What the Sailing World Has Been Saying About the Portland Pudgy for over 20 Years!

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20 years and counting….

For over two decades, the Portland Pudgy has been quietly building a reputation as something unusual in the dinghy world: a tough little boat that works hard every day as a tender, and can step up as a true self-rescue lifeboat when it counts.

Magazines, professional sailors, and liveaboard cruisers have all kicked the tires (and gunwales) on this 7’8″ roto-molded pram. Over and over, the same themes keep popping up: stability, safety, versatility, and long-term value. Portland Pudgy+1

This post isn’t our review. It’s a roundup of what other people have said about the Portland Pudgy over the last ~20 years.

Big-Name Boat Tests & Magazine Reviews

Sail Magazine – “A Tender That Can Save Your Life” (2010)

In 2010, Sail Magazine’s editor-in-chief took the Portland Pudgy out himself and focused on what makes it different from a normal yacht tender: it rows, motors, and sails like a dinghy—but it’s also a serious lifeboat when you add the exposure canopy and survival gear. Sail Magazine+1

He emphasizes that unlike a traditional life raft (something you hope you never use), the Pudgy is a piece of gear you use every day—so you know it works.

Key themes from Sail:

  • Real, usable lifeboat capability in a small tender
  • Comfortable rowing and straightforward motoring
  • A practical way to justify investing in offshore safety gear

Yachting Monthly – “The Ultimate Yacht Tender” (2008)

In a comparative dinghy test, Yachting Monthly billed the Portland Pudgy as the “ultimate yacht tender.” The testers looked at stability, carrying capacity, and practicality as a tender for cruising sailors. Yachting Monthly+1

Their takeaways:

  • Serious carrying capacity for its length
  • Robust, confidence-inspiring build
  • A good match for cruisers who don’t want to baby an inflatable

Good Old Boat – “Seeking the Perfect Dinghy” (2007)

Good Old Boat ran a detailed piece by a cruiser who set out with a long “perfect dinghy” wish list: good rowing, stable for boarding, safe for kids, durable, and easy to stow. The Portland Pudgy was his answer to that search, coming very close to his ideal. Portland Pudgy+1

Standout impressions:

  • Stable when loading from a bigger boat
  • Safe, confidence-building dinghy for family use
  • Hard dinghy durability with better safety features than a simple rowboat

Small Craft Advisor – Multiple Deep-Dive Reviews (2013, 2014, 2023)

Small Craft Advisor has spent a lot of time with the Pudgy:

  • 2013 “Boat Review: The Portland Pudgy” – A full, multi-page review by Larry Brown that looks at the Pudgy as an all-around dinghy and lifeboat. Small Craft Advisor+1
  • 2014 “The Great Rig Experiment” – Focused on the sailing rig; they found the Pudgy remarkably stable under sail and unusually dry for such a small boat. Portland Pudgy+1
  • 2023 follow-up – The magazine revisited the design years later, highlighting its ruggedness and “Swiss Army knife” utility in a fresh context. Instagram+1

Across all three, the same points keep coming up: this isn’t a toy; it’s a serious little workboat that happens to sail and function as a lifeboat.

Cruising World – Sailing Dinghy Test (2017)

In a line-up of sailing dinghies, Cruising World called the Pudgy “the most complicated sailing dinghy we tried”—and noted that this is intentional. The boat is designed to be a rowboat, motorboat, sailing dinghy, and lifeboat in one hull. Cruising World

They liked:

  • Dual rowing positions with the clever flip-over center seat
  • The way the sailing rig, leeboards, and rudder stow out of the way
  • The fact that this “little” dinghy is built for big jobs

Motor Boat & Yachting, WaveTrain, and Others

  • Motor Boat & Yachting described the Portland Pudgy as one of the most ingeniously designed boats at the show, and said they’d pick it over a conventional liferaft if they had to step off the mothership. Portland Pudgy
  • On the WaveTrain blog, the Pudgy is singled out as the hard-bottomed alternative in a sea of inflatables: a colorful little dink that can be ordered with both a sail rig and lifeboat options. Wave Train

The pattern is consistent: professional testers see it as a highly thought-out, multi-role safety boat, not just a cute yellow dinghy.

