>We are interested in purchasing a small sail boat for rowing, sailing and motoring while cruising on our trawler. It would be stowed via snap davits on a 12 ft. swim platform. We need stability due to tired knees. Speed and racing are not of concern. Grateful for any and all info about type, length, etc. any of you long time cruisers could recommend. > I bought a used 9 ft. Whaler sailing dinghy a couple of years ago and carry it on my swim platform via snap davits. It is built like a battleship, but that's about all the nice things I can say about it. It weighs a ton. I have never weighed it, but I would guess it is around 150 lbs. The first time I tried to pull the dinghy to a vertical position on the swim platform, I couldn't do it. There wasn't enough leverage from the cockpit. I now go up on the bridge, stretch the line as best I can and pull hard. It is very hard for this 63 year old guy to pull up. A friend of mine lowered it to the water recently and didn't realize how heavy it was. The dinghy after about 20 degrees got away from him and he ended up with rope burns. The sail is not easy to rig as the luff has to be slipped over the entire mast. If there is any wind this makes it very ackward especially when you now have to put the mast in the boat after the sail is on and raised. A lateen rig similar to a sunfish would have been much better. It sails OK but it is very hard to sit in comfortably. The stability of the dinghy is not the best. A guest of mine turned it over at the swim platform with the sail up just getting in. What a mess as the mast head got stuck in the muddy bottom and I had to motor the boat forward to get it out even though the sail supposedly has a floating head. One other good feature, though, was that after the dinghy filled with water we took the mast off, righted it, pulled out the drain plug and the water emptied. Whaler puts so much flotation in the boat that even though it was filled with water, the dinghy rode high enough for the drain to empty the boat. The snap davits, however make it very stable when the dinghy is hooked on and in the water. The dinghy rows very well. I have a 2 hp engine that moves it along nicely. I would suggest that you row, sail and lift any dinghy you are considering buying. Herb Hoffman My Tyme Prairie 29