Ruben's Nymph

[jimnmad]

Has anyone built "Dynamite" Payson's Ruben's Nymph. It's a little wider than the Nymph and I was wondering if the additional size would make it usable by an average size adult? How was it overall in building and handling? Thanks for any info.

[Bill Dodson]

Have you checked with the Bolger Discussion Group
Or Dynamite Payson's Message Board ?

I'd be interested in what you learn. Eventually, I want to build a tender for our sailboat, and it will have to be able to handle 500 pounds of my family & me. And that seems to be pushing the limits of many of the tenders I look at.

[John Bell]

Everybody I know who had built a Nymph says it's tender but it rows well. Everyone I know who's built a Reubens Nymph says it's a better boat, especially if you want to sail it. The Reubens version is just a Nymph with a 12" plug added down the centerline. It seems to me if someone felt the orginal was too narrow and Reubens was too wide, it would be very easy to get a compromise by putting only 6-8" additional beam in the Nymph.

[Keith Wilson]

I built one as a tender for a larger sailboat a few years ago. The additional width is a great improvement. It will carry three or four large adults in reasonably calm water with no problem. It feels VERY stable with just me, and I'm large and not very coordinated (I did manage to dump it once by a really boneheaded attempt at boarding off a high dock, but that's another story). It rows easily, although not fast, and tows very well. No problems building; standard taped-seam with lots of nasty goop. I used 3/4 plywood (instead of 1/4) for the transoms and frames, and reduced the frames' cross-section to something approaching a standard sawn frame - only a slight increase in weight, and it was a LOT easier to set up the hull becuse you can screw into the edges of the frames. I also added a normal thwart aft, shortening the centerline seat by about two feet to compensate. I built her for rowing only, so I can't speak to her sailing qualities. Good boat, IMHO.

[ 12-06-2002, 04:22 PM: Message edited by: Keith Wilson ]