What Pros and Offshore Sailors Say

Sail-Training Programs

Professional training outfits and offshore instructors have also weighed in. In social posts and video, sail-training programs that work in tough weather have praised the Pudgy as:

  • “Sensible, no-nonsense, always ready” as a tender
  • A boat students can flip, right, and actually practice self-rescue with
  • A platform where the lifeboat conversation becomes real, not theoretical Portland Pudgy+1

These aren’t one-off demo sails—they’re using the boat with paying students in real conditions.

Record-Setting Fun

Sailing Magazine’s 2022 profile of yacht designer Will Porter notes, almost in passing, that he holds the world record for boat speed in a Portland Pudgy dink. Sailing Magazine

It’s a small detail—but it says something about how seriously some very experienced sailors take this little boat.

Real-World Owner Feedback: Forums & Social Media

Magazine tests are great. But what about people using the Pudgy every day as their only dinghy?

Liveaboard & Cruiser Groups

In liveaboard sailing groups, owners describe the Pudgy as:

  • “Awesome… won’t pop, can drag it up on the dock, over rocks… won’t fall apart in the sun.” Facebook
  • A tender that feels more like a mini workboat than a fragile inflatable

On Reddit’s r/sailing, one sailor who borrowed a Pudgy for a few days said they loved the stability and joked you could practically stand up and dance in it without tipping it over. Reddit

Tug and Trawler Communities

On the TugNuts forum (Ranger Tug owners), a thread titled “Any reason not to buy a Portland Pudgy as a tender?” includes this balanced summary: the Pudgy is very stable and has lots of attachments and options, but it’s heavier than a small roll-up, so some people use a small pulley system to hoist it. The Tugnuts

On TrawlerForum, owners who cruise long distances have described the Pudgy as a “great little dinghy” that shines for boarding and loading in a seaway, and they often point out the lifeboat canopy and sea anchor in the context of serious safety contingencies. Trawler Forum

Classic-Boat Sailors

On the Cape Dory owners’ forum, there’s a thread literally titled “Rethinking the Dinghy – The Portland Pudgy” where sailors consider replacing an inflatable with the Pudgy for a safer, more robust tender. Cape Dory Sailboat Owners Association

And Good Old Boat has featured the Pudgy both in reviews and in later pieces, with owners calling it a cross between a dinghy and a lifeboat—built in Maine and very much at home in rough water. Good Old Boat+1

The Common Threads After 20 Years

Put all of these outside opinions together and a clear picture forms. Across magazines, forums, and social media, people tend to say the same things about the Portland Pudgy:

  1. It’s a true multi-role boat.
    Row, motor, sail, lifeboat—this isn’t marketing fluff. Independent reviewers and owners use the Pudgy in all four roles. Sail Magazine+2Cruising World+2
  2. It’s unusually stable and forgiving.
    Whether it’s a kid learning to sail, a cruiser transferring fuel jugs, or an exhausted crew climbing in from the water, people keep coming back to the Pudgy’s stability. Cruising World+2Reddit+2
  3. It’s built like a tiny workboat.
    Roto-molded polyethylene, foam-filled chambers, and a double hull make it more “utility boat” than beach toy. Owners drag it over docks and rocks instead of tip-toeing around it. Portland Pudgy+1
  4. It doesn’t deflate—and that matters offshore.
    Reviewers in Sail, Yachting Monthly, and others explicitly contrast the Pudgy with inflatable rafts and dinghies that can puncture, lose air, or age out after only a few seasons. Sail Magazine+2Yachting Monthly+2
  5. It’s an investment in long-term value.
    A Pudgy usually costs more upfront than a basic inflatable, but magazines and owners alike frame it as a long-term, multi-decade solution instead of a disposable 5–10-year dinghy. Portland Pudgy+2Portland Pudgy+2

Want to Read the Full Reviews?

If you’d like to dive deeper, you can read many of these pieces in full:

After nearly 20 years of independent testing and real-world use, the Portland Pudgy has become more than just “that cute yellow dinghy.” It’s a proven, hard-working safety boat that happens to be a lot of fun.