Another tender question

[Fascadale]

Need a new tender, about 2.3m

What's preferred ?

Round tail or not.......

Hard or inflatable floor....

Preferred manufacturer....

Any other salient issues.....

Sorry to go over old ground.

Many thaanks

 

[Allan]

I bought a 2.3m Zodiac a couple of years ago, for a very good price in France. It has a flat, slatted floor and a transom. I use it with a 4hp Johnson which pushes it along at an alarming speed! If bought one now it would be similar but would have some sort of keel. I decided against it at the time as I thought it may be vunerable when beaching. I now think this is outweighed by the lack directional stability. I will be buying a secondhand 2hp for mine in the future.
Allan

 

[Csail]

Tinker traveller, solid floor & transom. motor @ 13 Knts, sail it or row & stowed fairly small.

 

[SQUIRRELS]

Couple of points for consideration:

Slatted or inflatable floor: consider the weight differential for lifting around boat and for pulling up and down the beach.

Weight, size rolled up, think about the all important storage i.e. can you get it in and out of locker. Have you measured the locker opening?

And, 2.3 or 2.6M, how many people are you likely to carry, what do they weight, thinking about the difference in tube sizes and if the bit extra would benefit.

 

[Allan]

Yes I completely agree with the Tinker! If I could afford one it would be on the top of my list. Unfortunately I had a budget of less than £250.
Allan

 

[Evadne]

It's only old ground if you haven't been over it before, the main criteria are defined by how you use it. I don't use an outboard so a round tail (somewhere else for passengers to sit) and soft floor for ease of deflated handling mean my old Redstart (8 feet) is the best.

 

[davidbains]

For what it's worth the best tender I have ever had is the mid price one I've got now, a Suzumar.
Inflatable floor and keel make it stable, track well, and still can be rolled up and posted into the cabin in offseason. The cheapest makes don't last especially in the Med. RIBS are great if you don't mind them on deck for ever.

 

[whisper]

Depends what you'll use it for really. For "exploring" and regular rowing I think you need a solid transom and inflatable keel. For extra buoyancy and dryish feet an inflatable floor is good too. For what it's worth I decided on a Lodestar and have been very pleased with it,

 

[markpageant]

My 22ft larch on oak works very well as a tender, though as my boatman is getting older and can't manage the sweeps so well I may have to consider an alternative...

Am I the only person on the planet who owns a boat rather than a yacht and can therefore not afford almost all of the posted proposals?

 

[stevebrassett]

[ QUOTE ]
Am I the only person on the planet who owns a boat rather than a yacht and can therefore not afford almost all of the posted proposals?

[/ QUOTE ]
No, you're not. I have two inflatables - one is 23 years old and came with the boat, and the other one I bought from eBay.

 

[TRH]

Hi a Freind has a Rib Tender on www.Boatsandoutboards.co .uk For Sale Its only had a few hours running.10hp Honda on it Its a real bargain.

 

[William_H]

Kind of tender depends a lot on conditions. ie inflatables are very rare here in West Oz. The little wooden or f/g occasionally aluminium are most popular. But then people seldom have motor on them due to small tides so rowing distances are smaller and easier. Certainly you couldn't leave an inflatable chained up on the beach for 20 years as I have.
So if you have to take your tender home then an inflatable may be good. If you use a motor inflatable is OK but they are not easily rowed (like a f/g dinghy) and if you want to haul the tender aboard then an inflatable may be obligatory.
Yes I appreciate the poster is realy intending inflatable olewill

 

[samuel]

Thinking that my 39 year old avon Redcrest would not last a long trip to the med 3 years ago I bought a Wetline dinghy 2.300 long & bought the round tail for extra bouyancy plus extra leg length when rowing.
It ought to be called Death trap 2000
Firstly I cannot row it because on the push stroke the oars ( which are fixed point types) rub the top of my legs & I cannot get the blades out of the water high enough to miss the waves. On the Avon I deflate the seat a bit so I sit lower.
I tried sitting on the floor of the new dinghy but just got soaking wet.
Next when my son stepped aboard for a ride the stern sunk so much that water flooded in. How on earth it can be called a three man dinghy is beyond me. I really think manufacturers should be taken to task with these things.
The final problem is that when I get to my mooring & the boat bangs alongside the seat pops out of its webbed retainers.
The only advantage of the Wetline over the Avon is that it tows much better. I solve this by bringing the Avons bow right up to the pushpit & just trailing the stern.
The Avon has been serviced & is ( I am glad to say) still going strong. The Wetline is in the garage having only been used 5 times.

 

[MikeBz]

[ QUOTE ]
I bought a Wetline dinghy
...
I tried sitting on the floor of the new dinghy but just got soaking wet.
...
Next when my son stepped aboard for a ride the stern sunk so much that water flooded in. How on earth it can be called a three man dinghy is beyond me.

[/ QUOTE ]

Maybe the clue is in the name /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Mike