Dinghy leaning to one side

Hi everyone.

I'm chasing people's advice about operating a dinghy by yourself. I have a 3.75m round nosed punt which I'm in the process of improving ahead of making it a cartopper and heading over to Townsville. I've recently upgraded from my 20 year old Mariner, to a brand new shiny Yamaha, and it runs perfect. I've been taking it for trial runs with my dad, and I reckon its pushing 25 knots. I took it out for a solo run on the weekend, and found that it was riding way too high, so I trimmed it down as far as it would go, and I get a much better plane, but, as soon as I hit a bump, etc... the boat tends to list fairly heavily to starboard (I'm sitting at the starboard stern). I found that if I attached the extender handle to the engine and sort of went closer to the centre of the boat, there was no issue.

Obviously the ideal solution is to have a counter weight diagonally across from me in the boat, but I'll be doing a fair bit of solo stuff, and I cant exactly lump 100 kg of stuff over in the other side of the dinghy. Does anyone have any ideas about how to stop the listing problems? I want to be able to sit comfortably at the rear of the boat, and be comfortable at moderate speeds. I tried googling the issue, but, I found the internet surprisingly unhelpful.


fishinguy's picture

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Mon, 2016-08-22 18:03

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choc's picture

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 By the time you have your

Mon, 2016-08-22 18:12

 By the time you have your esky, ice, bait, drinks, food, rods and tackle on that other side you should be fine. Make sure fuel tank is on opposite side as well.

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Thanks for the reply.

Mon, 2016-08-22 19:09

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately that doesn't quite work, as evidenced by my trial runs. I went out with the gear I would go with, and the issue presented itself.

Dale's picture

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Mon, 2016-08-22 19:13

 Try getting a cheap hydrofoil for your outboard and see if that straightens you up.

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grantarctic1's picture

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Agree

Tue, 2016-08-23 02:07

 I have had to fit hydrofoils to small craft a few times, and usually sorts this out. 

MandurahMatt's picture

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The 4.2m tinny with a 40 i

Tue, 2016-08-23 03:15

The 4.2m tinny with a 40 i had, i put a SE 200 hydrofoil on that enabled me to trim the motor up a bit & improved handling performance.

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woody's picture

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I just sit in the centre of

Tue, 2016-08-23 06:04

I just sit in the centre of the stern seat in my 3.75 quinnie tinnie. I straddle the seat too and ride sideways, much easier to look backwards without turning around and I'm facing the sounder which is mounted on the stern seat too.
Have to fish from the centre of the seat too to maintain stability

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Date Joined: 17/07/14

Thanks guys for the feed

Tue, 2016-08-23 06:27

Thanks guys for the feed back. Obviously I can fix the problem by sitting in the centre of the boat, but, that's not really comfortable as I have to be at a angled back position to account for the offset of the throttle, and that I steer left handed. The point of getting my setup just right and investing the time and money is to be as comfortable, I have a boat so that I can get out there and have fun - I want to make it as enjoyable as possible.

I was leaning towards the hydrofoil as I thought this might be the solution, but when I researched it on Youtube, it was mostly just people saying about how it improved their plane/nose ride, and didn't mention listing too much. Its good to hear that other people have used them to sort of this particular problem. I just have to see what sort of Hyrdofoil to get now, the engine is a brand new Yamaha 2 stroke 20 hp. I'm really hoping to avoid drilling holes in the cavitation plate.

 

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I would be very cautious

Tue, 2016-08-23 06:36

I would be very cautious about putting a hydrofoil on a tiller steer tinny. They have a reputation for making them quite unpredictable and prone to broaching.

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I saw "smart tabs" by Nauticus on the

Tue, 2016-08-23 10:04

whitworths marine website under small boat gear "trim tabs" never used them myself but wonder if they may be a solution to the problem, from what I can gather they are trim tabs that automatically adjust to rectify situations like yours price is around $170 from memory

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Maybe.

