Geodesic Dinghy

[honza]

Does anybody use, or tried to use, a geodesic dinghy https://www.gaboats.com/ in conjunction with A 25? What is your experience? Thanks for sharing.

[DesertAlbin736]

No, but it looks interesting. More like a canoe than a dinghy, but suppose could also be built as a kayak. Would be easy to lift & stow on a hard top roof. Fabric cover over ribs & 'longerons' is more like old timey aircraft construction. Scaled down to 1 inch = 1 foot & the technique might work well to frame up a scale model A25 in balsa & fiberglass. Especially the use of a "strongback" fixture. Someday...

[tribologist]

It looks way to fragile to be used as a dinghy. The Fisher line of aircraft was built like that and were great in the air but any point load would cause trouble. I would consider them more like a novelty than a practical boat. I guess it would be safe up on the roof but even getting in and out of it in some swell and have it contact the swim platform... We are super happy with the Mercury Hypalon 230 dinghy we got last year. We hang it in a reduced size Harbor Men Marine sling and it is actually useful as a ginormous fender when you are getting into a cramped marina...

[motthediesel]

Those are interesting boats with a lot of good qualities, but I too would worry about their durability in rough dinghy service. You might want to look at this thread from the WoodenBoat forum:

http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread. ... lite-Boats

For our boat, we acquired a Grumman dinghy -- aluminum, and very (83#) light. Designed by Philip Rhodes, they are very well regarded, and they can be sailed, motored, or rowed. It should be durable on rough beaches, or when tied up in "tender scrums" dockside.



Tom