inflatable v fibreglass dinghy

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ortogo

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my tender (an old 8 foot grp pram dinghy) is getting a bit long in the tooth, I've been wondering wether it might be better to go for an inflatable next time (a Waveco or similiar). Lighter to carry, less chance of damaging the main boat etc. Is this a good move? or should I stick with a grp dinghy?
 
For me an inflatable every time:-
PROS
Far safer and near impossible to turn over when getting in/out but be careful of strong wind under the bows
easier to tow
no bumping when tied alongside for the night
Unsinkable
Lighter to lift on deck if required
Cheaper to buy
Can deflate and store in locker
CONS
Not as easy to row
Needs more careful handling over shingle and may not stand as much abuse
OTHER
Maybe going to faraway exotic locations the balance of for and against argumants is different
 
ortogo said:
my tender (an old 8 foot grp pram dinghy) is getting a bit long in the tooth, I've been wondering wether it might be better to go for an inflatable next time (a Waveco or similiar). Lighter to carry, less chance of damaging the main boat etc. Is this a good move? or should I stick with a grp dinghy?
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I dont see them as exclusive of each other.

A tatty old grp dinghy to keep up turned on the sea wall and to leave on the mooring while you are sailing.
An inflatable kept on board to use to get ashore from anchorages etc
 
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VicS said:
I dont see them as exclusive of each other.

A tatty old grp dinghy to keep up tuned on the sea wall and to leave on the mooring while you are sailing.
An inflatable kept on board to use to get ashore from anchorages etc
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Absolutely!
 
+1

Depends on how you use it, where you keep it and your priorities in respect of the obvious pros and cons.

Many people, like VicS on a swinging mooring have both. If you don't need to get out to a mooring then solid tenders are a PITA unless you have a boat big enough to stow it on deck. It is however, quite practical to use an inflatable to get out to a mooring in many places.
 
Tranona said:
Depends on how you use it, where you keep it and your priorities in respect of the obvious pros and cons.
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That's the nub of it. We are on a mooring and have a shoreside stowage. We tow our hard dinghy everywhere. It tows easily and safely, it's always ready (no pumping/deflating/rolling up/stowing), it rows beautifully, we have a sailing rig for pottering round anchorages. It gets pulled up onto beaches with impunity.
We don't use marinas so it's hardly ever a problem to leave it hanging off the back, or tied alongside on a fender. We don't race.
We've still got an old Avon in the loft, just in case.
 
alahol2 said:
That's the nub of it. We are on a mooring and have a shoreside stowage. We tow our hard dinghy everywhere. It tows easily and safely, it's always ready (no pumping/deflating/rolling up/stowing), it rows beautifully, we have a sailing rig for pottering round anchorages. It gets pulled up onto beaches with impunity.
We don't use marinas so it's hardly ever a problem to leave it hanging off the back, or tied alongside on a fender. We don't race.
We've still got an old Avon in the loft, just in case.
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What do you do with your dinghy if on a long passage across open water, Channel, N Sea, Biscay, Atlantic?

Jonathan
 
Strange to me that an Aluminium dinghy is not mentioned as an option. Fibre glass is a very heavy material when made into a dinghy. Plywood can be made very light but ali is lightest and most robust. Ali dinghies are very popular in Oz yet seldom get a mention on this forum so apparently not so popular in UK.
As said of course much depends on what you want to do with it. To me the fact that an inflatable is not robust enough to leave on a beach or public place and is not easily rowed means that I would not consider inflatable for my needs. My dinghy (once f/g now Ali) is left on the beach locked up and is always rowed to boat. Always left at the mooring not towed.
If stowability is your priority then of course inflatable is one way to go unless you can get a nesting dinghy or have space for a dinghy on deck.
To the OP stick with what you have until it becomes obvious you need something different. olewill
 
To be constructive, how about a folding dinghy. We have been using a Foldaboat (American) for 12 years now. Takes an outboard, rows quite well. Folds flat like a rather untidy surfboard. Can be stowed on the life lines or roof rack. We carry ours on davits. Takes the beach and rocky shores well. I can carry it single handed, assembled. Ours is 10.5ft, takes 3 adults (or 4 in flat water). Works well in a chop. I think there is a manufacturer in Germany of something similar called a 'banana?' boat. Its yacht friendly in that it does not damage the gelcoat or paintwork. If we do dissassemble we can do it on the foredeck. The downside - like a decent inflatable, pricey (but is lasting!, though an ally one would possibly last much longer)

Jonathan
 
It really depends on how large your boat is and where you take it.

I have a 12' dinghy on davits. I row it everywhere and would never consider a deflateable, and certainly not with an outboard. As for safety, we take it into the beach where there's surf. It doesn't take long to learn how to use it. We can even climb aboard from the water : the gunwhale comes down when I pull on it ... and a roll in ..... very easy. As for banging on the sides of the yacht .... I've got some smart gunwhale fenders with white canvas skins.

