best tender?

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Oscarpop

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We need to buy a new tender for when we finally sail off into the distance.

It is going to go on a 40ft yacht, either on deck or towed.

I am still undecided about solid floor rib or inflatable v keel. Would like the option to deflate it all I guess,but open to solid floor.

I was thinking about 2.4-2.6 m.

Can anyone recommend a make that will suits us for a couple of three years of use during a circumnavigation?

ta
 
The Honda Honwave are very robust, practical and well made to last; the aluminium flood is solid when installed, however, it takes time to put together, although once inflated it can hang from the davits when around anchorages. I have a Waveline 2.9 with V inflatable floor which has been abused and exposed for 6 years outside and still works well, but I have no idea how suitable will be for a circumnavigation.
 
Get the biggest you can - a 2.9 would not be too big, but not less than 2.6 to get both the carrying capacity and space. The Basic c£500 ones are perfectly adequate. They are all basically the same, the differences being layout and types of fittings. An inflatable floor/keel type is the most popular type if you intend using an outboard big enough to get it to plane one up. If you only have a 2.5hp engine probably not worth having an inflatable keel. If you add too many goodies or go to big then weight and handling becomes more of a problem.

You can go up a price bracket to the £700+ for a Honwave or a Lodestar for example but the difference is in the quality of fittings and style - functionally as a tender not much difference.

Both types have a good life, particularly if you keep them either packed away or covered when not in use.
 
My boat is 35ft, and I carry round one of these with all the options, plus a bowsprit/jib for larfs.
SWMBO, who is uncomfortable in any dinghy, loves this.

Must have the inflatable tube for stability though.

Downside: They are reassuringly expensive.

We have a 3.3hp Mercury 2 stroke, not #quite# enough to put it on the plane.

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Another vote for the Walker Bay. We have 3 children and a dog so we bought the next size up, FC's spot on about the inflatable collar, they are unstable without one and impossible to capsize with one fitted. Very good sailing, reasonable rowing, good motoring.
 
Another idea would be to get a second hand Avon, tough and last for years, you can buy very good ones for £250. Check out E-Bay. Very pleased with mine a Rover 2.8...

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You can see the wires on the transom when it was hung from a davit!

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An inflatable with Airdeck is a good compromise. Having an inflatable keel it rows well and is more directionally stable under engine. Spending more definitely gives you a better standard of fittings and maybe of material. When we bought ours (2003) we wanted a Suzumar, which had recently come top in a magazine test but none were available, so we bought a Quicksilver, which came second. It has been in the Med ever since, has spent a great deal of time in the sunshine and had lots of use but remains almost as good as the day it was bought.

Ours is the 2.7, plenty big enough for two, even with two Brompton bikes. It has carried six adults ashore, albeit a short distance on flat water.
 
Oscarpop said:
We need to buy a new tender for when we finally sail off into the distance.

It is going to go on a 40ft yacht, either on deck or towed.

I am still undecided about solid floor rib or inflatable v keel. Would like the option to deflate it all I guess,but open to solid floor.

I was thinking about 2.4-2.6 m.

Can anyone recommend a make that will suits us for a couple of three years of use during a circumnavigation?

ta
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As you are doing a circumnavigation then you'll probably be using the tender as your main form of transport from anchorage to shore with provisions and all of the stuff that needs to go from ship to shore. For our first trip We made the mistake of taking a Tinker. This is a fine tender for British waters where generally the anchorages are sheltered and the distances travelled small. In exposed anchorages with larger distances and more stuff to ferry ship/shore it was a semi-submersible nightmare.

For our next trip we bought a Zodiac fastroller 3.7m inflatable floor jobby and haven't looked back since. Will take 4 people plus gear to and fro safely and, with 5-6hp on the back, on plane as well.

FYI, I also have a solid floor Avon 2.8m, again a lovely tender in sheltered waters but, for me, too small for real cruising.

Whatever you decide, bigger is better, you have a big enough boat to put it on and with a bit of thought and a pulley or two a good platform to retrieive and drop back into the water.

Best of luck on your travels.
 
The best tender is a big tube rib at least 9 ft long made of hypalon. The ali floor ones are a tad lighter. The min size OB should be an 8hp with a 15 hp the more common choice on the transom of long term cruisers. Probably 80+% of the long term cruisers in the caribbean have this setup.

There are a few with Walker Bays. Think hard if you want to snorkel from your dink as getting back aboard the WB is considerably more difficult then getting back into a rib. The plus point is their sailing option. They row ok certainly better than a big tube rib which is really horrible to row.

Do not buy a pudgy, horrible thing and it needs a long shaft od.


If rowing snd sailing are important then there are hard dinks around that both row and sail MUCH better than a WB. They are longer and skinnier.

I have a 10 ft AB rib with a double skin grp floor giving me a flat floor. The OB is a 18hp Tohatsu 2st. Fast is good.
 
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TQA,
I can only get 8ft on my foredeck.....

Why is it difficult to get back aboard a tubed Walker Bay? Over the transom?
 
I 4th the Walker Bay Sail, motor and row with ease...
Fantastic little thing and doesn't weigh so much either...
 
sam_uk said:
Out of curiosity what's wrong with it? Too heavy?
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Heavy, rows badly sails worse, needs an unusual small long shaft OB, almost impossible to get back on board from the water, no lifting points, is made of polyethylene which MIGHT have good uv resistance but most polyethylenes don't. As I said, horrible thing. The only boat that I have seen cruising with one was trying to get rid of it at any price.
 
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