Where sailors die
Posted by jmurrant on July 8, 2009 under Boat Handling, danger of dinghies, dinghies, dinghy, selecting a dinghy | 
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Where do you think most fatal boating accidents happen? Worldwide, the most likely time for a sailor to have such an accident is while they are in their dinghy or getting in or out of it.
Because of their size and need for buoyancy they are far less stable than the vessel they serve. It doesn’t matter how careful you are when selecting a dinghy, it will always be a relatively unstable, unsafe form of transport.
Rowing our dinghy ashore
Perhaps the safest form of dinghy to have is one with two ‘hulls’ like a catamaran. But even they would not be truly stable. What about inflatables you may ask. They are relatively stable but unfortunately make the person getting into them unstable because they give when a body’s weight is put on them.
In the past, the basic danger of dinghies has been increased when the sailor has taken alcohol. I doubt very much that this has changed much although maritime authorities increasingly set limits for the amount alcohol that may be consumed.