Inflatables

[Eric_Cartman]

Just fishing for opinions on inflatables. I've seen Plastimo 2.2's for £350 and Wetline 230s for £375. Is the Wetline a better quality inflatable?

I'm also curious about inflatable/slatted floor. Apart from somewhere soft for your feet to sit what are the advantages?

Thank you for your thoughts...

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[Talbot]

Slatted floor = light weight

Inflatable floor = more rigidity in floor of boat without the weight of a solid floor and means that there can be a reasonable amount of water into the boat before you get wet feet.

Inflatable floor + Inflatable keel = more rigidity, better shape to the bottom of the boat. easier to row in a straight line, better seakeeping (i.e. less water over bow), and easier to motor in a straight line. (i.e. this is the best compromise)

Whilst it is true for a lot of things, it is particularly true that the amount of money spent on the tender directly compares with the quality of the tender. There are some reasonable compromises, and you must compare like with like. The more you spend, the longer it will last.

I have no real experience with either of these boats, but there was a PBO article comparing different tenders about 2 years ago, so might be worth checking if they covered the ones you are interested in.

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[milltech]

When I was selling inflatables in the early 90's there were the customers who would only buy Avon, a bit like Steiner buyers, brand loyalty you could not budge. Of all the rest the largest number were tender buyers and although they might have been interested in other matters, the important ones were weight, weight and weight.

Heaving on board seemed to come higher than durability or design.

BTW, I've still got a load of Maestral spares if anyones looking, floors, H sections, repair kits, maybe some Halkey Roberts valves but not the early types.


<hr width=100% size=1>John
http://www.on-line-marine.com

 

[whisper]

By choice I'd have the inflatable floor every time - makes the dinghy feel far more rigid than the slatted version.

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[jkim1]

Why dont you buy a seconhand one, generally they are very cheap. I bought a new one and someone in the sailing club ran a trolley with a nail holding the wheel on into it and put a 3 inch hole in it. Second hand ones are always available. I would never buy a new one again.

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[ex-Gladys]

Don't forget the issue (bought home to me this season) of Hypalon (Avon etc) vs PVC (Cheap ones). We had a 10 yr old Narwhal came with Amber, used it last season fine, took it out the bag this year and the main seam let go under a test inflation. PVC fails unpredictably. We also have (fortunately) an ancient 2nd hand Avon Redcrest we bought for £180... It's immaculate and a much better dinghy than a new small tender


<hr width=100% size=1>Larry Botheras

Anderson 26 "Amber"

 

[Dek]

I had an inflatable with slatted floor which I used as a yacht tender and stored on board. I found that I needed to remove the slats because of the weight and size when deflated.

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