Ultra Light Dinghy Build Project

[-Waypoint-]

I have been thinking about a dinghy for my boat. But after looking around for a commercially built dinghy under 50 lbs, found that I may have to build it. So I ordered the PDF files from Chesapeake Light Craft to build the Ultralight 6 ft. Dinghy. This is how far along on the build.
Hopefully I can keep the weight under 45 lbs.

 

[Karl Konecny]

I built an 11' cedar strip canoe that I use as my dinghy. It is very wide and stable, easily carries two adults and my dog (adult black lab) and is efficient to paddle. I built if from a salvaged western red cedar killed by a local fire. It weighs 30 lbs. It fits on a roof rack under my radar mount.

 

[-Waypoint-]

I built an 11' cedar strip canoe that I use as my dinghy. It is very wide and stable, easily carries two adults and my dog (adult black lab) and is efficient to paddle. I built if from a salvaged western red cedar killed by a local fire. It weighs 30 lbs. It fits on a roof rack under my radar mount.View attachment 130248

Very nice! My Dad made a living building srip canoes in the 90's. I have one of the last of his boats made out of red wood 1" strips. It's a little over 16ft weight is 60 lbs.. love that canoe! It is to long and narrow for the C-Dory. I was going to use it as a trial dinghy but was concerned how it might tow. What attracted me to this dinghy was the small length, payload capacity, large rocker, weight, and it appears that you can stand up in it. But nothing as stable as the old trusty lifeless inflatable dinghy though. Nice work on your canoe build!

 

[Karl Konecny]

Wow, an old redwood canoe -- I hope you cherish it. I have enough beautiful redwood (from old lapped siding) to build a small boat. I used some of it to laminate the inner stems on my current canoe project, a 17.5 foot marathoning canoe.

 

[-Waypoint-]

This is the canoe my Dad built. It’s was built in 1995. Has been restored 4 times . I added an outrigger, lee board, and lug sailing rig for it.

 

[Karl Konecny]

Beautiful, good to hear you take such good care of it and use it.

 

[-Waypoint-]

Finished the dinghy build. Total material cost was $998.42 this was everything. I ended up finishing the boat with paint and adding a durable gel coat bottom. It brought the finished weight to 55 lbs Totally fine for our plans considering it’s 6 ft length. Shout out to Chesapeake Light Craft for designing this really capable little dinghy. It is unusually stable to! These pictures are us testing it for the first time. Will post some pictures when we tow it around with the C-Dory.

 

[pcg]

Nice job and great color scheme!

 

[BenCarney]

"Ripple" looks amazing! Nice work! I was also considering the Ultralight as a dinghy. Have you thought about stowage at all or are you only planning to tow it?

 

[-Waypoint-]

"Ripple" looks amazing! Nice work! I was also considering the Ultralight as a dinghy. Have you thought about stowage at all or are you only planning to tow it?

 

[-Waypoint-]

Thank you!

It towed fine behind the boat at 12 kts. But once I got up to 14 kts. It started to jump out of the water. The next test is to fold the Bimini top forward and bring the dinghy in the cockpit. It is small enough to stand up on its transom and strap to the side rail. I don’t have any room left on my roof. So I have abandoned the idea. Tows so well and is going to live in the water 98% of the time. I’ll post some pictures when I get it in the cockpit for reference. If you decide to build this boat, I highly recommend buying the kit. I only saved $300 building it from scratch versus just buying the kit. Although it was a pleasure to build from scratch, if I had to do it again I’d buy the kit. It takes a lot of time to cut the pieces out, plus it takes an Architect to print out a 16’ PDF $$$.