Tiwal 2 review: Malina from Pennington, NJ

My name is Malina, I am from Pennington New Jersey, in United States.

Which Tiwal model do you have?

I have a Tiwal 2 sailing dinghy, I have named her Vida Rose. I have had it since the beginning of this year.

Where do you sail?

I honestly sail anywhere and everywhere and every time I have the opportunity to do it. In some lakes, in fresh water, you know the Long Island Sound, again at every opportunity I get.

Single-handed or double-handed?

First preference of course, I got it as a birthday present for myself, but I got into sailing inspired by my son who is fourteen years old and so very often he and I will sail together. Also I recently brought my Tiwal to some sailing meetings in a sailing club that I belong to. It was a huge success, everyone wanted to try it.
If I could high-five a Tiwal I would, it’s going great!

How is it going so far?

Honestly it was love at first sight when I first went to the Annapolis boat show and the year before I had bought myself an inflatable paddleboard. And it was such a nice experience, so easy to transport, easy to pack. And so when I saw Tiwal, it was like whow, Oh my God, this is even better, because it’s inflatable and it’s a sailboat, so it’s my favorite activity on the water and it’s my favorite way of doing it, because it’s compact, it fits in my car, I can take it anywhere, I can sail it anywhere. It is so easy. Every time I put my Tiwal together, every time I assemble it, I am so amazed at how simple and elegant and just intuitive the design is, you know, so, how is it going with my Tiwal? It is going great!

Which characteristics did surprise you?

Two things about the boat surprised me the most.

Number one, the very first assembly, I got the Tiwal in February, when it is not really sailing weather, so I put it together in my house. So you know it fit, and I could put it together the day that it arrived. The simplicity, the way everything just snaps together, or the Velcro straps, the way the sail comes on to the mast, how light the mast is. I shouldn’t mention, I am about 5 feet tall, so I’m very small, that’s about a meter and a half, and so for me to be able to lift the mast and put it on top, it’s great, I don’t need any one’s help and I like that. So that’s number one: the design is outstanding, out of this world.

But number two is how much fun it is to actually sail on the water. Whether it is calm conditions, a little bit rougher, a little bit more choppy water, more wind, less wind. For what it is, a small, nifty little light boat, you get good speed and the responsiveness is incredible.

On days when I can’t sail my Tiwal, a friend of mine, from my birthday, knowing that I’m getting a boat for the birthday, we took a picture last year in Annapolis when I was testing my Tiwal. So on days that I can’t sail,

I don’t know if you can see this, I drink my coffee from a Tiwal mug. So me and my Tiwal we’re good friends, always!