Inflatable tender size

I've never been based on a mooring, but if I was I would certainly have two tenders - one to keep stowed in a locker for visiting other places, and the largest one I could manage on shore purely for getting out to the mooring.

Pete
 
prv said:
I've never been based on a mooring, but if I was I would certainly have two tenders - one to keep stowed in a locker for visiting other places, and the largest one I could manage on shore purely for getting out to the mooring.

Pete
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That’s a good call! Will get as larger one now and perhaps try to pick up one of the smaller ones second hand in due course - they seem to be much easier to buy second hand. (Maybe that’s an interesting observation in itself...!)
 
I have two kids 6 and 7 and have been using a seago ranger 240 - this is now far to small. Was absolute minimum even when they were 4 and 5 in perfect conditions but very uncomfortable and you can forget trying to row.

I would say 2.7 is now minimum preferable 290. The ranger had a slatted floor which was unfomfortable for the kids but i just a foam camping mat to fit and keep rolled up in the locker.

Air deck is obviously better, but consideration also needs to be given to stowage. For this reason my next tender will be one of the light weight tenders that pack up much smaller so that I can fit it in my locker.

3D Superlight Twin Air Air deck 2.9m packs down smaller than my Seago 240!
 
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prv said:
I've never been based on a mooring, but if I was I would certainly have two tenders - one to keep stowed in a locker for visiting other places, and the largest one I could manage on shore purely for getting out to the mooring.

Pete
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He might find he needed the one stowed in the locker when the one he left on the mooring had been stolen!
 
Go at least 2.8m. I have four children and have a 3.8m dinghy that folk suggested might be too big. I'm glad I went for it, it's perfect for us. You wouldn't want to carry it around (it is seriously heavy), but using the tackle on the boat intelligently I can launch from deflated in about 20 minutes (we have a 12v pump) and recover, clean and deflate in 20 minutes to stow it on deck, without breaking a sweat.

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When we had fewer "crew" and a smaller boat (30 ft Albin Ballad, so three foot off your Centaur) we had a 2.8m tender, and that was just about big enough.

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The consideration is "kid junk" - when you go ashore or visit the boat, you probably need the pram, the picnic, the change bag, the diggers, the buckets and spades, the teddies in addition to all the usual stuff (handheld VHF, spare fuel, dinghy pump).

Go for air deck - remember when you are blowing it up, you'll be likely trying to chase the children and stop them ending up in the drink, and having to insert slat always drove me around the bend on my old Plastimo. Get a 12V pump also, the kids will enjoy pumping... for about a minute :D. Get dinghy wheels. Let them steer the outboard and hold on tight...

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I suspect that some of those commenting so far have boats significantly larger than 26 foot.

Bear in mind that a big inflatable will be rather heavy and bulky to store on a Centaur. It can also be very awkward to inflate a big dinghy on the foredeck of a 26 footer. (On a previous small boat of mine there wasn't enough room on the foredeck for the inflated dinghy, so it either had to be pumped up hanging over the guard wires, or on its end in the cockpit, which added greatly to the hassle (especially when windy!). I ended up buying a smaller dinghy, even though it sometimes meant two trips to move the crew and stores.) A bigger dinghy also takes a lot more pumping. You might want to try to borrow a similar sized dinghy to that you have in mind for an hour or two to see how you get on with it in those terms.

The idea of having two dinghies, a smaller one stored aboard, and a bigger one just for transferring from shore to the mooring, is a good one. The question then arises whether your 'home base' dinghy would be better as a rigid dinghy than an inflatable.

My own preference would be for the smallest, lightest outboard I can find (that preferably has a fwd/neutral/reverse control). The advantage of being able to do 11 knots (or whatever) is far outweighed (sic) by the weight and hassle of a larger outboard, especially on a (by modern standards) modest sized yacht such as the Centaur.
 
Haven't read all the posts but, as a datapoint, a couple of times I've been in a 2.4 with 3 adults and IMO it's been too small - I suspect 2.4's are used often with this loading but we were crowded and I didn't like it. The extra foot or so of a 2.7 makes a huge difference, because the extra length is all in the middle.

