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Choosing the Best Dinghy/Safety Boat Pudgy Sportsman/Fisherman Model Specifications and Technical Questions
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Photo taken by Pudgy owner |
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Choosing the Best Dinghy/Safety Boat for You
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Why would I want a Pudgy instead of a standard dinghy, rowboat, or motorboat?
The Portland Pudgy is extremely rugged, safe, and trustworthy, even in its simple capacity as a rowboat, motorboat, and yacht tender. It is unsinkable, tough, and incredibly stable. Here's a comment from a Pudgy owner who credits the Pudgy's toughness, stability, and handling with saving his wooden sailboat when it ran aground. The Pudgy is made of rugged polyethylene, which is intrinsically buoyant, and the space under the floor is filled with closed-cell foam. Take a look at this video of the Portland Pudgy drop test. What other dinghy could withstand that treatment? (In the test, the Pudgy is filled with 100 lbs of rock, and dropped into the water from eight feet!)
The Pudgy's roominess and stability make it the perfect yacht tender, fishing or duck hunting boat, or boat for family fun. The roomy cockpit is 16.1 square feet, and there is loads of additional storage room in the interior compartments in the side walls of the boat. There are two rowing positions (2 sets of oarlock sockets and an adjustable seat). The Pudgy is so stable you can stand up and move around in it. It's difficult to capsize the Pudgy, but if you do, it's very easy to right it, using the handholds in the bottom of the boat. It comes up empty of water because of the thick side walls. This can be life-saving, since hypothermia is a leading cause of fatalities in boating accidents.
The Portland Pudgy rows and tows beautifully, tracking perfectly because of the long skeg. It moves along nicely with a 2HP motor. It is fun to sail. The Pudgy's stability and ease of handling make it a great dinghy for blue water sailors or for kids, a good work deck, and a good platform for diving, duck hunting, or fishing. It integrates with sophisticated safety and survival equipment (including exposure canopy, sea anchor, and sailing kit). We also offer an electrical system, bailing pump, boat covers, and more (see the Accessories List for more information).
The Portland Pudgy is a high quality product made with great attention to detail and safety. Each boat is carefully built out by hand, per your order. Every boat includes oars, oarlocks, reflective strips, grab-lines, a built-in compass, a wheel in the keel, five access hatches for the storage chamber, a bridle, and stainless steel hardware. Many of our customers who have ordered their Portland Pudgy sight unseen, call or email us when they receive their boat to let us know how happy and pleasantly surprised they are with their Pudgy. "It's so much more than I expected!" is something we've heard pretty often!
How does the Portland Pudgy sail?
We have made substantial changes to the sailing system. The sail is larger, and has a window in it. The rudder post is stronger, the boom is now rigid aluminum, and we offer performance leeboards or standard leeboards. The boat goes faster and comes into the wind better, and is really fun to sail!
Is the Portland Pudgy a good family boat?
The Pudgy is a great family boat because of its stability, buoyancy, ease of handling, lightness, durability and storage space. Although designed as a self-rescue dinghy for blue water sailors, it's easy and fun to sail, and rows and motors well. It's unsinkable and difficult to capsize, making it a great dinghy for kids and a good fishing boat or diving platform. Top of page
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How many people can the Pudgy carry and with what size motor?
The Portland Pudgy was tested by the US Coast Guard (see picture). The dinghy complies with US Coast Guard safety standards as follows:
With no motor: 4 persons or 557 lb (persons and gear)
With a 2 HP motor: 4 persons or 557 lb (motor, persons and gear)
Why would I want a Portland Pudgy instead of an inflatable?
The Portland Pudgy is rigid, puncture-resistant, durable, and doesn’t need to inflate. It rows and tows beautifully. It motors well, and it can be used as a sailing dinghy. It’s aesthetically pleasing, and it has lots of storage space.
Why would I want a Portland Pudgy instead of a liferaft?
This is a big topic, for detailed information about the Portland Pudgy proactive lifeboat system, click here.
How is the Portland Pudgy a "self-contained unit"?
All of the Pudgy's safety equipment and accessories fit within the dinghy, and are stored either in storage compartments within the hull or under the rear seat. The mast telescopes down and the sail furls around it, and they are stored through the rear access hatch (see picture below). The exposure canopy and sea anchor also fold up and fit through an interior hatch. The leeboards and the rudder stow neatly under the rear seat. (In addition, you can store ditch bags, food, water, photography equipment, fishing or duck hunting equipment, etc. in the storage compartments.)
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The Pudgy is an excellent duck hunting boat or fishing boat. It's so stable you can stand up in it and move around. It's incredibly rugged and can be dragged over rough terrain. For information about the Portland Pudgy sportsman/fisherman model, click here.
Portland Pudgy Proactive Lifeboat
The Portland Pudgy proactive lifeboat/self-rescue boat lets you sail or row to safety. It's much sturdier than an inflatable liferaft, and can't deflate. For information about the Portland Pudgy proactive lifeboat system, click here.
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Does the Pudgy tow well?
