Most stable tenders/dinghies

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My least favourite part of owning a boat is having to use my inflatable to get to her. I'm extremely uncomfortable being in the dinghy and very anxious about climbing into my yacht from the dinghy and descending back down into it. At any moment I fear being tipped into the water and recent posts where this has happened to others only heighten my fears. My basic inflatable is clearly not right for me so I need to find an alternative.

There's a lot of choice out there but I don't know the pro's and con's of each - I like the look of the Plastimo rigid dinghies with their cathedral-hull and inbuilt wheel, but I'd be equally happy with a stylish older wooden dinghy.

My question is what should I look for - a traditional shaped plastic row-boat type; a dory; a cathedral-hulled one; a larger inflatable; something else?

Which shaped hull / design would best provide me with the stablity I evidently desire?

Has adding flotation tubes to a had dinghy been suggested? Dinghy Dogs might be an alternative to consider.
 
Well. This old thread has seen some new life. Pete Peterson is not quite so impartial as we may wish though

Southeast Sales
Pete Peterson
Phone: (813) 220-0332
Email: ppeterson@powercatgroup.com

Good old Harvey seems to be an integral part of Dinghy Dogs, as well.

If you want to advertise, try paying for the privilege or at least abide by the forum rules. A reciprocal link on your website front page?
 
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My least favourite part of owning a boat is having to use my inflatable to get to her. I'm extremely uncomfortable being in the dinghy and very anxious about climbing into my yacht from the dinghy and descending back down into it. At any moment I fear being tipped into the water and recent posts where this has happened to others only heighten my fears. My basic inflatable is clearly not right for me so I need to find an alternative.

There's a lot of choice out there but I don't know the pro's and con's of each - I like the look of the Plastimo rigid dinghies with their cathedral-hull and inbuilt wheel, but I'd be equally happy with a stylish older wooden dinghy.

My question is what should I look for - a traditional shaped plastic row-boat type; a dory; a cathedral-hulled one; a larger inflatable; something else?

Which shaped hull / design would best provide me with the stablity I evidently desire?

Before having my present boat I used a Tabur Yak III 3m20 dinghy with a sailing conversion. It had a catamaran type hull - which became a monohull if there were more than one person on board - but, because of its twin-hull shape and its double skinned polypropolene hulls - it was very safe and unbreakable. It was however a bit too heavy to envisage as a permanent tender unless you had a wide transom and davits. It would however be ideal to go out to you boat if it's on a mooring and leave it there; in which case you could then use an inflatable.

Here are some dinghies which appeal to me for different reasons (but all claim to be stable) :-

http://www.foxerdinghy.com/Foxer_Dinghy_Site_optimised/Welcome_to_Foxer.html
http://www.nestawayboats.com/page39.htm
http://www.portlandpudgy.com/
http://www.whitehallrow.com/rowboats/minto_9_sail.php
 
I agree with Tranona about Avons & have a Redstart myself, but in terms of stability a transomed design has a great advantage when loading or operating an outboard as your weight is better positioned. I have seen an old-style Redstart capsize backwards when the operator was loading an outboard.

I attach the bow and stern of the dinghy across the transom so that the dinghy can't move when I load the o/b.
 
Just in case it helps anyone, at my club - half tide swinging moorings 5 minutes row from shore - we use a rigid tender, wich is left on the mooring; there is a 230 roundtail inflatable on the boat if we need it.

The rigid tender is a reasonably light 8'6" round bilge job, which can take 3 adults but certainly no more.

As with all things it's a compromise, I wouldn't be able to get a more substantial dinghy up the slipway on my own; but I do shudder when I see the cockleshells some people use ' because it might get pinched ' - I padlock my tender to a stake in an obvious way ( plastic covered anti rust chain ) and it seems to put them off, touch-wood.

Another unrelated tip, I paint the bottom of the tender yellow in the hope it might attract attention if I turn it over ( again ! ) this worked for the chum who bought my old tender, he was spotted holding onto the upturned boat a long way from shore.

Using an inflatable for the regular trip from the slipway to the boat causes damage from abrasion, and may be a tempting target for some lowlife scrote with a sharp object.

I haven't had that problem, but do have a coiled length of 1 x 19 flexible stainless wire spliced onto an eye on the rigid dinghy, so I can padlock it to shore rings if doing a quick hop ashore - I take the brass bung with me if doing so too - young yobs fancying a go are far more common than pro' thieves.
 
You won't get more stable than an inflatable except perhaps a heavy Dell Quay Dory. I have recently switched to a rigid dinghy after years with inflatables and, while it is a good load carrier and far easier to row, it is still much more tippy and I can no longer step on the side while getting in and out. You will find a RIB feels more tippy as it will heel until the tubes immerse then harden up.
 