Deflateables ... even RIBS .... are wet and difficult to row, and yes they deflate. The inflateable floor jobs are always giving problems, and the floor is nigh on impossible to repair. About the only thing that they are really good for is providing a soft pontoon for me to dock my dinghy on ..... oh and rescuing yachts that get into trouble - dragging and going on the mud. The most popular in the cruising circuit down here are aluminium ribs with hyperlon tubes, most running with 10-15hp engines .... and preferably 11' plus so they plane easily and not too skittish in waves. Any inflateable down here should have a cover over the floats to protect against UV. As for safety ..... try getting into a rib from the water when you are cold, tired, and wet .....

Having said all that .... most choose RIBS ....
 
I should have been a bit more specific with my original post. My boat is on a swinging mooring, so I have to get out to the boat to use it. Unfortunately there is no storage ashore so I carry my present dinghy in the back of my Peugeot expert van. The van limits the size of the dinghy to around 8 foot max. In the past i've had larger dinghies that were tied to the roof rack but to be honest that is a real pain, getting it onto the roof lashing it down and then getting it off again when i get home. It may be heresy, but i use the boat for angling so have never had the need to use a dinghy for anything other than getting out to the main boat. The idea of an inflatable (which would be kept inflated) is appealing as it would be lighter, the only point i'm not sure about is how good the slatted floors are for lugging gear around on?
 
Neeves said:
What do you do with your dinghy if on a long passage across open water, Channel, N Sea, Biscay, Atlantic?

Jonathan
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90% of our sailing is done within the confines of the Solent so not really open water. When we sail outside the Solent we choose our weather so no problem. I've towed across Lyme Bay without any problems arising and would be happy to tow across channel. I suspect I would not try to tow transatlantic:rolleyes:
For our type of sailing a hard dinghy is ideal. As I said, we've got an inflatable in the loft if we ever do decide to try multi-day passages where the weather can't be forecast with any sort of accuracy.
 
I think the crucial point here is the OP not having dinghy storage ashore, which is a real pain.

Normally I'd say grp 8' + dinghy to get to the mooring, roundtail inflatable to carry on the boat, but in this case maybe an inflatable is the answer, with say an LVM high speed inflator / deflator - if using these they must be clipped straight to the car or boat battery, don't even think about lighter sockets unless you want to meet lots of grinning firemen !

Using an inflatable as a main tender is a pain, and wear on slipways does get to them even with careful use; also try to get the largest tube size you can, the freeboard on modern cheap inflatables is rather low.

Towing a dinghy across the Channel - or even Solent - is a shocking idea, it's a huge, slowing drag - try feeling the pull on the painter, not to mention watching your boatspeed - and can easily get capsized causing a real drama.

If not carrying a liferaft across the Channel I keep the dinghy half inflated on the foredeck, it requires careful lashing down.
 
ortogo said:
I should have been a bit more specific with my original post. My boat is on a swinging mooring, so I have to get out to the boat to use it. Unfortunately there is no storage ashore so I carry my present dinghy in the back of my Peugeot expert van. The van limits the size of the dinghy to around 8 foot max. In the past i've had larger dinghies that were tied to the roof rack but to be honest that is a real pain, getting it onto the roof lashing it down and then getting it off again when i get home. It may be heresy, but i use the boat for angling so have never had the need to use a dinghy for anything other than getting out to the main boat. The idea of an inflatable (which would be kept inflated) is appealing as it would be lighter, the only point i'm not sure about is how good the slatted floors are for lugging gear around on?
Click to expand...

In your situation a GRP (or plywood) dinghy is the only sensible choice. You won't benefit from the main advantage of an inflatable - it can be deflated for stowing on board when cruising - but you will have to live with the downsides of poor rowing and arguably lower durability.

Problem will be finding one in good condition unless you can find a new one or build one yourself.
 
Inflatables with slatted floors are pretty hardwearing-we have had the same inflatable for 15 years' and used it all the time, dragged up beaches and generally abused. Plus 2 dogs scrabbling in and out claws and all. A 12v fast inflator is a must if you go down the inflatable route.
 
VicS said:
I dont see them as exclusive of each other.

A tatty old grp dinghy to keep up turned on the sea wall and to leave on the mooring while you are sailing.
An inflatable kept on board to use to get ashore from anchorages etc
Click to expand...

The best option.
 
As someone has mentioned before, a folding boat may be a good option for you ...... although they tend to be expensive. Portabote make some http://www.porta-bote.com/index.php.

One caution though: Portabotes are not great in waves and have been known to get swamped by the downward facing bow scooping up the water, although I notice that they are using an infill piece of plastic for a foredeck now.

One great benefit is that, being hard..ish, they are much easy to row, they're drier, and they perform better than most soft bottom inflatables.

One other option ... a hard nesting dinghy. You can get plans and build one yourself. Take a look at http://www.nestawayboats.com/ as an example ..... there's lots of plans out there.

If you do succumb to a deflateable, I suggest you go for Hyperlon fabric rather than PVC as PVC is a lot harder to repair in my experience ..... and is one of the several reasons I don't think much of deflateables per se.
 
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