Advice needed on buying a dinghy

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matnoo

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Solihull, W.mids
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Ive never bought a dinghy before and now need one as a tender.

Theres so much on offer, and a price range from £5.99 up to £800!

I need a transom for a 3hp short shaft engine
Space to carry 2/3 people.
also needs to completely deflate to quite a small size

Ive been looking in the 200-300 price range are these suitable?

£289
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/XM-2-60S-INFLATABL...1742.m153.l1262

£299
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?V...A:IT&ih=025

or would it be worth buying one from mailspeed for a bit extra £350
http://marinestore.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PL24672-73WPX

How long do they last? is it worth a really cheap one and replacing it or would a branded plastimo one be better? Or is it a case that CE standards mean theyre all pretty good? Or is second hand an option?

Any advice would be much appreciated as its a lot of cash for me and I dont want to make the wrong choise.

ta

Mat
 
Cheaper ones £250-400 are made of PVC (Plastimo, Seago, Wetline etc) and have a life of 5-10 years if looked after. Expensive ones £800+ (Avon and Zodiac) are made of Hypalon and last much longer - my Avon is over 30 years old.

Choice of designs. Doughnut, mainly because they have more capacity for length, roll up smaller but do not motor well. solid transom more popular. Then floor - plain fabric, wooden slats or airdeck, often with keel. Last rows and motors better, but most expensive. 2.3m or thereabouts most popular size.

although they all tend to look the same, there are many detailed differences, fittings, oars, seats etc. All the mail order chandleries ahve a range so you can compare on line, but you also need to compare "in the flesh"

Magazines such as PBO, Sailing Today and YM regularly do comparison features. Search their back numbers.
 
The ones that roll up smallest do not have a solid transom, but havea metal bracket that attaches at the back

They tend to be a bit wet!

those with a transom have larger diameter tubes so are better at the load carrying.
These come in three types:

slatted floor - cheapest, but you get wet feet, and they are hopeless to row.

wooden floor - take up a lot of space when rolled up

inflatable floor - some of these are dood to row as well as use under power. They are a good compromise between the two previous types.

Then there is the material they are made from.

Hypalon - most expensive, but the best by far.

PVC - normally something like decitex (sp) 1100 is the standard. However Plastimo make some lightweight dinghies that use 500 or 600 - lighter but more likely to puncture.

Avons are made from Hypalon. Most of the rest are PVC.

the Suzamar (Suzuki brand) seem to have a good name for price/quality but are difficult to source.
Normally the cheaper they are the worse they row, and the worse the fittings for oars.

Either way, it sounds like you are going to have to inflate/deflate - and I strongly recommend the addition of a LVM pump expensive, but fantastic.

I hope this has helped. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Consider very carefully whereabouts on the boat you are going to keep it.
You need, ideally, a locker which:
isn't full of something else
is big enough
has a hatch which is big enough to get a badly folded dinghy through
allows you to lift the dinghy out without contortions; strange angles while bearing a load = back trouble.
Other points: there might be an ideal spot on deck for stowing it, but probably not. Also dinghy salesmen can fold the dinghy into a neat small package, never again to be achieved.
The above may govern the size and weight of your dinghy.

Also: is the dinghy to be used in calm still water, or in the middle of a large harbour which can get quite splashy? latter will require a bigger dinghy. But in general I would suggest you don't get a big one unless really necessary.

You can guess I have a large dinghy on a small yacht, and it's a right pain.
 
I have an Avon Redcrest 8ft long with a roundtail- it is 36 years old, doesn't lose air, carries 3 adults and more plus kit and used to be driven by my Honda 2 hp 4 stroke, now I use a 3.5 Tohatsu 2 stroke which is overkill in terms of power, 2.5 hp would be better.

It doesn't look that pretty but that is just what I want when I leave it on the mooring. Cost- 3 years ago £175, including transom bracket(£85 new) and oars.New price about £1200!!

It doesn't fold up small enough for my cockpit locker so I also have a:-

Avon Redstart, the smaller edition of Redcrest, this does fold up small enough to fit into an IKEA laundry bag and thus stows well. We three adults can be carried safely but not much room for kit although sufficiently buoyant to cope. Probably a little younger than the Redcrest ; new price about £1000

These tend to be popular as a small stowable dinghy, so I was lucky to get this one for £170, including the bracket but no oars, This too was driven by the 2hp Honda but I haven't tried the Tohatsu yet but when I do I shall be gentle with it as it has far too much power for the dinghy.

If you go for an old Avon try to get one with the grey A7 valves which is the later type as these are more satisfactory I think

To summarise, I wanted a long lasting dinghy, and I reckon each of mine has at least another decade in them, that was tough but not too attractive to thieves- I didn't want to spend even £400 so I reckon a careful secondhand purchase is the way to go

Hope that helps
 
Watch out for smaller side tubes (sponsons) as these are more likely to lead to "wetarse" syndrome. I got an extra blow-up seat for mine to allow crew & skipper to keep off the side tubes.

Mine has a slatted floor & I seldom get wet feet - mainly because I ALWAYS turn it over before using it & drain excess water out. The slats will protect you from the dregs. It also rows well. It is an XM 240 and one of the cheaper ones. Only problem so far was with the alloy oars which don't easily separate/ reconnect as they are supposed to due to sticky spring clips. XM sent me a free new pair which have been better. So I am a happy customer.
 
Having looked at your boat on your blog, think you are going to have to compromise somewhere. A 2.3m rigid transom which is a good type to get to your mooring with a load will not go down small enough to stow on board. A 1.8 roundtail such as Plastimo make will stow and be suitable for getting ashore at an anchorage, but not that suitable for long rows/heavy loads getting to a mooring. One alternative is a basic solid tender for the mooring job and a small roundtail to take with you.
 
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