Got a new sailing dinghy

[shemandr]

On the dingy I built I initially used 1" hemp line (Or so) and wired it on with copper wire lain in-between strands of the rope. Painstaking. When that wore out I got the regular U shaped Polyester (I think) rail and some stainless screws. Way less painful! Very effective. Maintainable.

 

[jon hansen]

beautiful work david! nice handling

 

[Orbweaver]

Very well done!

 

[Davidasailor26]

It floats!

(Forgive the very old and very dirty fenders - that’s what we had around until we can come up with a better solution. The gunwale does sit just above the swim platform, so adding a cushion to the wood won’t help. I’m going to look for something that can be draped under it somehow.)

And it sails -

 

[Will Gilmore]

How beautiful.

-Will

 

[shemandr]

I had a similar fender set up for my pram for while we were loading/embarking and it was pretty effective. I often left it the dink tied up like that in my slip.

 

[kappykaplan]

Lookin' good, @Davidasailor26 !

 

[jssailem]

It floats and it Sails.
Wahoo!

 

[Captain W]

Looks great!

 

[Davidasailor26]

Thanks to all for the compliments and tips along the way.

I’ve got one more enhancement to share after sailing a couple of times…

The wire stays were just too old fashioned for me. They don’t store well, tangle each other when stepping the mast, and tend to kink rather than pulling straight, especially when you’re holding the mast with one hand and trying to clip the stays in with the other.

So I went from this -

To this -

Had a fun time learning to splice dyneema, which I’ve not done before. I’m quite happy with how it came out. Hopefully once I step the mast I’m still happy .

 

[jssailem]

If I had a sailing dinghy, I’d use dyneema for the standing rigging. A no brained.

 

[Orbweaver]

You'll be amazed with how those fenders look after a good scrubbing with a magic eraser.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Thanks to all for the compliments and tips along the way.

I’ve got one more enhancement to share after sailing a couple of times…

The wire stays were just too old fashioned for me. They don’t store well, tangle each other when stepping the mast, and tend to kink rather than pulling straight, especially when you’re holding the mast with one hand and trying to clip the stays in with the other.

So I went from this -
View attachment 195617

To this -
View attachment 195618

Had a fun time learning to splice dyneema, which I’ve not done before. I’m quite happy with how it came out. Hopefully once I step the mast I’m still happy .

For anyone looking to do a dyneema replacement like this in the future I’ve got some lessons learned about how much dyneema creeps after construction. My version 1 stays, exactly the same length as the wire when initially hand tightened, ended up being at least 4” long after being tensioned. 4” sure leaves a lot of play at the masthead.

For version 2 I did some testing building a stay then stretching it with ratchet straps between two trees. I made the first eye splice, and marked a planned middle of the second eye splice 126” away. By the time I finished the splice, with the extra bulk of the bury it ended up being 124 1/2” hand tight. After stretching that for 16 hours it was out to 128 3/4” under tension. Once off the ratchets it came to 127 1/2” hand tight.

I made up a new set of stays targeting a fully stretched length the same as the original wire stays. To make up for the elastic stretch I added a 4:1 block and tackle on the forestay that I can use to pull everything to the right tension. Apparently some Dyers that are raced add that for more control of shroud tension anyway.

It worked well today. The mast was well centered and I was able to keep everything at just the tension I wanted.

 

[jssailem]

Thank you for the post. You learned a valuable lesson.
Not All Dyneema is created equal.
Here is an interesting article about the subject.
Not All Dyneema is Created Equal

The three fibers were subjected to the force of 300 MPa at 30*C and the creep was measured.​

• SK-75 creeped 0.02% per day​
• SK-78 creeped 0.006% per day​
• DM-20 creeped 0.00007% per day​

I encourage all interested in using Dyneema as standing rigging to read the article It will help you in your quest for strong and light standing rigging for your boat.

 

[Davidasailor26]

Thank you for the post. You learned a valuable lesson.
Not All Dyneema is created equal.
Here is an interesting article about the subject.
Not All Dyneema is Created Equal

The three fibers were subjected to the force of 300 MPa at 30*C and the creep was measured.​

• SK-75 creeped 0.02% per day​
• SK-78 creeped 0.006% per day​
• DM-20 creeped 0.00007% per day​

I encourage all interested in using Dyneema as standing rigging to read the article It will help you in your quest for strong and light standing rigging for your boat.

Good points. For clarification I’m using 1/8” Amsteel Blue, which is SK-78. I can’t find DM-20 in any of my usual online retailers, and for dinghy rigging where the mast is down more than up the long term creep shouldn’t be as big of a deal. But yes, definitely important to do your homework.

The “chainplates” also have pin holes with about 1 1/4” of adjustment. Right now I’m on the longest set of holes, so I still have some room to take up slack if there’s more stretch over time.

 

[jssailem]

I agree totally. The Amsteel or Dyneema line are great for dinghy rigging.

I used Dyneema for my lifeline gates. A good hand feel. Easy to create. Strong. They fall down straight no wire curl or "split ends" to damage one's hands when grabbing for the gate. They have been up since 2016. Look in great shape. Will be easy to replace when eventually needed.

Can you share more about the eye splice you used and why?
How is it tied?
How much length do you need to allow to make the splice?

 

[Davidasailor26]

Can you share more about the eye splice you used and why?
How is it tied?
How much length do you need to allow to make the splice?

I used Brummell splices for them all. I did try a simple bury splice with lock stitching first. Samson Ropes recommends that for 12 strand dyneema. But the whole lock stitch process for 1/8” line is pretty time consuming and kind of a pain. For most of the Brummel splices I followed the steps at

.

For some of the top eyes, when I already had the chainplates at the bottom I used the “mobius brummel” method at

. It’s pretty fun to see the eye form as you pull the inversions out, but it’s a little more complicated and trickier to get exactly the right eye size, so then I just went back to regular Brummel splices, making the top eye first then the bottom one around the chainplate. Pulling the top eye through the braid (before I put the thimble in) was easy enough.

I buried 72 times the line diameter, so 9”, tapered along its length. The splice only consumed that much plus a little for the thimble.

 

[Davidasailor26]

I should add that I used a D-Splicer like Ronstan D-Splicer F-Series Fid - Small for pulling the line through the braid rather than a tubular fid. I liked that a lot for this size line.

 

[Davidasailor26]

It tows nicely too!

 

[stickinthemud57]

I had not been following this thread, but kudos! Nice to see someone give a fine little boat the love it deserves!