Inflatable Keels

[Guest]

I'm thinking of buying a new inflatable to get to my swinging mooring in poole harbour.
I've seen a few models with inflatable keels, can they give similar stability and directional control that a rib would?

I couldn't stow a rib on my boat so the inflatable keel option seems best.

Also I've seen inflatable floors specified, they add a lot to the price of a dinghy, are they worth it, how do they work?

Regards

Sean Foster

 

[miket]

Had a Zodiac Cadet 285 some years ago with said keel. Worked very well, giving better grip than flat floor, and also planed with 4hp whilst my son and his mate were relatively small. Incidentally hard floor fits over keel/ floor.

Looked at blow up floor Avons 2 years ago. I was looking for light but rigid. Seemed good, but as you say, not cheap.

 

[romany123]

I baught a bombard (Zodiac) tropical two years ago,it has an inflatable keel and is very stable. I can also get on the plane with a 4 HP outboard also doog for rowing.
Dave

Dave

 

[Col]

I have a Quicksilver AD270 (2.7mtr) inflatable keel + floor. V.stable and fast due to keel, floor is like a honeycomb very hard when inflated, so stable, but best of all
-it keeps your bum dry, as any water inside drains down between floor and keel void.This will take 5 adults + 10hp O/B

 

[HaraldS]

Have an inflatable floor on my Bombard. It consists of two separate halfs that are squeezed in where the soft rubber floor meets the big tubes and then pumped up. They press against each other and against the big tubes, this way streching the floor into a V-shape arrangement.

Pros: Really performes like a RIB. My 3.8 meter boat planes with a 5 HP engine and one person and it does 22 knots with the 15HP and three people. The whole thing packs relatively small and weighs only 39kg.

Against: Floor inside not flat. (Doesn't bother me). Need to pump up the two halves carefully to get things symmetric. Floor needs to be pumped a little bit once and so often (every two days). 3.8 meters is the smallest I have found with this floor.

Has been used quite hard by the kids for two years and still looks like new, so the quality seems fine. Though I heard that Zodiacs had severe problems in tropical climates, with the seems opening. Now they are all owned by Zodiac, I mean Bombard and Avon are, I'm a bit concerned about that. I guess I'll find out some day..

 

[Mr Cassandra]

We had a inflatable floor and keel ,but the keel keep deflating, so i put a length of three by two in its place With a yam 5 hrp engin greet fun and stability cheers bob t

Bob T

 

[mikesharp]

Can't see the reason for all this speed in the tender. We bought an inflatable keel Quicksiver because of its ease of rowing. Works well.

 

[DanTribe]

I've never heard of inflatable keels before.Could I retro-fit one to my Ufo and get rid of all that lead?

 

[Col]

If you want to save even more weight, how about an inflatable anchor-
-easier to stow and doesnt damage teak decks !!