How should I mount a Tender, Options needed and show me yours.

[Alistairr]

Hi All,

How do you store your dinghy when out sailing, we are in the process of purchasing a 38 Bavaria, and I want to buy a new dinghy for it, on the list is the Zodiac Cadet Alu floor either 270 or 310, we want to have it easily available.

Beam is 4m, however stern narrows a bit at the rear, would like to mount dinghy is some way across transom, had wondered if snap davits were a possibility, do they work on yachts, also if dinghy to wide, would the lower tube drag in the water if heeled over?

What other options are there, and show me how you mount your please.

Cheers.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Inverted on foredeck, use the spinny halyard to get it on and off. That's a 2.3 soft inflatable. The boat has snap davits but the sponsons tend to dip in when heeled

 

[mjcoon]

,,, we are in the throws of purchasing a 38 Bavaria, ...

That spelling is reserved for the sole instance of "in the throws of a divorce"! ;-)

 

[Supertramp]

Part deflated in front of the mast, using a halyard to lift on and off. Inflated is possible but takes up too much space. Obviously a bit of messing around to launch/retrieve.
Or on davits off the stern. A little nerve wracking in a large following sea. But very easy to launch/retrieve and keeps the decks clear. Davits fold away when not in use.

Another issue with davits is the dinghy moving as the boat rocks - I sling fenders off the rail to protect from chafe.

Overall, I would choose deck, especially if I didn't have to deflate to work safely around it (think poles).

 

[Alistairr]

Inverted on foredeck, use the spinny halyard to get it on and off. That's a 2.3 soft inflatable. The boat has snap davits but the sponsons tend to dip in when heeled

Foredeck is an option in front of the mast, but would hinder access to the sail locker and windless.

Sorry, which boat has snap davits?

Cheers.

 

[Alistairr]

Part deflated in front of the mast, using a halyard to lift on and off. Inflated is possible but takes up too much space. Obviously a bit of messing around to launch/retrieve. View attachment 157402
Or on davits off the stern. A little nerve wracking in a large following sea. But very easy to launch/retrieve and keeps the decks clear. Davits fold away when not in use.
View attachment 157403
Another issue with davits is the dinghy moving as the boat rocks - I sling fenders off the rail to protect from chafe.

Overall, I would choose deck, especially if I didn't have to deflate to work safely around it (think poles).

Thanks, I would rather try and keep the foredeck clear.

Davits off the back would be great, but I’d imagine a good pair will be mighty expensive, and do you need to reinforce the transom?

Cheers.

 

[Tranona]

On my 37 a 2.4m rigid transom fitted comfortably upside down forward of the mast. hoisted by the spinny halyard. pretty sure there is room on yours, strapped down to the guards round the dorades. Some boats. like my later 33 have folding Wichard D rings for hold down. Yes, restricts access forward but does allow sailing with the forehatch open which we found useful in the Med. Half deflated behind the mast might just work but bad for visibility. Completely deflated on top of the aft cabin would also work. The transom is too near the water and too narrow to use snap davits. Ends of dinghy dip in water when sailing - as in Stuarts boat which is a similar Moody. standalone davits are a bit OTT as you really need the extendable ones because of the overhang of the stern, but many have built gantries with davit arms, solar radar etc.

No magic bullet

 

[Supertramp]

Yes, you would need to reinforce. Mine are very substantial and have a large mounting bracket to join to the deck. I would think a stainless steel backing plate would be needed, as for a large cleat.

 

[blush2]

On our 40 footer, upside down on the foredeck for short trips but it covered the main forward hatch. The bows were tied to the eye for the spinnaker downhaul and the stern to the forward end of the genoa tracks.

The dinghy was an XM265 which was light enough for the two of us to haul it up over the rail using the painter and bridle. Outboard was removed before lifting.

 

[Martin_J]

This is how a Zodiac Rib Compact 250 (apparently equivalent to the Avon RibLite 260) sits on Weaver "snap up" davits on a Moody S38.



I did measure and stick the pads on so that the dinghy would end up central.

Looking at it afterwards I think it would have been better sitting just off centre (slightly towards it's bow).. but only maybe by an inch or two.

