On Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:16:42 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

Smaller sailboats like my 28' one still need a dinghy for the
occupants to get to shore when anchored. I have tried inflatables and
rigid ones and neither worked well. Inflatables require a motor
because they row so poorly and the rigid ones take up too much room on
deck. Even my nesting dinghy takes up too much room on deck. This is
why I am interested in the Porta-bote but do I really have to spend
$1500 to find it may not work well?
What I'd like to see would be a dinghy that assembles sorta like a
tent as an inverted tensile structure on a frame with stiffeners of
aluminum across it's beam. Fiberglass rods would insert into sleeves
like a tent and then into a hard bow piece and into a rigid stern
piece. A seat would go across to stiffen it with maybe rigid Al
bottom pieces going across.
Floatation would be built into the rigid stern piece and into the
seat. The fabric would either have to be very tough or very cheap to
replace like Tyvek.
Of course, it should have a keel so it can be rowed and to stiffen it
so it does not "squirm" when it is rowed.
Maybe after I am bored with x-ray stuff I'll work on this.

Have you ever seen the Platt Monfort designs? They look very cool but
frankly I've never seen one on the water.

http://www.gaboats.com/

Perhaps you could design one that could be disassembled.

We've seen huge numbers of cruising boats over the last 6 weeks and
two types of dinghies seem to predominate:

1. Small roll up inflatables with a 2 to 4 hp outboard. These are
suitable for calm water in small harbors, and stow easily onboard.

2. Rigid bottom inflatables (RIBs) with larger outboards, typically
10 to 15 hp and towed behind the sailboat in all conditions with boats
of your size range.

A third choice, which I'm seeing less of, is something like an Avon
with roll-up floorboards and a fair sized outboard carried on a stern
pulpit bracket. We used one of these for quite a few years on a 34 ft
sailboat. The dinghy is not that small when rolled up but can be
carried on the bow in front of the mast.

There are no bargains in any of this but the dinghy is a poor place to
save money in my experience.

Since you like to build things, a lightweight plywood skiff that you
could tow behind you might work well. I'd install a small battery and
automatic bilge pump however. Capsize underway is a very real issue
with any towed dinghy.