Sorry this is longer than expected.

Just for clarification to define cruising is for me: anything from a daysail to a couple of days away sleeping onboard. This naturally requires the ability to handle a bit of fruity stuff on inshore waters.

The voyages of the Gulls sister ship the Wayfarer are legendary. The middle size Wander is also very capable. But what about the Gull?

After years of Wayfarer and Wander sailing Margret Dye settled on a Gull and that was part of my decision making process. It’s often stated that small boats get more use.

My Gull fits in a single garage, can be moved with ease, tows well and launching and recovery is without drama.

The Mirror and perhaps the Heron might be slightly better in these respects as not as beamy and Mirror much lighter.

Mirror 45.5kg 1.39m beam

Heron 63.7kg 1.37m beam

Gull 88kg 1.44m beam

Those figures don’t really substantiate it but the Gull feels a bigger boat. Don’t get me wrong the Gull is a small boat, I was shocked when I saw other one on the water. It can be sailed two up, but it’s cramped. It is claimed suitable for two adults and two children, how they fit in is beyond me. More modern versions have benches forward of the thwart but a longer foredeck.

Just for context, add three foot and get a Wanderer (LOA-14ft)139kg with the beam going up to 1.8m – a big jump. The Enterprise, that I do like, at a smidge under 13ft and only 94kg is considerably roomer than the Gull and a strong contender for a solo cruising dinghy.

Over the Mirror and Heron the Gull seams considerably more roomy. It’s not spacious but a comfortable nights sleep is very possible. I won’t lie but it was a challenge to begin with but with experience and development it’s very acceptable. The challenge is moving kit about and setting up sleeping platforms Yes there are bigger boats with pop up cuddys, purposely designed sleeping platforms but they are much bigger and go against the first point.

There is a great article by Michael Storer about buoyancy placement where he states that the sailor understanding his abilities and that of the boat in all conditions including capsize and recovery are the key factor. I think the small size helps in my confidence in this area, yes she may capsize easier than bigger boats but she is smaller and easier to right and when swamped ultimately is holding less water.

https://www.storerboatplans.com/boat-design/the-raid41-distance-cruising-racing-dinghy-discontinued/

I believe I have my Gull well sorted both for buoyancy and reefing. I do capsize testing, loaded, and feel confident of my ability to self rescue. I feel the Gull as a capable boat upwind in a blow. I have mine set up and can reef in a seaway. My most challenging conditions, so far, being crossing the Solent wind against tide wind variable probably hitting F5 at times with numerous reef changes. About four hours was on open water and I felt safe and not over tired after over six hours continuous sailing.

The thing I find is that when pressed the Gull just slowly heads up.

At the other end of the scale in light winds the Gull holds her own and sails well. She has a nice narrow stern, which I think accounts for this ability and I believe helps in rowing.

Sailing with Mirrors and Herons I would say that in light winds they are all similar but when the breeze is up the extra beam and hull shape of the Gull probably gives her the edge.

My Gull has the Bermudan rig and upwind can be faster upwind against longer boats with traditional rigs. Off wind and depending on the set up traditional rigs have their day in terms of speed and sail handling generally.

If you look at hull speeds an 11ft boat hull speed is 4 knots, and a 14ft boat 4.6 knots, so a much bigger boat is 15% faster. On a 4 hour trip were talking a little over half an hour longer in the Gull, not a lot. Somewhere there is an article on how tide effects relative speeds. Work the tides right and the difference is reduced. Tide against you and light winds and your short dinghy isn’t going anywhere fast. From GPS it doesn’t take much wind to get my Gull above 3 knots.

Now the Gull does have its vices, it doesn’t have a slot gasket so she ships a lot of water in chop. This mainly comes in from behind the board handle where it ricochets off the back of the case. I’ll do a post later but a rag and then a simple bit of wood and hose pipe reduces the water intake substantially.

The next vice. My first trip across the Solent was down wind and when I went straight down wind with the waves it was very rocky and I had to go reach to reach. I had a similar experience in a blow in Chichester harbour sailing alongside a Mirror (very capable sailor), he was full rig, goose winged and steady as rock. I was under reefed main only and still not comfortable. I also race a Laser so rocky downwind is usual, all the normal tricks didn’t help so off reaching I went.

A few days later I was sailing alongside another Gull, a gust hit him and he accelerated up to hull speed. Big bow and stern wave and big trough midships. This led to a theory, the trough caused a decrease in beam midships with the hull held on the narrow bow and stern. The Mirror had its single chine firmly in the salty stuff.

This issue is not helped as down wind I needed to sit on the thwart and this requires me sitting facing backwards. As I never sit in the back of the Gull I had the idea that should fit a rear thwart. Apart from facing the right way I am pressing the stern down and locally increasing waterline beam and adding stability. I’ve only test a few times and not in a big blow and waves but it feels better.

So that’s my take, warts and all, so is the Gull a good cruising boat?

I’m enjoying developing and optimising my Gull and I look less and less on ApolloDuck and haven’t sketched my own perfect cruiser in a long while.

I do however think if I was doing budget boat I would buy a cheap GRP Enterprise. If money was no object I’d have Deben Lugger for over nighting and a new Gull for day sailing.