If you're not going to deflate it and put it in a locker then there's no justification for a smaller tender.
 
Poignard said:
He might find he needed the one stowed in the locker when the one he left on the mooring had been stolen!
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Maybe, but at least he’d have it. To my mind that hopefully remote risk is well worth being able to jump straight into the waiting dinghy at the end of the day on the 99.9% of occasions where it hasn’t been stolen. Unless you have davits or good deck stowage, which you won’t on a Centaur, rigging and derigging tenders is a big faff best avoided where possible.

Pete
 
Yep, the key issue is how you plan to use it. On our swinging mooring with a Centaur with 4 kids we used the Avon Redcrest (ie the big one). Compared to the Seagos it rolls up to nothing and is reasonable to stash away, virtue of hypalon. Slow and small tubes so a bit wet but we could get everyone in with all the stuff. Nowadays we also use a hard tender and bring the boat to the pontoon to collect half the family and their stuff. We leave the hard tender on the mooring. So it is how you use it and where. It is a good bonding experience loading a family and lots of gear ......wet feet, wet bums, can't move you are standing on me etc etc...I told you to put your waterproofs and wellies on.........also always felt very safe with the load in the middle. The wind can get under them though if just you, with the danger of flipping, so I used a bit of plastic pipe as a tiller extension on the outboard. The only time it went wrong was when I left it on the mooring with the outboard on and leg up ( for all of an hour)......... returned to find it flipped. It was only when I flipped it back the yellow seat floated off requiring frantic chase and then rowing and wind and tide..... But seriously I can't recommend an Avon highly enough for its versatility
 
stoursailor said:
Thanks for all your advice! I've found a decent second hand Seago 320, but for around the same I can get a new new Seago 270 (both airdeck) so will ponder which is the best buy.
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Look at the stowed size and weight. We have a Waveline 270 air deck and that is a decent size, certainly more seaworthy than most 230’s with 2+2 on board. I suspect a 320 might be difficult on a Centaur, unless always towed behind
 
Centaurs have coFfin berths designed for convenient storage of Avon dinghy which often used to come with fittings for gas cylinders which you could use to inflat in an emergency. Anyway assuming no convenient Avon’s around looking for a home along with a seagull outboard I would be looking for a light small inflatable to start with when children are small. There little room on a centaur deck to handle a 3.2 so I would go for smaller lighter one 2.7 and even that might be a tad large. People often buy to large a dinghy when starting out-we bought a Quicksilver 3.2 which is great for 4 adults but for 2 of us prefer a 2.4 seago we bought later . Also have a 2 person canoe from decathlon and 2 paddle boards for warmer days which might be other options for children on board so a smaller dinghy leaves more space for these plus the other essentials like barbecue deckchairs, paddling pools etc.
 
Also consider how far you to need to travel from shore to boat, typical conditions abs how much ‘stuff’ you might need to ferry. Our first tender nearly put my wife off boating for good, even I thought it was a bit sketchy.
 
We have a 2.3m which is perfect for 2 adults + a dog. We once did a trip to the pub with 4 up and its fair to say that, even though it was a flat calm, we went slowly to make sure that it didn't sink.
 
How far is it from where you launch the dinghy to the mooring? And how exposed, how strong are the tidal currents? how good is the slipway?
lots of variables. I think it is good to use a big hard dinghy as your home mooring shuttle. Hard boats row better, maybe you can get away without an outboard, and a boat that’s easy to row will cheer you up when the outboard stops. Leave it on the mooring. And then keep a smaller lighter inflatable on the yacht to use for beach runs etc.
Also, if you have a handy pontoon maybe you row out to the boat alone then bring her in to collect the family plus paraphernalia from a nice stable pontoon.
 
My personal experience is that anything less than 2.5-2.6 is barely capable of carrying two, never mind luggage or three or more beings; the one time I was in a 2.3 is not an experience I wish to repeat; you should not attempt to row a dinghy in that close a proximity of a human being you aren't intimate with.
 
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