. That is not to say that it doesn't do an excellent job. I have a CD-10 and a CD-14. We used the CD-14 with the Typhoon for a while and it was excellent. It tows extremely well, glides along when you row and sails very nicely. It is dryer than a smaller boat and you can carry a very large load with ease.

We use the CD-10 now, mostly because it is set up with a padded canvas rub guard and dinghies tend to get beat up at the dock. The CD-14 is a beautiful little boat and superior to anything that is smaller in most every way. The one down side that I can think of is that it is very heavy.

With some nice Shaw and Tenny oars I have out run motorized inflatables when rowing solo, Steve.

[Duncan]

For those who are using or have used a CD 14 as a tender/"dinghy" what is the stability of a CD 14 for this purpose?

In my situation I would be climbing into the CD 14 from a CD 25D. I am not 21 years old

I wouldn't recommend it with your concerns.
The hull is rounded, so it doesn't have much form stability: I've had two guests who capsized my CD 10.

I like it, but I'm used to sailing dinghies and canoes, and many people aren't.

[Oswego John]

Robert,

Don't laugh on me but ....

I once had a round chined tender that I fashioned detachable outriggers for the kids to sail.

At the time, I believe that it was the only "Thing" being towed this side of the Mississippi River.

"Dare to be different."

O J

[JWSutcliffe]

I don't have any experience with the CD14. I do have a 7'11" Dyer Dhow, however, which we have used as a family tender on and off for the better part of 42 years with various sailboats. At this point it sits in my barn, since I find my West Marine inflatable a far more forgiving and useful tender for weekend use and cruising. It is far more stable, can get rolled up and stowed instead of towed, and both my wife and yellow Lab 2nd mate prefer it.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Steve, Duncan, OJ:

Thanks. Very funny OJ. I visualized me doing that

I have seen a few CD 14s. It does seem a little big as a tender, especially for a CD 25D. I really do need/want a tender with more stability.

Skip:

What model/size WM dinghy do you have What, if any, O/B do you use for your dinghy

Thanks.

[Oswego John]

Robert,

Have you considered a hard chine pram, maybe with a blunt nose? Should be less tippy.

O J

[tjr818]

I like the prams. Has anyone had any experience with the Nutshell Pram? I am considering building one.

[Sea Hunt Video]

Robert,

Have you considered a hard chine pram, maybe with a blunt nose? Should be less tippy.

O J

OJ:

If I understand "hard chine pram" correctly, I think the rowboats we use at the sailing club are similar. While they are indeed "less tippy" (I use them getting in and out of the water when on a surfaced supplied air tank to clean the bottom of S/V Bali Ha'i) they are a little difficult to row - I think because of their blunt/square bow. I am also not sure about towing them while under sail.

There is a company (Walker Bay ) that makes a hard shell dinghy that you can add a bladder to port and starboard. Supposedly you can stand on one of the bladders and the boat will not tip. The downside is they are expensive if I recall correctly from the Miami 2011 Strictly Sail Boat Show.

[tartansailor]

I have a sixteen foot OldTowne square stern canoe and find that it's very narrow beam
makes it easy to step into. Tows like a dream.
Dick

[jbenagh]

I use a 11' 6" Shellback as my tender. This is very similar to our CD's -- initially tender but very high ultimate stability. She has a very broad range of horizontal positions where you can step. My kids really have the hang of it (since they do it 20x/season) and even my wife, who claims she has no talent, can get in without taking on water. AND the boat looks great which I know matters a lot to us

Jeff

[Steve Laume]

It is hard to argue with the practicality of an inflatable tender with a small motor.

I believe that part of the equation in choosing a tender is also ascetic. I am always amazed to see a gorgeous classic yacht, weather it is wood or plastic, with a ugly rubber boat tied to it's stern. There is something wrong with seeing a rubber boat tied to a lavishly varnished and polished boat. It is not something you would see photographed for a calendar and yet they are all over our harbors.

I finally broke down and bought an inflatable for long distance trips. I is very practical as far as stowing for crossings and being able to climb back in while swimming or snorkeling. It gives me no joy at all to look at the thing. It also requires a motor and it can't be towed with the motor in place so there is that to deal with. Removing and stowing even a 2HP engine is not all that easy. It also requires carrying gasoline. Raven normally only carries diesel and CNG which I consider to be some of the safest fuels. With an inflatable you must find a safe place for some highly explosive fuel.

When Raven is accompanied by her CD-10, Feather they enhance one another. The tender has matching paint and and associated name in the same font. Both have Cetoled woodwork and they look like they belong together. One might argue that looks are not important but by that logic we would all be sailing some newer and far more ugly boats. Maybe even driving around in power boats. There is some advantage to being able to quickly motor off to where you want to go but if speed was a major concern we would not be sailing. I love to row and I hate to deal with the possibility of the motor not starting or running out of gas.

If life is too short to sail an ugly boat then I don't think I have enough time to give up on a pretty little row boat, Steve.

[Paul D.]

My dinghy solution. Two piece nesting, lightweight, superb rower, beautiful and Slovenian built.

[Oswego John]

Robert,

There is a saying kicking around that one picture is worth 753 words The picture of Paul D's tender is a perfect example of what I had mentioned earlier. This shows what I tried to describe as being blunt nosed. It is fairly evident that when being towed astern, there is little chance of plowing. The cutaway of the bow angle shown in Paul's photo farther reduces the plowing effect.

On some tenders that tend to plow, the owner attaches the painter as low as possible on the towee and as high as practical on the tower. (toe-err). :>)

On shorter versions of prams, the snub nose shortens the over all length when being carried aboard across the mother ships deck, maybe evening lessening the weight some. When being towed or left at the mooring buoy,the length and weight is moot.

My old pram was neither soft (round) chined or flat bottomed like a scow. It had a semi-vee bottom with a hard chine which I guess was about 25°. It also had a skeg which greatly improved towing.

I didn't do the following but I had a friend who did. He owned a combo row-motor-sail tender. He fashioned a piece of wooden dowel, something like a clothes closet hanger pole and set it temporarily in the hole for the mast. His gunnals were padded. When he brought the tender along side his ship, he would attach a bungee cord around the pole and a stanchion on his safety rail. This seemed to steady the tender a lot when boarding.

If I was of the argumentive nature, I might take issue with Paul's tender being Slovenian built. Just as some ethnic food might be Chinese-American or maybe Mexican-American, this craft appears to me to be Slovenian-American with a modest garnish of finely minced Canadiensis and white fish. :>)

Best wishes
O J

[Sea Hunt Video]

If I was of the argumentive nature, I might take issue with Paul's tender being Slovenian built. Just as some ethnic food might be Chinese-American or maybe Mexican-American, this craft appears to me to be Slovenian-American with a modest garnish of finely minced Canadiensis and white fish. :>)

Best wishes
O J

I do not want to be presumptuous, but if I had to guess I think OJ may have started a winter discussion that could rival that of "spinning or locked".