This second post about our featured boat for January 2026 takes a look at her sea trials. ‘Raedwald’ is one to look out for as the year unfolds, a brand new modern dinghy designed and built in Suffolk by local young boatbulder, Sam Doman. Read the first part, where we let the photos tell the build story.
What are the five rig options?
single balanced lugsail
lug yawl (ideally suited to dinghy camping)
‘cruising gaff rig’ with jib and asymmetric spinnaker
‘catboat’ style gaff rig, with only the mainsail stepped in the forward position
‘high performance gaff rig’ with trapeze, topsail and 300 sq ft masthead spinnaker.
The lug rig for the prototype is borrowed from another of my dinghies. It uses an old hollow wooden yacht spar as the unstayed mast and carbon windsurfer masts for the boom and yard. The gaff rig is entirely custom made in carbon fibre, keeping weight to a minimum, despite being significantly over-engineered for a boat of this size. Production boats will have similar carbon spars throughout. Sails on the prototype rigs are a bit of an assortment. We’re working closely with East Coast Sailmakers, who will be providing all the sails and canvas-work for the production models. We’ve also teamed up with Allen Brothers and Kingfisher Yacht Ropes to provide all the rigging hardware and ropes for this boat and future production models.
High performance gaff rig sea trials
Making the carbon spars for the high performance gaff rig was an interesting challenge and a great opportunity to learn new skills. My experience designing and manufacturing carbon components is limited. With a background in more traditional boatbuilding I’ve dabbled in making carbon foils and spars before. I particularly enjoyed making the gaff saddle which is very low-profile, to reduce aerodynamic drag. It weighs less than 300g. The bowsprit, made from three tapered carbon tubes which fit together perfectly, may be fitted/removed from the through-stem socket easily. It extends from 700mm to 1700mm when going downwind with the asymmetric spinnaker. This rig really gets her moving. She planes to windward and achieved a sustained 11 kts in just 15 kts of breeze with only two of the four sails set. To date, she’s only been out a few times, in winds up to about 15kts, but everything works well. With her high performance gaff rig ’Raedwald’ is perfectly balanced, predictable and the power is very manageable. We have lots more testing to do and she’s not fully stretched her legs yet, but so far she’s exceeding expectations in every sense.
Sea trials with the lug rig
Launching the boat in summer 2025 with just the lug rig, she sailed exactly as I hoped. She’s fast, responsive, easy to handle afloat and ashore. Perhaps most importantly, she’s very easy to sail! Her first trip was from West Mersea to Woodbridge. 40 miles beating into North Sea chop and she handled it beautifully, averaging 4.5 kts with bursts of 7+ kts with the smallest rig in light and flukey winds. Further trials have proven her to be a very easy and safe boat to sail. My 88 year-old grandmother enjoyed the experience of planing at 10 kts in a 20 kts breeze without getting splashed! We’ve sailed her with four people on board with space for everyone to sit comfortably and move around safely with plenty of freeboard.
What was your aim in designing ‘Raedwald’?
The goal when designing the boat was for her to be able to achieve 15+ kts, which we are yet to do, but I think it’s attainable. I believe this would make her the fastest gaff rig open boat ever built. Although, maybe there’s one in Sydney Harbour? Another benchmark was for her to be as sea kindly and capable as a Wayfarer (despite being nearly a foot shorter). In summer, 2026 the intention is to test this by attempting to break the record for sailing non-stop round Britain in an open boat. This record has always been held by a Wayfarer. The current record stands at just over 15 days, averaging 3.8 kts. I’m fairly confident that ‘Raedwald’ can beat this, given the right weather. Another record I’d like to attempt, using the lug rig, is the Guinness World Record for the greatest distance sailed in a single handed dinghy in 12 hours, currently held by a Laser dinghy.
A major part of my motivation for designing and building this boat is to demonstrate to the greater sailing community that traditional rigs are still relevant. They can still out-sail modern boats, which have sacrificed all their charm in the pursuit of mass-produced performance.
If you are interested in finding out more, or having a fibreglass boat built, please contact Sam by email.
Words: Sam Doman
Photos: Tom Jennings
www.modernclassicboats.com
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