Yes. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Pudgy tows beautifully. This is true for a few reasons. First, it has a long skeg, which makes it track well. Second, it has two tow-eyes (instead of a single one) which attach to a bridle, which in turn attaches to the tow line. The bridle adds stability and minimizes yaw. Also it seems to have the perfect balance between weight and buoyancy: it doesn't float like "eggshell" and flip over, or blow around like an inflatable. It stays in the water, but at the same time it floats high and therefore has minimal transom drag. In addition, you can tow it (empty) with the drain plug out, and if any water gets in the boat, it drains out immediately. Here's a quote from a Pudgy owner:
"The Portland Pudgy...tows with minimal drag, ...much less than our inflatable or our plywood dingy. It doesn't ship water when you tow it, and if it did, it is a self bailing boat when it is empty. The design of the Pudgy is two hulls that are filled with foam in between the upper and lower hulls on the floor. This means that the floor of the dingy is above the waterline. When you pull the drain plug, instead of filling up and sinking it drains out completely empty. This single thing makes the Pudgy 1/10 the chore of owning compared to any other dingy we have had."
Another Pudgy owner says he forgets it's there it tows so well.
How do I carry the Portland Pudgy for blue water sailing?
The Portland Pudgy can be strapped on top of the deck or cabin. The dinghy can be strapped down with heavy line or strong webbing, using the four through-holes near the gunwale or the two handholds in the keel. You can also carry the Pudgy on davits (see below).
Can the Pudgy be carried on davits?
You can lift the Portland Pudgy into a davit harness using the optional lifting eyes. The eyes are set low in the interior of the cockpit (they also serve as as fastening points for safety harnesses). In addition, if your boat has a swim step, you can use specially-designed Weaver davits. For more information on using davits, click here.
What about land transportation?
At approximately 128 lb, the Portland Pudgy is easy to carry. It has a wheel in the keel for rolling the dinghy. It fits in many station wagons and vans or on the roof of your car.
Specifications and Technical Questions
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Basic specs please?
USCG-approved, 4 person, 2HP. Capacity: 557 lb (greater than most 10' boats). Weight 128. LOA: 7’ 8”. Width: 4’ 4”. Height: 2’ 4”. Click here for a dimensional drawing of the boat. (Dimensions may vary slightly due to manufacturing processes.)
What colors are available?
The Portland Pudgy comes in warm white, sunset yellow, red, dark green, dark gray, and blue. Additional custom colors may be available on request. In addition the sail is available in white or safety orange. We've found that the colors work well. They look good, and make it easy to spot your dinghy, whether at sea or in a marina full of white dinghies.
How much does the Portland Pudgy weigh?
The basic dinghy weighs about 128 lbs.
Why is the Portland Pudgy so small?
It is designed to be of manageable weight and to fit on the foredeck of many sailing and motor boats.
Why is the Portland Pudgy so big?
The Pudgy is designed to be buoyant, stable, and roomy inside. It has 16.1 square feet of floor space (16 square feet is the USCG recommendation for a four-person life raft), and has a USCG-approved capacity of four people.
Why is the Portland Pudgy rotation-molded polyethylene?
The hard polyethylene shell is tough, durable and is not subject to deterioration or puncture. At the same time, the material has flex, which gives it greater impact resistance than fiberglass, for example. The polyethylene, which is inherently buoyant, is formed as a double hull, the lower portion of which is filled with a closed-cell foam. Polyethylene is resistant to marine growth.
What is the Portland Pudgy’s buoyancy?
USCG approved capacity is 557 (motor, passengers, and gear).
Carrying this load, there's still about ten inches of freeboard. It takes 1255 pounds of weight to submerge the dinghy (see photo of dinghy at USCG testing facility). Also take a look at the Portland Pudgy drop test.
What gives the Pudgy its buoyancy?
The Pudgy is unsinkable because:
The material it is made of (polyethylene) is intrinsically buoyant.
The lower portion of the hull is filled with closed-cell foam.
Air within the storage compartments in the upper portion of the double hull adds more buoyancy.
Is the Pudgy self-bailing?
Yes, the dinghy is self-bailing when empty or carrying up to about 30 lb of equipment.
Is the dinghy self-righting?
Handholds and an optional foot rest (patent pending multi-function cylinder) can be used to easily roll the dinghy to a righted position. (This is the method used for righting most inflatable life rafts.)
In righting, it scoops up very little water...for a nearly dry boat...because of its high flotation and thick side walls.
Doesn’t water spray up through the dagger board holes?
No. Ridges near the dagger board slots force water down from the slots (using Bernoulli’s principle).
What are the optional accessories?
Click here for a complete list of accessories.
How do I get a Portland Pudgy?
We are beginning to build a dealer network, and may have a dealer in your area. Otherwise, we will ship to you directly.
How much does it cost?
Please call or email for prices. Click here for a complete list of accessories
Contact us at:
Portland Pudgy Inc.
200 Anderson Street, Unit 6
Portland, Maine, 04101
207.761.2428
David Hulbert, President
skype: portlandpudgy
