There are links, throughout the article, to all of the production dinghies mentioned; so I guess you must be talking about our two-part dinghy, Tidely-Idely.
At the time when we wrote the article we hoped to persuade Johnson to make the plans available – via this website, if necessary – but he’s a funny old stick. (I can say that without fear of offending him, partly because he knows he is, and partly because he still resides in the pre-chip era and resolutely refuses to learn how to surf the net.)

Since the plans for this particular dinghy are not available there didn’t seem much point in writing the in-depth review which was promised at the end of the Sailing Tender feature. However, Johnson’s dinghy is not unique – so there is still hope!
In the course of the past year we have come across two home-made two-part dinghies. One was a very unstable creature with a superficial resemblance to Tidely-Idely, and the other was a standard pram which had been sawn in two. All you need to do, if you want to follow this course, is to ensure in advance that one half of the dinghy will fit neatly over the other. Not only must it be bigger; it must also be completely empty. The dagger-board case, the mast step and any buoyancy tank will all have to go in the slightly smaller half.

If the idea of sawing a dinghy in half does not appeal, then you might be interested in this link: http://www.nestawayboats.com/
Please note that this is not a recommendation – we have absolutely no experience of these boats – but they all look lovely, and when it comes to dinghies, what looks right usually is right.

The pram looks as if she would sail or row really nicely – but she isn’t cheap: prices seem to start at £1,250 for the basic GRP hull, without a centrboard box fitted. If you want a foam-core hull (like Tidely‘s) add another £850. If you want to sail her then, for the daggerboard and the complete lugs’l rig, you need to add a further £1,120, it seems.

The three part dinghy is particularly neat, but I think I would certainly want to try one out before I parted with £2,450. Again, that’s just the price of the hull. The rig, together with the lee-boards will set you back another £1,350.
I can’t find any mention of how she gets along undersail; and I would guess that, without a proper centrboard, she makes a lot of leeway.

So far as I can discover, the manufacturers don’t sell plans for the pram, but you can build your own three-part dinghy (or Trio, as it is called) :
If you like the idea of building a Trio yourself, there is also the option to buy the plans for construction in cedar strip – plans are £57 plus postage.

Perhaps this would be your best option, Margaretha, as the cost of shipping a completed hull from England to Canada doesn’t bear thinking about.

This three-part boat is actually the same length as our two-part Tidely Idely – which has inspired us to dream of one day building an even bigger three-part boat…………

Jill

P.S.
The latest record for load carrying in Tidely-Idely is three crew, one medium-sized dog, two tubs containing eight freshly washed diving wetsuits, and 325 litres / kilos / over a quarter of a ton of fresh water (in 13 jerrycans). Freeboard was reduced to 5cm / 2″ – so this is definitely NOT RECOMMENDED!

The photo of Tidely-Idely coming in under sail laden with jerry cans is a good one! The utilitarian style makes me forget about some of the little sailing kayaks/outriggers that are just for fun. Faster to build too

I’m glad I found your site. Excellent content and a superior layout as well!