Honey, my boat got longer! The phenomenon of the moment is the dolphin boat

As wewere reviewing the news of recent years, our eye fell on the bows of recently launched boats, discovering the existence of a real ‘dolphin phenomenon’. “The trend among all shipyards,” Silvano Botti of Settemari, one of Dufour’s Italian dealers, tells us, “is now to offer the boat already equipped with a dolphin boat.” In the case of the Dufour models, where it remains optional (fiberglass) up to the 412 but from the 460 and up it is already standard, the attachment is done with two nuts in the bow snout and a restraint bolted directly into the mainsail to which the forestay is attached in the foredeck.

THE REASONS FOR SUCCESS
The reasons are many: “First, because the bows are increasingly vertical, if not inverted,” Botti continues. “By using a dolphin boat that integrates the anchor snout this will not run the risk of slamming into the starboard bow. Then because, by eliminating the use of a traditional bowsprit, you will be able to wall off an asymmetric one mounted on a whiplash (a hoist is provided that allows you to adjust the height of the tack point directly from the deck) and a Code 0 type sail, open and close it at your leisure and leave it walled in even when not in use because having the tack point ‘outside’ the boat will not bother jibs and genoa.” Another advantage is explained to us by Bert Mauri (owner of theRimini-based company of thesame name specializing in composite machining): “By mounting a gennaker on the dolphin boat, the tack point is much further forward and the gybe becomes more comfortable and smooth.” Not to mention that you move the sail center toward the bow and, with the same sail size, you reduce the area of inefficiency near the leech where going over the mainsail, especially in light winds, results in the loss of lamellar flow, consequently reducing efficiency. Finally, in the case of bow moorings, the extension will benefit you in going ashore. Even many Nordic shipyards (first and foremost Najad) also provide a ladder to be mounted on the dolphin boat (in any case, these models are easily found here as well, as you can see in our focus on “what’s on the market” at the link below).

MARKET – WHO TO TURN TO FOR DOLPHIN MAKING

WHAT IF I WANTED IT RETROFITTED?
But to a boat owner who has a slightly older boat, would it be worthwhile to retrofit a dolphin boat? Of course it does, for all the reasons listed above. And also because, says Paolo Zanchi of Gold Service Rigging. of Casemurate (Ravenna), “the sail plans of recent years include tiny jibs at the bow, they all have big yield problems in carrying gaits, so even in cruising in recent years there has been a lot of room for Code 0 type sails for light winds and gennaker for carrying, with associated whip. In addition, by integrating the anchor snout into the bowsprit, you will be able to fit the newer, higher-performance anchors, such as Rocna or Mantus (the ones with the bow, to be clear), which would instead be more problematic in a configuration with a traditional bowsprit.”

INSTALLATION IS SIMPLE
Assembly is really simple, both for the classic stainless steel cruising dolphin maybe with treadable wood battens and for the more “racer” aluminum or carbon one. Zanchi and his countryman Mauri assure him: “In most cases,” explains Mauri, who is accustomed to working with ‘custom’ products, “all we need is for the customer to provide us with the bow footprint, after the snout has been uninstalled (even 2 to 3 mm fiberglass will suffice, we can even do it ourselves on site), and we deliver the finished product ready for installation. The owner himself will do the assembly. To save weight, he will also be able to remove the metal strips protecting the starboard bow once the anchor is housed on the dolphin boat and thus no longer risk damaging it.” Zanchi, on the other hand, can rely on “standard dolphins,” which, however, open compasswise and fit all kinds of bows, just follow the attached instructions. Simply bolting the dolphin rail to the hull and assembling the rigid tie rod to load the strain on the starboard bow, installing a bracket with an eyebolt.” Prices, which are indicative, range from 600 euros for a standard basic product (excluding installation) up to 6,000 euros for a custom composite dolphin boat (including labor).

