Help me choose a budget tender

Seajet said:
The 3D in the link has a slatted not inflatable floor ?

I've seen some reports saying they are rather fragile.

I don't know the Annexe range.

A couple of years ago I compared all the budget inflatables on the UK market and the Seago 230 was best overall for specicification - inc weight and inflatable floor - and value so I bought one, it's nowhere near the quality of the Zodiac 240 I had before but seems fine.

NB if stowed size is important a ' round tail ' will go into much smaller spaces than a solid transom model; they still come with an outboard bracket though this is rather bulky to stow, if I intended to motor my Seago much I would modify the bracket.
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This is good advice.
To take it further, if you don’t want to motor, whats the dinghy for?
If you have a swinging mooring, midriver pontoon or a dog then yes a rowed tender is necessary.

But it it’s just to get to the pub, how about a canoe. Or a paddle board? Easier to stow.

I’ve bought so many different tenders and still don’t know what’s best . I have a pvc roundtail, 2 hypalons of diffent sizes and a small rib. The rib is the best tender but it doesn’t fold (obviously) so sits in pig ugly davits whilst re rest sit in a garage.
I actually removed the davits when I bought the boat and got so fed up of pumping up the heavy hypalon dinghy I refitted them.

If there is a right answer I don’t know it!! But I think you need to ask what you really need/want the dinghy for as a starting point.
 
I just acquired a Avon Redcrest, it's the round tailed one - I need to get a outboard bracket for it. So far I'm pleased with it, yes, it's not light, but It's made very robustly and should give me a decent service. I don't fancy foot pumping every day so I'm opting for a twin cylinder 12v air pump. It takes approx 10 mins to inflate, but that quicker than the foot pump and much more user friendly.
 
If you can find one - they seem not to be available at Force 4 etc now, a recent development - the previously LVM, later ' Rule ' High Speed Inflator will do it much faster though must be clipped directly to the battery as it'll fry boat wiring.

I've had mine 30-40 years and still a good bit of kit.
 
miha90 said:
Just the latest updated. I went with the French company Orange Marine. I bought one of the Air Comfort models with the inflatable bottom for a very reasonable price and next day delivery here in France for free. What won me over was the 5 year warranty. So far it seems to be a very robust tender and it comes with a robust carrying bag.
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Hi miha90, this is going back aways, but chanced across this thread. Do you have a link for the Orange Marine models? I don;t seem to be able to find this online. Many thanks!
 
I have a Honwave T32 with an inflatable V floor, with a 5HP Honda outboard. On my own, I can plane at around 13 knots which is good enough for me. It will be too big as a tender but the general construction and build is good. I would buy another one!
 
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