It's on these "snap up" snap davits in their lower position.. Picture below shows the davits in their upper position but being a true hard bottomed rib, it's a bit heavy to lift the davits to their upper position by hand once the dinghy is on them so they've remained down whilst in use.



I mounted them on angled blocks of wood so that they would just clear the lower transom in their down position.

In their down position they are just right for clipping into the dinghy.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

41” Bermudan sloop. I changed from a hard stern inflatable to a round tail inflatable. Hard tail was stored deflated, folded in its bag, lashed to the coachroof in front of the mast, aft of the inner forestay. That was a secure position, quite low profile, but used up useful deck space for lounging on. When I bought the boat, previous owner stored on aft cabin roof, but I didn’t like that as aft cabin roof was another place folks liked to sit, lounge on.
Changed to a round tail that I now deflate, roll up and store in the cockpit locker. The round tail is smaller as a result.
Usually it is just two up, maybe 4 up. So the smaller dingy is not an issue.

Inflating and deflating, folding away is not that big a deal, 15 minutes.

I am considering davits but narrow stern might be an issue. Round tail can take ply floor boards, so would be stiff enough, but no drain on stern, hence would require cover. Feels like too much hassle. Larger hard tail would probably stick out too much, in my case.

I occasionally tow dinghy with bow pulled up, out the water.

 

[Martin_J]

Oh and I did tie a dinghy to the pushpit rails once in a previous boat, but after a cross channel trip learnt that the very slight movement really can cause wear in the dinghy fabric.

For that reason I now hold the top tube of the dinghy just off the pushpit with arms fore and aft.

 

[Martin_J]

To summarise... It's not cheap using snap davits and as RunAgroundHard says, it's usually only a ten to fifteen minute job to get the dinghy out of the locker, inflated and dropped over the side anyway.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Foredeck is an option in front of the mast, but would hinder access to the sail locker and windless.

Sorry, which boat has snap davits?

Cheers.

Moody 36cc, retrofitted by previous owner, never used them

 

[geem]

3.8m hard dinghy thst stows at 2.13m when nested on the foredeck. The dinghy is 30 years old and we run a 15hp engine.

 

[lustyd]

We store ours on the foredeck and use a halyard to launch. It's a little bit of faff but much better than towing etc. I made a 4 point harness using the lifting eyes in the bow of the tender plus some metal eye bolts installed on the transom, the holes for which are pre-drilled on the Cadet but not waterproofed in any way so put some gunk in there to seal.

on the list is the Zodiac Cadet Alu floor either 270 or 310,

We have the Zodiac Cadet Alu 270. Under no circumstances can I recommend you buy one. They have a reputation based on a time when the rest of the industry made poor quality tenders. It is no longer deserved, and there are many, many design flaws with these. The rest of the industry has improved, they somehow went the other way. Just off the top of my head...

• Inflate valves don't lock, and so the hose pops out every 3 strokes of the pump
• ...Except the keel one, which is inexplicably different and uses the now standard locking one like paddleboards have
• Inflate valve cover has a retaining clip that is backwards and so spirals out into the way when screwing it on
• Drain valve simply doesn't work. The only water we ever had in this dinghy came in through the drain, and a lot comes in regardless of how it's set up. I eventually sealed it with sikaflex to make the boat dry
• Rowlocks quite simply don't work for rowing, can't be locked, are too high
• Rowlocks basically destroy themselves on the deck when upside down, there's a little plastic bit to release the oar, this rubs the deck
• Who makes a F^%$ing white dinghy? Your first footstep will be with you forever, imprinted on the tube
• Aluminium locking struts (that go in the side of the floor) have plastic inserts in the end. These fall out every single use.
• It doesn't include a painter, yet somehow is double the price of competition. £6 worth of rope.
• The paint on the metal motor mount lasted about three uses. The sacrificial ply on the back is definitely sacrificial too.

Ignoring all of that, once it's up and if only motoring it's an OK tender, but there are cheaper options which are much better in every conceivable way. The shop in Lymington tried to tell me this when I ordered it and I ignored them because it looked pretty in the pictures. It looked pretty for about 25 minutes and has since looked grubby despite lots of cleaning.

