The Adventuress sailing dinghy

Dinghy

A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed for use as a ship's boat by a larger vessel. It is a loanword from either Bengali or Urdu. The term can also refer to small racing yachts or recreational open sailing boats. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor,...

 class was designed by Ian Proctor

Ian Proctor

Ian Douglas Ben Proctor, FRSA, known as Ian Proctor, was a prolific designer of both sailing dinghies and cruisers...

 and built by Anglo Marine of Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

. It is no longer in production.

It is not known how many were built or how many survive today, although the secondhand market occasionally sees an Adventuress changing hands.

The Adventuress is classed as a family dinghy due to its spacious design and stable hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 made so by the unique bilge keel

Bilge keel

A bilge keel is used to reduce the hull's tendency to roll. Bilge keels are employed in pairs . A ship may have more than one bilge keel per side, but this is rare. Bilge keels increase hydrodynamic resistance to rolling, making the ship roll less...

s. It is ideally suited for families, or less experienced sailors, or those who want a solid, easily handled, undemanding dinghy for cruising. Although larger than both, being 12.5 foot in length, the Adventuress could be compared to a Heron

Heron (dinghy)

The Heron Dinghy is a dinghy designed by Jack Holt of the United Kingdom as the Yachting World Cartopper . The Heron dinghy was designed to be built by a home handyman out of marine ply over a timber frame, but can now also be constructed from marine ply using a stitch and glue technique or from...

 or Gull (which is also built by Anglo Marine).

The dinghy is 12 feet 6 inches long with a mast

Mast (sailing)

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...

 just over 18 feet.

It is sailed with a Mainsail

Mainsail

A mainsail is a sail located behind the main mast of a sailing vessel.On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast....

 and Jib

Jib

A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...

 and performs very well, remaining balanced in all conditions.

Construction

An Adventuress is solidly constructed of GRP

Glass-reinforced plastic

Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....

. The bilge keel

Bilge keel

A bilge keel is used to reduce the hull's tendency to roll. Bilge keels are employed in pairs . A ship may have more than one bilge keel per side, but this is rare. Bilge keels increase hydrodynamic resistance to rolling, making the ship roll less...

s are formed as an integral part of the hull, and create dynamic and directional stability - they do not contain ballast. The hull and deck mouldings are complemented by inner mouldings that create built-in buoyancy tanks at bow and stern and along each side. Originally these buoyancy tanks had no external access, although some owners will have added hatches and bungs to make these accessible for stowage and to help the hull breathe when in storage.

The unusual configuration of the bow buoyancy tank creates a generous amount of stowage space under the foredeck for paddles, buckets, fishing gear, etc.

There are no floorboards and no inner floor.

The rudder, tiller and extension are made from wood. The original design has a lifting rudder which is held in the down position by a piece of shockcord.

As these boats are now ageing somewhat, the original gelcoat

Gelcoat

Gelcoat is a material used to provide a high-quality finish on the visible surface of a fibre-reinforced composite material. The most common gelcoats are based on epoxy or unsaturated polyester resin chemistry. Gelcoats are modified resins which are applied to moulds in the liquid state...

 may have faded or gone chalky if the boat was not kept under cover. It would not be unusual in a boat of this age for hulls to have been renovated by painting the original gelcoat.

The deck and inner mouldings have a moulded-in non-slip pattern on the decks and side benches. The inner edge of the side deck is contoured, making the boat comfortable to sit inside, and also comfortable to the backs of the legs when sitting on or hiking out

Hiking (sailing)

thumb|350px|A sailing canoe with crew hiking out on the outrigger, in Ailuk Lagoon, [[Marshall Islands]].In sailing, hiking is the action of moving the crew's body weight as far to windward as possible, in order to decrease the extent the boat heels...

 over the side decks.

A marine plywood case houses the centreboard

Centreboard

A centreboard or centerboard is a retractable keel which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a centreboard trunk or centerboard case...

, and supports the cross-thwart - which is made from solid mahogany.

Moulded into the back is a useful locker with a marine ply hatch, which, though not watertight, is handy for holding flasks, sandwiches and knick-knacks.

The boat had no facility for rowlocks and oars. Some examples feature a mounting point for a small outboard motor adjacent to the rudder.

Rig

An aluminium mast

Mast (sailing)

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...

 and boom

Boom (sailing)

In sailing, a boom is a spar , along the foot of a fore and aft rigged sail, that greatly improves control of the angle and shape of the sail. The primary action of the boom is to keep the foot of the sail flatter when the sail angle is away from the centerline of the boat. The boom also serves...

 are used to set a bermuda rig

Bermuda rig

The term Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and rigging for a type of sailboat and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical configuration for most modern sailboats...

 of mainsail

Mainsail

A mainsail is a sail located behind the main mast of a sailing vessel.On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast....

 and jib

Jib

A jib is a triangular staysail set ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bow, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast...

. To keep things simple, the jib sheets

Sheet (sailing)

In sailing, a sheet is a line used to control the movable corner of a sail.- Fore-and-aft rigs:Fore-and-aft rigs comprise the vast majority of sailing vessels in use today, including effectively all dinghies and yachts. The sheet on a fore-and-aft sail controls the angle of the sail to the wind,...

 lead to fixed fairleads and cam-cleats

Cleat (nautical)

In nautical contexts, a cleat is a device for securing a rope. The traditional design is attached to a flat surface or a spar and features two “horns” extending parallel to the deck or the axis of the spar, resembling an anvil....

, the mainsail is loose-footed, and the mainsheet

Sheet (sailing)

In sailing, a sheet is a line used to control the movable corner of a sail.- Fore-and-aft rigs:Fore-and-aft rigs comprise the vast majority of sailing vessels in use today, including effectively all dinghies and yachts. The sheet on a fore-and-aft sail controls the angle of the sail to the wind,...

 leads to a rope horse across the transom. ClamCleats

Cleat (nautical)

In nautical contexts, a cleat is a device for securing a rope. The traditional design is attached to a flat surface or a spar and features two “horns” extending parallel to the deck or the axis of the spar, resembling an anvil....

 may be present to allow this mainsheet traveller to be adjusted. The standard mainsail has three fibreglass battens, and can be shaped using a kicking strap

Boom vang

A boom vang or kicking strap is a line or piston system on a sailboat used to exert downward force on the boom and thus control the shape of the sail. An older term is "martingale"....

 and Cunningham

Cunningham (sailing)

In sailing, a cunningham or cunningham's eye is a type of downhaul used on a Bermuda rigged sailboat to change the shape of a sail. Sailors also often refer to the cunningham as the "smart pig"....

.

Sailing

For its size the Adventuress is a stable dinghy, ideal for learning or relaxed family cruising, although, given enough wind, the boat will plane

Planing (sailing)

Planing is the mode of operation for a waterborne craft in which its weight is predominantly supported by hydrodynamic lift, rather than hydrostatic lift .-History:...

 off the wind. The beamy hull and the small keels on the bilges give the boat a forgiving nature although, like any unballasted dinghy, it is, of course, possible to capsize

Capsize

Capsizing is an act of tipping over a boat or ship to disable it. The act of reversing a capsized vessel is called righting.If a capsized vessel has sufficient flotation to prevent sinking, it may recover on its own if the stability is such that it is not stable inverted...

it. When capsized, the boat floats high in the water (due to the generous amount of built-in buoyancy) and can be righted in the standard way by standing on the projecting centreboard.

Despite its size, because of its uncluttered cockpit and simple controls, the boat can accommodate up to four people while sailing.