Did I Ruin My Boat? Testing My Completely Rebuilt Ultimate Cruising Dinghy

After many episodes and months of rebuilding and modifying My Sea Roamer, my Ultimate Cruising Dinghy is finally back on the water. The Roamer isn't just an old sailing dinghy. It was specifically designed by Eric Coleman as a purpose-built cruising dinghy — a boat intended to combine the speed and close-winded performance of a racing dinghy with the stability, dryness and seaworthiness needed for cruising. Coleman designed the Roamer to be stable, forgiving and capable of looking after its crew when things go wrong. The design has been tested with two people standing on the sidedeck with the centreboard raised, and is designed to self-right after being heeled beyond 110 degrees. It was also designed with cruising in mind, including watertight storage, accommodation for sleeping aboard, shallow-water capability and enough space for extended adventures. Decades later, I've spent months modifying my own Roamer to see just how far I can push the original idea of the Ultimate Cruising Dinghy. I've completely rebuilt the rudder, fitted a massive 220% genoa — which I believe is the biggest genoa in the world, built my own keel winch, relocated the battery, and made a long list of other changes based on everything we discovered during the first season of sailing My Sea Roamer. But there's one problem… Did I actually make this classic cruising dinghy better, or did I ruin it? This is finally the test. My friend Brandon and I originally planned to take My Sea Roamer out on Port Phillip Bay, but with 30–35 knots of northerly wind forecast, putting a heavily modified 14-foot cruising dinghy straight into those conditions seemed like a pretty bad way to test the rebuild. So instead we head east into Gippsland, Victoria, to Blue Rock Lake. Surrounded by hills and with much more manageable conditions, Blue Rock gives us the chance to actually sail the boat and test all of the modifications we've spent months building. Does the enormous 220% genoa actually work? Does the rebuilt rudder perform better? Does the homemade keel winch survive? Was moving the battery the right decision? And most importantly, have I improved Eric Coleman's original cruising dinghy design — or have I completely messed with something that was already very well thought out? The water is absolutely freezing, but we sail to the far southern end of Blue Rock Lake and anchor for lunch, cooking chicken noodle soup while listening to some very interesting things unfold over the radio. As the sun starts to disappear, we begin the cold sail back. There's an AeroPress, custard tarts, a Honda outboard that has previously survived being completely submerged, and a freezing trip back to the ramp. Then, a few days later, My Sea Roamer gets one final test — I take my son out sailing. This episode is the payoff to the Ultimate Cruising Dinghy rebuild and the next chapter in the development of My Sea Roamer. From cruising dinghy design and boat restoration to dinghy sailing, small sailboat cruising, sailboat modification and sailing adventures, this series is about taking a boat that was designed specifically for cruising and seeing just how capable it can become. THE ROAMER The Roamer was designed by Eric Coleman, whose ideas and work contributed to the development of the Dinghy Cruising Association (DCA). Coleman wrote extensively about his approach to cruising dinghy design, including in Dinghies for All Waters. His philosophy was simple: if a boat was designed specifically for cruising, there was no reason it couldn't also be fast, close-winded, dry, stable and self-righting. My Sea Roamer is my attempt to take that philosophy and push it further. If you're interested in cruising dinghies, dinghy cruising, small sailboats, trailer sailers, sailing Australia, sailing Victoria, Gippsland sailing, Blue Rock Lake, boat restoration, wooden boats, plywood boats, sailboat modifications, cruising boat design, small craft cruising or adventure sailing, this is the next chapter. Restoration. Modification. Sailing. Adventure. #CruisingDinghy #DinghySailing #sailing #dinghycruising #SailingAustralia Thanks to our sponsors: Ronstan: www.ronstan.com.au MEB Sail Design: https://www.saildesign.com.au And everyone on Patreon that supports the channel: https://patreon.com/TomStuchberySaili...