Capri 14.2... a Day Sailer or a Dinghy?

B

Bond

Member
I'm pretty confused about this and I found it mentioned in several posts interchangeably.

Once and for all; is the Capri 14.2 a Day Sailer or a Dinghy?

What is the official definition of a Day Sailer and that of a Dinghy?

Can someone please elaborate.

Cheers.
 
Bond, this is my understanding of these two suttle categories but I am sure you could end up with many different answers.

A Dinghy is a small light boat, usually equipped with oars and usually under 14 feet loa (length overall) and portable enough for car-topping or tossing into the back of a pickup truck. The Mirror dinghy is a good example of this utility. Rubber inflatables are called Dinghys as well. Dinghys are commonly used as ship to shore boats.

A Daysailer is a light boat usually a bit more equipped than a dinghy and could even be longer than 14 feet but may not be suitable for overnight trips due to lack of stowage space etc.
 
woodbark said:
Bond, this is my understanding of these two suttle categories but I am sure you could end up with many different answers.

A Dinghy is a small light boat, usually equipped with oars and usually under 14 feet loa (length overall) and portable enough for car-topping or tossing into the back of a pickup truck. The Mirror dinghy is a good example of this utility. Rubber inflatables are called Dinghys as well. Dinghys are commonly used as ship to shore boats.

A Daysailer is a light boat usually a bit more equipped than a dinghy and could even be longer than 14 feet but may not be suitable for overnight trips due to lack of stowage space etc.
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I agree there's no hard and fast definition, and the use seems to change over time and with country. When I was a kid in England we'd go "wet seat" sailing in a dinghy and everything else was a yacht. There were also day boats, mostly for racing that didn't have accommodation.

In all, I'm not sure what to call a Capri? It certainly isn't for car topping, and the storage is good for little more than some dry clothes and a few cans of beer.
 
Dinghy Def.

Normally a Dinghy is a small boat that is attached to the back of a Yacht for going to shore or other ventures where the Yacht can't go.
 
Dinghy Day Sailer

My copy of Chapman's "Piloting" defines a dinghy as "A small boat used as a tender, the term is also used for a small racing sailboat". That seems to fit my Capri 14.2 since we race and I almost always sail it during daylight, so both apply. RK
 
jeff95519 said:
Normally a Dinghy is a small boat that is attached to the back of a Yacht for going to shore or other ventures where the Yacht can't go.
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Though the Olympic committee describe the 470 class (which is slightly bigger than a 14.2) as a "two person dinghy", and in the UK a small boat for getting ashore would be a "tender". It seems to me the choice is partly fashion and partly country.
 
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