Choosing a boat for a long-distance cruise is a crucial decision. This choice determines not only comfort on board, but also freedom of exploration and safety at sea. Should you prefer the stability and performance of a keelboat, or the versatility and access to anchorages of a dinghy? It's a recurring dilemma among sailors preparing for a big sail.
Over the years, ocean-going travelers have been divided into two groups: those who swear by the keelboat, built for the high seas, and those who rely on a dinghy for access to hidden anchorages and shallow waters. To decide, you need to ask yourself the right question: what kind of traveler are you?
The keelboat: performance and stability
The keelboat is the emblematic boat for ocean crossings. Imagine a vessel built for the Atlantic, stable under sail and confidently cutting through the waves. With its fixed keel, ideally deep and weighted, it offers an incomparable footing against the storms of the open sea. But is it made for all sailors?
Benefits :
- Foolproof stability: The deep keel keeps the boat upright, limiting roll. In heavy weather, it's an asset for crew safety and comfort.
- Improved upwind performance: The keelboat rides upwind better than a dinghy, which makes all the difference when tacking against a stubborn trade wind.
- Larger payload: Water tanks, diesel, food... A keelboat is designed to carry weight without too much impact on stability.
- Simplified maintenance: Fewer moving parts than a dinghy, so less risk of breakage.
- Numerous models of all ages and prices. The choice of a travel keelboat is vast.
Disadvantages :
- Deep draft: Forget confidential anchorages in 1.20 m of translucent water.
- Difficult to run aground on purpose: refit or repair the hull on a beach? Unlikely.
- Extra vigilance: in shoal areas, you need to calculate your routes to the nearest centimetre.
Ideal for for sailors who want to make big diagonals on the charts and enjoy the reliability of a stable, high-performance boat.
The dinghy: versatility and exploration
Imagine yourself anchored just a few meters from a pristine beach in Polynesia, or sailing in shallow waters in the heart of the Everglades. With a lifting keel, the world opens up to you differently.
Benefits :
- Access to secret anchorages : Turquoise lagoons, hidden rivers, swamps at the end of the world... A dinghy lets you drop anchor where others have to give up.
- Ease of beaching: If necessary, it can land gently on the sand without major risk. And best of all, the yacht remains more or less horizontal.
- More freedom of navigation: you can take to inland waterways and vary your playgrounds.
Disadvantages :
- Less upwind performance: If you like to tack upwind, this is not your best ally.
- More demanding maintenance: A drifting system requires more monitoring (corrosion, infiltration, blockages).
- More limited load capacity: You sometimes have to juggle with the space available for water and fuel. The centreboard also takes up a lot of space in the layout.
- More unstable in heavy weather: In heavy seas, a dinghy with ballast in the hull will be less stable, and will not recover its horizontal position as quickly if it overturns. It's best to avoid this type of location when dinghy sailing.
- More expensive to buy. At comparable sizes, a dinghy is more expensive than a keelboat, also because of its rarity on the market, especially on the second-hand market
Ideal for for those who want to explore every creek, every lagoon and push back the boundaries of travel.
Which type for which navigation?
The right choice depends on your itinerary and your sailing style:
- Ocean crossings, high latitudes, wide open spaces: opt for a sturdy, stable keelboat.
- Caribbean, Bahamas, South Pacific, shallow waters: a dinghy gives you access to heavenly anchorages.
- Mixed navigation (sea and river): Only a dinghy can combine coastal exploration and river travel.
- High tide areas: A dinghy allows you to run aground at low tide without risk.
How to choose?
Choosing between a keelboat and a dinghy depends on a careful assessment of your sailing program and your priorities. Do you prefer the performance and stability of a keelboat for safe ocean crossings, or the versatility of a dinghy for unrestricted exploration of shallow waters? Other criteria, such as comfort at sea, payload, maintenance and safety in the event of grounding, also need to be taken into account.
At sea, as in life, every choice determines your trajectory. Â??We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. Âeuros Aristotle.
In the end, the best boat is the one that suits your way of sailing... and your way of experiencing adventure.
