You don’t really notice it. It works when needed and stays quiet when it isn’t. Very occasionally you send someone to the foredeck to back it by hand in close quarter manoeuvring but otherwise you leave it alone. Most of the time on the Broads you sail on the top of the main, and make decisions on that basis.

Interesting. I suppose in theory you could still have port and starboard jin sheets, which most of the time would be loose, and then use them when you need to back the jib. I'm just thinking ahead to if I ever get a cruiser, as I'd likely be single-handed much of the time. (Which is no problem with our Tideway 12!)

Thank you! She’s a Nutshell design from the drawing board of Malcolm Goodwin, an Essex based designer and sailor in the UK.

Thank you. It is a magical place. There’s also a wide range of stunning wildlife.

I guess I’d say that stability is a variable concept. It is possible to capsize Tumbler but it’s fairly hard to do, and she’s usually sailed and rowed in places where the risks are manageable e.g. other people are around, or I know I can get to a shore easily if I fall out.

Tumbler is a Malcolm Goodwin designed Nutshell dinghy. More details here www.barrowboat.com/new/nutshell.htm She has a couple of modifications from the original design (side benches, outer gunwhales) and probably weights around 50kg in rowing mode, and 60 kg with the sailing rig in. She’s used in a very wide variety of ways from a single small child rowing or sailing her, up to 3 or 4 adults (combined wight 300kg) in her being rowed back from the yacht. She’s incredibly versatile, and essentially very safe. She’s normally based on a very busy river where motorboats makes large amounts of wash but even fully loaded she doesn’t take water over the sides, despite the best efforts of the stinkpots to create enormous waves!

That’s right. It keeps the sail tight to the mast and adds some more vertical angle to the yard, which really helps improve performance to windward. When it’s not tight you really notice a difference.

Hi, you're partially right. It's there to keep the peak up when sailing which markedly improves upwind performance. When the sail is lowered it's actually slack enough to drop the yard and the boom into the boat without a problem. It did take a while to calibrate the precise length of loop needed!

@@SailingTumbler Thank you.

I could not agree more. James 1958 Flying Scot, Virginia............⛵

I actually launched somewhere else but I’d recommend giving the Martham boatyard a call. We used to launch our dinghies there 40 years ago and I’ve heard recent reports that they’re still friendly and accommodating to visiting dinghies.

@@SailingTumbler Thanks very much for the info. I still haven't quite decided whether to base myself in the Martham area or in the Hickling area, in which case I'd probably launch from Whispering Reeds. ATB Paula

@@paulathomas4944 Both are good :-) If you look closely at 4:15 in the video you’ll see the 4 Whispering Reeds houseboats, still operating after 5 decades (or possibly longer!)

Horsey is a truly magical place. I felt that as a child, and am even more in love with the Mere as an adult. I feel very lucky to have been able to sail there every now and again.