Nelson Sailing Dinghy

sailboatshark · #1 (**permalink**) 11-22-2000

Hi! I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of the Nelson Sailing Dinghy? It is a cat boat, it is a monohull, and it has a pointed bow not a pram bow. I just bought it this past summer and I really love it! It is wide enough for me and one of my parents and a dog. It is 8ft. long. I swear I have heard the name before, but I have searched everywhere and I haven''t found anything! I was wondering if anyone knew of it? Could it of came with a Cruising Boat? I know that the guy I got it from had a Catalina Sailboat I think! Anyways if any of you have any info, I would like to know about the history of it, if there is any at all! Thanks! Sailboatshark!

Jimq · #2 (**permalink**) 11-21-2001

I have a Nelson sailing skiff that is 11ft. It''s lapstrake fiberglss, no wood. They were built in western Washington by Nelson Plastics, no longer in buisness. They are good little boats.

mrviento · #3 (**permalink**) 07-02-2006

I was in my parent's Nelson 11 today. It was purchesed new from Nelson here in Seattle in 1971. Great little sailer - I have never seen another one though...

Phalanx · #4 (**permalink**) 04-20-2008

I purchased a Nelson sailing dinghy in August, 1966. It is 8' stem to stern and 4' port to starboard, with a retractable centerboard and fold-up rudder. It has flotation chambers in the bow, mid-ship seat and stern seat. I never worried about having our children play and sail it because it is unsinkable -- they could swamp it but never sink it. They could climb back in, bail it out and sail away. When not using the sail we rowed it or powered it with a 3.5 Mercury outboard and also a small battery-powered trolling motor. We used it for a tender to our 26' Sabercraft cruiser -- carried it on the stern transom. We still have it and use it with pleasure! We sailed from our waterfront home on Lake Washington and around Puget Sound and the Canadian San Juan Islands. --Capt. C. David Jones, The Marilynne II, Rainier Yacht Club, Seattle, WA. PS. Later we moved to Chesapeake Bay and used our Nelson sailing dinghy as a tender for our SeaRay cruiser, The Sanddollar, Watergate Yacht Club, Annapolis, MD.