Tue, 2016-08-23 11:49

Just suggesting something here & not sure if it will be the problem.
Have you checked that the motor is fixed in the center of the transom & not slightly off to one side or not straight.
I'm not a marine engineer by any stretch, but it may be a problem.
If you have shifted the load around & tried everything else then maybe its worth a look...
Good luck

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Cheers & Stay safe

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This is actually a good

Tue, 2016-08-23 12:58

This is actually a good point. The engine is mounted centre at the moment, but, now that I think about it, I could try slightly different positions for when I'm going on solo runs to see if that makes a difference, offsetting the load (me). It's a roof topper, so the engine is going off and on all the time anyway.

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Not sure.

Tue, 2016-08-23 13:28

Not sure about moving the motor to fix the problem unless being not central or straight is the problem.
Motors are designed to be in the middle & straight.
You maybe looking at a whole new set of problems if you try it.

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Cheers & Stay safe

carnarvonite's picture

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Hydrofoil

Tue, 2016-08-23 13:14

Fitting a hydrofoil is an absolute last resort especially in a small boat.
The reason being that they give lift to the back of the boat and in a following sea is exactly what you do not want as this encourage the boat to broach without warning.

sstevee's picture

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Also, not sure if this could

Tue, 2016-08-23 19:58

Also, not sure if this could be a problem but have you tried adjusting the trim tab on the leg of the motor? I know this is normally only for steering pulling to one side but it doesn't cost anything to mark its current position and then adjust and sea trial...

timboon's picture

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 Blow up doll? You could prop

Wed, 2016-08-24 20:55

 Blow up doll?

 

You could prop a blow up doll in the front couldnt you? You could even buy her/he a fishing lisence ( double the catch ) and be really cagey when getting checked by the fisheries, you could say that Bessy is very ill and doesnt want to be spoken to.

 

I think they have a "fill" hole where you could add more balast, Oh another thing is i guess if the fish aint biting you could ah you know get bessy to come down you're end of the boat and sit on you're knee... 

 

I bet you would have a list then though....

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pipedream-Blow-Billy-Goat-Vibrator/dp/B00CJWV81W

 

Good luck and happy listing

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I reckon if I was going to go

Thu, 2016-08-25 07:17

I reckon if I was going to go that route, I'd get a "Real Doll" instead. All silicone, lifelike, appartently, and most importantly, is solid and therefore has mass and can be a counterweight. Definite bonus by adding the additional licence holder on board, plus if I got bored I could slap a tail on her, throw her in the water and pretend she's a mermaid.

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 Blow up doll? You could prop

Wed, 2016-08-24 21:22

 Blow up doll?

 

You could prop a blow up doll in the front couldnt you? You could even buy her/he a fishing lisence ( double the catch ) and be really cagey when getting checked by the fisheries, you could say that Bessy is very ill and doesnt want to be spoken to.

 

I think they have a "fill" hole where you could add more ballast, Oh another thing is i guess if the fish aint biting you could ah you know get bessy to come down you're end of the boat and sit on you're knee... 

 

I bet you would have a list then though....

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pipedream-Blow-Billy-Goat-Vibrator/dp/B00CJWV81W

 

Good luck and happy listing

Yewiefish85's picture

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 What about a boat collar,

Thu, 2016-08-25 06:49

 What about a boat collar, should solve your problem and make it more stable at rest,I haven't used one but have seen the ads, ugly as sin tho

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The smaller the boat the more

Thu, 2016-08-25 08:41

The smaller the boat the more affected by weight distribution it will be. Like you said it is OK if I sit towards the centre of the boat...

 

epic restos and marine's picture

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 trim tab on the vmotor and

Thu, 2016-08-25 12:05

 trim tab on the vmotor and even look at a self flooding tank fill when your by yourself balance/weight dry when with someone

 

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 Spare tyre will do the

Thu, 2016-08-25 18:40

 Spare tyre will do the trick 

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 A boat that size you don't

Thu, 2016-08-25 19:15

 A boat that size you don't want to be Carrying any more weight than you have to. From what I've read you have trimed the motor all the way in? Not good if you hit a following sea. I'm guessing you had no problem with the last motor? I would trim the motor out a bit and sit to one side or forward a little.

Sounds to me the nose of your boat is driving in and when you hit a bump your boat is riding on the outer of the hull being forced there by the trim, take the pressure off the front buy lifting the trim and the boat will be less susceptible to weight when under power and more stable. I had a similar sized boat trimed in to far and  caught a wave heading in one day... not fun!