3D Inflatable Dinghies

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brians

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I have been looking at these as I am interested in their light weight. I find hauling my existing Plastimo on deck getting harder year by year.

Does anyone own or have experience of them good or bad?
 
Have you looked at one? I did last year when I was buying a new inflatable. They are light, but they feel quite delicate, and the retailer I was talking to said you need to be careful to avoid scuffing the fabric on shingle, walls, etc. He also said they're not very directionally stable. I ended up buying a Zodiac Aero 240, which is a lovely little dinghy, and feels very tough.
 
Yes, I'm nervous about mine when landing on gravel or against a rough surface, but being used to a hard tender I think any inflatable would feel a bit delicate to me.

Directionally mine is very sensitive to load changes - I don't steer with the outboard, just lean my weight one way or the other and it will change course in a surprisingly controllable way.
 
I've had the 230 for a couple of years. I've only used it to get out to my swinging mooring using my Suzuki 2.2 outboard. It seems well made. I believe the fabric is manufactured in Germany so it is probably better quality than may appear at first glance. I'm a bit wary of scuffing the floor when launching or coming ashore but so far it seems fine.

It is very light. When I first hauled it onto my boat single handed, I was ready to use a halyard to help me out but once the breeze got under it, it nearly flew on board. That's no exaggeration either. It took virtually no effort on my part. I had removed the seat (which could slide out) and oars first. I'm not sure how I would cope in a strong breeze. I think it would take off with me still attached.
 
I've got a 2.7 ally hulled 3D RIB. Only weighs 35kgs! 12months hard livaboard use and the tubes are as new. Can't comment on the soft floored ones but the tube fabric seems to be robust.
 
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I haven't used mine enough to give a qualified opinion except to say it's very easy to lift on and off the boat. It seems to be stable and steers well enough. The blurb says the fabric is tough, but only time will tell. Ask me again in a couple of years!
 
Had one for a couple of years, very happy with it. If only it had good rowlocks, it would be perfect, alas, just the same pants ones that seem to come with everything except avon. Have never dragged it up the beach, but is so easy to lift (280 lifts easily with one hand), why would you? Will probably not last as long as a heavy dinghy from a big maker, but hey, the days of a redcrest lasting 20 years are gone.
 
Mine is 2 meters. Have it already for one season of frequent use. Very satisfied with its weight, folded size and ease of handling. I use it only with oars and it is quite fast and with good directional stability. So far have used it only in flat water and for short distances. Always blow it out, fold and store after use. Takes 10 minutes to unfold, pump and get ready. No problem to launch it singlehanded on the water and to pull it up using the painter and one side rope handle. Thought to equip it with a small electrical outboard but gave it up because of the ease of rowing. So far the material looks fine but it is still new.

Rumen
 
ProMariner said:
Had one for a couple of years, very happy with it. If only it had good rowlocks, it would be perfect, alas, just the same pants ones that seem to come with everything except avon. Have never dragged it up the beach, but is so easy to lift (280 lifts easily with one hand), why would you? Will probably not last as long as a heavy dinghy from a big maker, but hey, the days of a redcrest lasting 20 years are gone.
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Similar experience with our 250. Bought it to replace a heavy but superior Honwave as this was just too heavy and cumbersome to fold away and store each time. Ours is in its 3rd season and going strong. They tend to give a wetter ride than some due to the smaller tubes, but with our Suz 2.5 on we can bimble about 2 or even 3 up at say 5-6 knots. They don't steer that well due to the flat air floor, but we bought our for to and from shore with the odd creek exploration trip thrown in and for this it works fine.
 
Corribee Boy said:
Yep, I've had one for a year now with no actual problems. Mind you, it's the first inflatable dinghy I've ever had so it's not much of a comparison!
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Same here very happy had ours for 1yr. Enables us to anchor off more often on summer cruise and saved us money.

Beware of size though I bought the largest @ 5 people capacity in lightweight range. Bigger ones are in a heavy fabric. It folds into a large backpack and to our pleasant surprise packs so small it fits into the cockpit locker of a 43DS. When I first bought the boat 10yrs ago I tried a few dinghies but none fitted and ended up with a 2 person ringtail - bit stupid for a boat that sleeps 10! Albeit crowded!

I suspect that with thinner fabric they are more fragile than the heavier fabrics but at half the price I can buy two instead of a heavy durable one that I would need to always store on deck. Of course modern technology may mean the lighter fabric is equally as durable but only time will tell. I would still buy the equivalent again though even if it only lasted say 3 yrs due to it weight and handling ability. What price for a bad back and ruined holiday cause you bought one that will last 10 yrs!
 
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Sailfree said:
packs so small it fits into the cockpit locker of a 43DS.
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How small are your lockers?! I can fit my 2.3m standard inflatable in my cockpit locker on a 20 footer! I never do as said locker houses various other junk that probably doesn't need to be on board so the dinghy gets a berth of its own down below and the outboard gets another :)
 
lustyd said:
How small are your lockers?! I can fit my 2.3m standard inflatable in my cockpit locker on a 20 footer! I never do as said locker houses various other junk that probably doesn't need to be on board so the dinghy gets a berth of its own down below and the outboard gets another :)
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The lockers are OK but not big and the lid size is small. I could not fit any dinghy with a solid transom in them but the 3d with a solid transom does fit.
 
Sailfree said:
Same here very happy had ours for 1yr. Enables us to anchor off more often on summer cruise and saved us money.


I suspect that with thinner fabric they are more fragile than the heavier fabrics but at half the price I can buy two instead of a heavy durable one that I would need to always store on deck.
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Does not seem that much cheaper than a standard inflatable to me.
SUPERLIGHT TWIN AIR 270
Ref. : TWA270
PVC Melher tech.valmex: Price (VAT included) : 899 euros
 
We're going to sell our Tinker only because of/ for the weight/handling reasons-seems to get heavier each year puffed up or deflated-or I'm getting older too fast. Decided to after lugging it home deflated for it's spring tidy up.

Been looking at the 3Ds, the Highfields, and the F4 O2lite.
Coming down in favour of the O2, as it alone has proper Avon style rowlocks, and we are near a F4 branch on Sunday, so will see if we can eyeball one.

Keeping our Avon roundtail, as a backup. The Highfields looked good value spec, but let down by those manky ' spike' rowlocks- I prefer to row most of the time rather than faff with the o/b on a block and tackle.

F4 say the O2lites are selling well- anyone been using one, esp 265??
 
Tidewaiter2 said:
We're going to sell our Tinker only because of/ for the weight/handling reasons-seems to get heavier each year puffed up or deflated-or I'm getting older too fast. Decided to after lugging it home deflated for it's spring tidy up.

Been looking at the 3Ds, the Highfields, and the F4 O2lite.
Coming down in favour of the O2, as it alone has proper Avon style rowlocks, and we are near a F4 branch on Sunday, so will see if we can eyeball one.

Keeping our Avon roundtail, as a backup. The Highfields looked good value spec, but let down by those manky ' spike' rowlocks- I prefer to row most of the time rather than faff with the o/b on a block and tackle.

F4 say the O2lites are selling well- anyone been using one, esp 265??
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Had a look at F4 O2Lites a 230 and 270 last week. Quite impressed and like you, rubber rowlocks are an advantage as a long term Avon owner. General construction seemed pretty good and there were other PVC boats on display so one could make some comparison side by side. Tempted if I do go for another boat.
 
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