I do stand by my decision to go aluminium, that is a game changer for transporting stuff about while cruising and we have zero issues throwing things in the bottom.

 

[john_morris_uk]

On davits on the stern with outboard on. Always ready to go at a few moments notice.



We have these rubber block things glued on that stop the dinghy from swinging around.

We crossed the Atlantic with the dinghy on its davits. One or two heart in mouth moments when extra big rolls dipped the transom of the dinghy nearly in the water but no real problems. In normal sailing the dinghy is perfect up on its davits. I’d not want to go back to any other system.

 

[geem]

View attachment 157430

On davits on the stern with outboard on. Always ready to go at a few moments notice.

View attachment 157431View attachment 157432

We have these rubber block things glued on that stop the dinghy from swinging around.

We crossed the Atlantic with the dinghy on its davits. One or two heart in mouth moments when extra big rolls dipped the transom of the dinghy nearly in the water but no real problems. In normal sailing the dinghy is perfect up on its davits. I’d not want to go back to any other system.

Friends had their rib fill with water on an Atlantic crossing. They now remove it and deflate and lash to the foredeck. It didn't do any damage luckily

 

[Hadenough]

View attachment 157430

On davits on the stern with outboard on. Always ready to go at a few moments notice.

View attachment 157431View attachment 157432

We have these rubber block things glued on that stop the dinghy from swinging around.

We crossed the Atlantic with the dinghy on its davits. One or two heart in mouth moments when extra big rolls dipped the transom of the dinghy nearly in the water but no real problems. In normal sailing the dinghy is perfect up on its davits. I’d not want to go back to any other system.

rig two springs across the davits, no more swing.

 

[Alistairr]

We store ours on the foredeck and use a halyard to launch. It's a little bit of faff but much better than towing etc. I made a 4 point harness using the lifting eyes in the bow of the tender plus some metal eye bolts installed on the transom, the holes for which are pre-drilled on the Cadet but not waterproofed in any way so put some gunk in there to seal.



We have the Zodiac Cadet Alu 270. Under no circumstances can I recommend you buy one. They have a reputation based on a time when the rest of the industry made poor quality tenders. It is no longer deserved, and there are many, many design flaws with these. The rest of the industry has improved, they somehow went the other way. Just off the top of my head...

• Inflate valves don't lock, and so the hose pops out every 3 strokes of the pump
• ...Except the keel one, which is inexplicably different and uses the now standard locking one like paddleboards have
• Inflate valve cover has a retaining clip that is backwards and so spirals out into the way when screwing it on
• Drain valve simply doesn't work. The only water we ever had in this dinghy came in through the drain, and a lot comes in regardless of how it's set up. I eventually sealed it with sikaflex to make the boat dry
• Rowlocks quite simply don't work for rowing, can't be locked, are too high
• Rowlocks basically destroy themselves on the deck when upside down, there's a little plastic bit to release the oar, this rubs the deck
• Who makes a F^%$ing white dinghy? Your first footstep will be with you forever, imprinted on the tube
• Aluminium locking struts (that go in the side of the floor) have plastic inserts in the end. These fall out every single use.
• It doesn't include a painter, yet somehow is double the price of competition. £6 worth of rope.
• The paint on the metal motor mount lasted about three uses. The sacrificial ply on the back is definitely sacrificial too.

Ignoring all of that, once it's up and if only motoring it's an OK tender, but there are cheaper options which are much better in every conceivable way. The shop in Lymington tried to tell me this when I ordered it and I ignored them because it looked pretty in the pictures. It looked pretty for about 25 minutes and has since looked grubby despite lots of cleaning.

I do stand by my decision to go aluminium, that is a game changer for transporting stuff about while cruising and we have zero issues throwing things in the bottom.

That’s very interesting to know, thanks.

We’ve had our current Zodiac 260 for just over 20yrs and its still great, however it is a flat bottom with wooden slats, has been great in the sheltered waters we’ve used it, but now wanting to do more coastal cruising and take the dogs, we feel a keel and hard bottom for the dogs would be better.

I can feel a ”Which Dinghy’ thread coming soon!

Cheers.