6’ nano cruiser

Years ago I was told a story by a pro fisherman slow trolling through a shallow reef area, who was approached on the water by a chap in a kayak, in a quite distressed state, who was apparently being stalked by a large shark, the man was insistent on coming aboard, and he and the kayak were hauled aboard. I'll bet he did not go out there again on a kayak.

 

There are just so many really neat and well thought out design ideas in John Harris' nesting dinghy.
She reminds me (in a way) of the Portland Pudgy yacht tender - Dinghy | Rowboat | Lifeboat | Dinghy Sailboat | Dinghy Motor https://portlandpudgy.com/

Ok, the Pudgy is 'only' 128 lbs hull weight, compared to 150 lbs for the Nesting Expedition Dinghy - but the NED can stow on deck in a much smaller space, and the cost of building a NED will be a small fraction of the cost of buying a Pudgy.

And I am sure that a NED could still be outfitted with a canopy for use as a liferaft - perhaps even have buoyancy tubes on the sides to help resist a knockdown.
While still being able to function as a yacht tender.
Although if she will be used as a tender for two people, the passenger would have to sit on the aft deck, with their feet in the cockpit, while their partner rows

This link (copied below) is in the CLC link provided by Skara, and it has lots more useful info -
The Nesting Expedition Dinghy, a Micro-Cruiser by John C. Harris https://www.clcboats.com/life-of-boats-blog/Nesting-Expedition-Dinghy.html?jm=1

 

I imagine a NED would make an interesting tender on a boat big enough to carry it. The "box" dimensions are big enough that it will not fit into the back of my Toyota station wagon, so finding a place for it on deck on a "normal" sailboat would be an issue. When one is forced to use a trailer, i personally would have a hard time convincing myself into a 12ft boat when i could have one maybe 16-18ft.

But this is a long stretch away from the original 6ft quest, and i certainly would not go there.

 

Here is another great little nano cruiser

MINI230 – Najmniejszy, jednoosobowy jacht regatowy https://mini230.pl/

I still think the minuet yacht is the best ever designed nano cruiser

 

Has there been any other designs like this one?

thisbis obviously fibreglass from a mould, but I’m more interested in a design out of this marine ply and thin layer of glass fiver over the top

so more difficult to get those nice lines on the hill

I’m thinking more along the lines of the Elusion mentioned earlier in the thread

but this design does look good I wonder if there are any still around for sale anywhere or indeed any new ones being designed and built?

 

wonder about the minuet yacht design with a spray hood with just your head sticking out so that you would be enclosed and couldn’t take on any water at all

 

Sitting or Laying in water that has splashed in wouldn't be much fun, good idea about the spray Hood.

 

Yes just like kayaking they have a sort of skirt that seals the hull from their waists but my idea instead of your torso being outside only your head, as the starting and controls are all inside anyway

with a good warm hat of course

 

I would have thought "cruiser" would have meant being able to sleep onboard. Im not sure how possible that is in the yacht above, but definately possible in a Gorfnik.

I believe someone sailed one of those Mini yachts across the baltic from Poland to Borholm/Sweden, that boat did have a sprayhood fitted, and also a standby vessel went with it. More of a large pond yacht i think, but probably sails well for what it is.

 

I don’t see why you couldn’t design it to be sleep in able

 

Would it be possible to design similar to this made out of glass on ply?

 

There may be a market for miniature dehydrated boats, that expand to full size when put into the water, but 6 foot boats would only make me nervous.

 

I don't know about dehydrated boats, but there is a huge existing market for inflatable boats that expand to their full design size before being put into water and can be deflated for compact transport after use. Some inflatables work in places or under situations where no other boat can go, like white water rapids. Not quite the same as dehydrated, and your point well taken on six foot boats.

 

However, a 6 foot inflatable will have about 4 feet of interior space.

 

What about an inflatable SUP? Special case, same amount of space as a hard SUP because there is no interior.....