NOT TO MAKE A MESS
“If your boat has classic lines, with very prominent pulpits (perhaps complete with a forecastle),” Zanchi recommends, “you will need to check that the fall of the foresail or gennaker has enough overhang to stick out of the pulpit. This obviously applies to bowsprits as well. Perhaps you will be better off, in this case, equipping yourselves with open pulpits. Very often the installation of a dolphin boat goes hand in hand with this modification.” Very true: the dolphin track has in fact determined, even in production boats, the solution of open bow pulpits, so as to leave room for the furler opening/closing circuit and not to cause hindrances if the asymmetrical tack needs to be worked on. “It becomes inconvenient to have it closed,” Mauri explains, “for overhangs of more than a meter: in this case you could still attach an eyebolt or ‘padeye’ on deck to use a ‘retriever,’ so that you can rig the sail on deck and with a selvedge pull it to the tack point. Also for safety reasons.”. Bert Mauri then emphasizes a bureaucratic issue that can lead to nasty surprises if underestimated: “Looking around, I see dolphin boats that look like they are “glued” to the hull, and you can’t tell that it is actually a movable appendage (even a good dolphin boat should be able to be removable), potentially removable. Always try to keep at least a couple of bolts visible, so you don’t have problems with registration (if it is a fixed part it has to be declared and it gets more complicated). For example, the composite dolphin boat we made for the Grand Soleil 43 (with bowsprit functions only) is bolted in sight in three places, and the owner, if he wishes, can easily remove it.” Finally, Zanchi has a piece of advice for racers: “Dolphin and bowsprit are considered equally by ORC rating, they are considered an appendage on par with the spinnaker. Generally you start paying a lot if the appendage exceeds 10 percent of the boat’s length, so with some exceptions, it’s best not to overdo it.”

AND THE GOOD OLD BOWSPRIT?
When should a simple bowsprit be mounted instead? “There are no contraindications to the dolphin boat,” Zanchi continues, “except for the fact that in many ports the mooring price is calculated on the overall length, appendages included, so a retractable solution results in savings. Also, trivially, you will have to take into account the greater projection in maneuvering.” On smaller racing boats finally the bowsprit is still the best solution, in terms of maneuverability and above all lightness. Retractable inside the hull or on deck? “The only criticality in retractable recessed models occurs when you need different overhangs (such as a code 0 that needs about 40 cm of overhang and a gennaker, which ranges from 70 to 80 cm on a medium-sized boat). Our deck bowsprits have the special feature of being installed in front of the anchor locker, thanks to a case that allows us, even when the anchor locker goes very far forward (and therefore there is very little room to attach the classic bowsprit ring), to bring the ring out of the boat and have sufficient overhangs.” The choice of tubular diameter will have to be based on the boat’s displacement, sail area, desired overhang, and its use: if you are using it to tack a frull the loads will be different than for a gennaker.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
So far we have tried to dissect the topic of bowsprits and dolphins from a technical point of view, but these solutions prove that history, even in the nautical sphere, is cyclical, and sooner or later what had fallen into oblivion comes back into relevance. Bowsprits and dolphins (the latter in their original meaning, i.e., as it is written in Carla Notarbartolo Malingri and Paolo Chighizola’s Dictionary of Sailing, “nets placed under the bowsprit to safely reach its end”) have their roots in the dawn of ocean navigation, with the first great sailing ships: “One only has to take a look at Columbus’ caravels,” explains Paolo Maccione, an expert journalist on vintage boats, “to realize that they were already equipped with bowsprits. The latter was a highly inclined foremast (as much as 30/45°), under which a square sail known as a cove was rigged on a perpendicular yardarm. The part of the bowsprit that was recessed into the boat (the so-called “fuse”) rested on the serpe or serpa, or the place where the crew satisfied their bodily needs.”

In the early 1800s, the square sails underneath the bowsprit were no longer used, and the oared mast was assigned the function of giving the right angle to the fixed lateral holding rigging of the bowsprit mast. In the meantime, however, several bow sails, such as jibs and counter-jibs, were being masoned on the bowsprit. The use of bowsprit went on until the world of sailing competitions was transformed from a terrain for a very select few to an almost “popular” phenomenon. After World War II, international tonnage systems penalized bowsprits that were too long: moreover, boats began to be designed with long bowsprits, effectively making an appendage unnecessary. The carrier sail was one and only one, the spinnaker. It was then with the appearance, around the mid-1980s, of gennakers and asymmetrics (much more comfortable in cruising and, if well worn, competitive in racing as well) that retractable bowsprits would return. Finally, given the recent design trend of zero momentum if not inverted bows, bowsprits and especially dolphins for cruising have become indispensable, to prevent the anchor from hitting the starboard bow.

THE MOST “BOMPRESSIVE” COUNTRY
But, as Maccione points out, “in reality the bowsprit has never disappeared from our seas. Just think of Turkey, with its gulets, still used as charter boats. Mind you, they are all equipped with bowsprits-I think Turkey can safely be called the country with the highest concentration of bowsprits!”

Eugene Ruocco