Best inflateable dinghy?

Waveline, V inflatable keel with inflatable floor, 2.9m. Plenty of room, robust, thick tubes , not too heavy, good quality, rolls up and fits in the car boot, will plane with a 3.5hp.
 
There is no simple answer to that question as there are so many different styles and materials available now at different price levels that you need to be more specific about what you are looking for in terms of functionality.

Having said that, probably the most popular dinghies are PVC with a solid transom in the 2.7-3m size range. There are, however many variations in floor and keel types which have an effect on performance, weight and ease of use. Many boats in this range are very similar in looks, price and quality, with only detail differences, so it is probably more important to work out what features are important than worry about actual brands.
 
Hermit said:
I have just got a 3DLight Air Tender. Build quality seems good but real bonus is the weight. 270 weighs just 16Kg and is so easy to handle.

No connection other than a satisfied customer.

http://www.promarineuk.com/promarine uk ltd - marine engineers and boat sales_029.htm
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I was looking at those myself, I don't need it to bounce back and forth to the boat at home, I have a hard dink for that, but I was wondering about having one of those as a tender to keep aboard, the light weight seems a real bonus, but I am a bit worried about it's ability to be chucked about a bit?? Any further comments? I see Seamark Nunn have them in stock.

http://www.seamarknunn.com/acatalog/3D-Lightweight-Tenders.html
 
Tranona said:
There is no simple answer to that question as there are so many different styles and materials available now at different price levels that you need to be more specific about what you are looking for in terms of functionality.

Having said that, probably the most popular dinghies are PVC with a solid transom in the 2.7-3m size range. There are, however many variations in floor and keel types which have an effect on performance, weight and ease of use. Many boats in this range are very similar in looks, price and quality, with only detail differences, so it is probably more important to work out what features are important than worry about actual brands.
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The main criteria, is storage. I need it to fold up well. My current excel sd260, which is excellent, is to big when de-flated

Maybe i should look at davits on the new boat !

Thanks for all advice so far
 
harstonwood said:
The main criteria, is storage. I need it to fold up well. My current excel sd260, which is excellent, is to big when de-flated

Maybe i should look at davits on the new boat !

Thanks for all advice so far
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Those 3D lights fold up very small.
 
harstonwood,

to get an inflatable to roll up as small as possibe, a 'roundtail' is best by far; I have just, after a bit of research, bought a Seago 230 roundtail.

This has an inflatable floor rather than heavy & bulky floor boards too, and decent rowlocks.

However it wouldn't be sensible to use your 4hp 4stroke on it !

I'd suggest a small say 2.3 hp job for the dinghy, especially if the 4 is your main motor; in which case you probably wouldn't want to get it dropped in the 'oggin, swamped, damaged or stolen as may happen with a tender...

The Seago was £340 from Force 4, no connection.
 
Agree with Seajet. If small deflkated size is the main criterion then smallest roundtails are the best. However not suitable for a 4hp engine and they have limited carrying capacity. Davits are not normally a good solution on a sailing yacht as one that can take davits reasonably is usually big enough not to have a storage problem.
 
Have very recently bought a 3D. Good price and they are really light. Piplers of Poole were the cheapest and had very good customer service.

<Usual disclaimer about having no relationship to 3D or Piplers, other than as a satisfied customer>
 
RobF said:
Have very recently bought a 3D. Good price and they are really light. Piplers of Poole were the cheapest and had very good customer service.

<Usual disclaimer about having no relationship to 3D or Piplers, other than as a satisfied customer>
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Thanks for the tip, 50 squids cheaper than Seamark Nunn!:cool: What is the build quality like?
 
RobF said:
Have very recently bought a 3D. Good price and they are really light. Piplers of Poole were the cheapest and had very good customer service.

<Usual disclaimer about having no relationship to 3D or Piplers, other than as a satisfied customer>
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Interested as well. Is the underside completely flat or does it have a keel shape to improve steering
 
The 3ds have a flat air floor. IMO these tenders are great if you need to deflate and store in lockers or need to haul up on deck etc. They are light and fold easily. But if you keep yours inflated on Davitts, there are better stronger alternatives.
 
I'll give another vote in favour of 3D tenders - with the qualification that we have not had it long and only used it a couple of times. Incredibly light and they seem to be decently built. Undoubtedly, to get the weight so low, something has to give and I would assume that they will not have the life expectancy of one of the heavy duty "professional" quality boats. But ultimately we need something that is useable and the sheer weight of our previous tender meant that it just sat in the garage, unused - very good for life expectancy, but not much good for anything else. I think they have only been in production for a couple of years, so information on life expectancy will be limited.
 
maby said:
I'll give another vote in favour of 3D tenders - with the qualification that we have not had it long and only used it a couple of times. Incredibly light and they seem to be decently built. Undoubtedly, to get the weight so low, something has to give and I would assume that they will not have the life expectancy of one of the heavy duty "professional" quality boats. But ultimately we need something that is useable and the sheer weight of our previous tender meant that it just sat in the garage, unused - very good for life expectancy, but not much good for anything else. I think they have only been in production for a couple of years, so information on life expectancy will be limited.
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Out of interest, do they give you maximum pressures for the tubes in the destructions?
 
maby said:
Not that I saw - the instructions are minimal...
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OK. maybe I will send them an email and ask them. The reason I ask, is that I like to use my electric pump for inflating flubbers, and it has pressure settings that you can preset, I wouldn't want to overdo it and have it go pop!:D

Most flubbers seem to be happy with 4psi in the tubes and between 7 and 10 in the floors, I will see what they say.
 
Chrusty 1 said:
OK. maybe I will send them an email and ask them. The reason I ask, is that I like to use my electric pump for inflating flubbers, and it has pressure settings that you can preset, I wouldn't want to overdo it and have it go pop!:D

Most flubbers seem to be happy with 4psi in the tubes and between 7 and 10 in the floors, I will see what they say.
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Ah, I do it with a foot pump - and invariably I go pop before the dinghy does! :)

P.S. to anyone buying one - the carrying bag is made of fairly thin fabric and a bit more delicate than I would like to see. We tore ours getting it out of the locker soon after we bought it - probably due to putting too much tension on it sideways. The manufacturers replaced it without question - good service! We have now purchased a couple of luggage webbing straps which we put around the bag when it's stowed - gives us something strong to haul it up by...
 
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