Grumman Aluminum Sailing Dinghy
Description
The Grumman Dinghy (also known as the Grumman Aluminum Sailing Dinghy or Grumman 8½' Dinghy) is a classic American aluminum sailing tender/dinghy produced by Grumman Boats (part of Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Allied Industries) in the mid-20th century, primarily the 1950s–1960s. Grumman, famous for WWII aircraft and later aluminum canoes/boats, applied aircraft-grade aluminum construction to create an ultra-light, indestructible small sailing dinghy. It was marketed as a rugged, one-design sailboat, yacht tender, or lifeboat, with production likely in the hundreds (exact numbers scarce as it was a niche product). The design featured a simple daggerboard hull (no fixed keel), lightweight riveted aluminum construction, and a sprit/lug or sliding gunter rig for easy setup and handling—ideal for daysailing, tender use, or casual lake/river sailing. It's praised for its durability (virtually maintenance-free, no rot or fiberglass issues), portability (car-toppable at ~83 lb), and surprising performance for its size, though it's not a high-performance racer.
Construction Details
| Designer | In House Design |
|---|---|
| Builder | Grumman Boats |
| Length | 8.520 ft |
| LOA | 8.520 ft |
| Beam | 4.160 ft |
| Displacement | 83 lb |
| Max Draft | 1.800 ft |
| Min Draft | 0.330 ft |
| Year Built | 1951 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Grumman Aluminum Sailing Dinghy - STANDING LUGSAIL
| Luff | 1.9 ft - (579 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 7.7 ft - (2347 mm) |
| Leech | 10.3 ft - (3139 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 95.31 ° |
| Diag (clew/throat) | 8.1 ft - (2469 mm) |
| Head | 8.1 ft - (2469 mm) |
| Area | * 39.48 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
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