I had a GRP dinghy that was about 8ft and had enclosed box sections at the bow seat, stern seat and the centre thwart seat was also boxed in. Plenty of buoyancy I thought but I was always wary of dinghy instability and had no problem except once when unknown to me it developed a leak in the centre box compartment when I was rowing out to our moored boat. My wife complained that the dinghy seemed to be listing a little but I just thought she was imagaining it and carried on. We got to the boat when my wife smartly shot out of the tender and as I sat in the tender explaining that it was fine it promptly rolled over and me with it. The water in the holed section had flowed to one side and the instability was horrifying.
We now normally use a 2.5M inflatable with a hard transom and that always feels very safe apart from in strong headwinds when we get weight forward to ensure that it does not flip. On safety grounds I think as many others clearly do that inflatable are by far the best.
 
I use a "cockleshell" antique sailing club 6' grp dinghy - yes, because anything more attractive would get pinched. It is horrifyingly unstable but it rows well. I would probably not take another person in it - I only use it to get myself to my mooring, where I can pick up the regular dinghy for transporting people and gear. It has no buoyancy at all and would sink in a trice if tipped over *eek*

The regular dinghy is an Avon 340 Rover rib with a 25hp 2-stroke remote steered Mariner. It will make over 25 knots in smooth water, and I have crossed the Solent 6 times in it. It is old and a bit tatty, but Avon built them like brick outhouses - stays pumped up for 6 months at a time. Unfortunately lowest planing speed is above the 6 knot speed limit in the Hamble, so I am often restricted to its roughly 4 knot hull speed. It's a great dinghy, but has some drawbacks - rather too heavy to pull up on the shore when making a beach landing, for example.
 
My least favourite part of owning a boat is having to use my inflatable to get to her. I'm extremely uncomfortable being in the dinghy and very anxious about climbing into my yacht from the dinghy and descending back down into it. At any moment I fear being tipped into the water and recent posts where this has happened to others only heighten my fears. My basic inflatable is clearly not right for me so I need to find an alternative.

There's a lot of choice out there but I don't know the pro's and con's of each - I like the look of the Plastimo rigid dinghies with their cathedral-hull and inbuilt wheel, but I'd be equally happy with a stylish older wooden dinghy.

My question is what should I look for - a traditional shaped plastic row-boat type; a dory; a cathedral-hulled one; a larger inflatable; something else?

Which shaped hull / design would best provide me with the stablity I evidently desire?

I don't think anyone has mentioned adding inflatable tubes to a rigid dinghy other than the Walker Bay add-on kit which is excellent. Harvey Products makes inflatable tubes called "Dinghy Dogs" that can be added to pretty much any hard dinghy to improve stability.

Don't want to violate any rules, (I make Dinghy Dogs) but it might be a helpful alternative for some folks.
 
Despite the fact that I have been known to convey myself accross the harbour whilst standing upright, carrying a bag in one hand and a paddle in the other whilst smoking a fag it's not because it is so wonderfully stable - more that I am scared of moving to sit down :eek: Definately not recomended.


:D:D.......Tickled my funny bone!
 
Good advice from Tranona. I have yet to be in any form of rigid tender that felt more stable than an inflatable. When I first began cruising many years ago a friend advised me to buy the biggest inflatable that I could manage. A Zodiac 310 came up cheap, I bought it and blessed the day when I did. It was a pain to tow behind a 29 ft boat, far too big to carry on deck, but was superb for getting four people ashore in a very tidal mooring in bad weather.

I now have a Quicksilver 270, again rather on the large side but excellent when it counts, carrying loads in bad weather. It has an airdeck and inflatable keel, giving it reasonable rowing capability and good handling under outboard.

So far as boarding is concerned, it's a matter of keeping your weight central and as upright as possible, and plenty of practice. It also helps if you have something decent on the yacht to land on - a platform, good boarding ladder or whatever, that is firmly attached.



I gree with you vyv the combination for me was an airdeck inflatable and the addition if a stern platform, the latter making boarding a pleasure.
 
what about the Walker Bay RID? on paper at least they look stable


We got a WB10 RID mainly for the dog (he rides in it with us not by himself!!!). He actually hates going ashore in the dinghy and would dig his claws into an inflatable. The solid floor of the WB is very resilient but the main advantage is that the whole set up is very stable and gives a good platform for getting on and off the transom. As stated previously, making it off fore and aft before entering or leaving the dinghy makes a much better target for him (the dog) to launch himself into as he throws himself from the transom... The downside of the WB is that it is heavy, we have to winch it onto the foredeck with a haliyard - don't believe the sales hype about how light it is - the child pulling it in their promo must have been a very young Charles Atlas!!! All in all a robust, safe tender.
 
I agree that you can't beat the inherent stability of an inflatable tender, especially with 41cm tubes, but if you need to launch off a beach on a regular basis, an inflatable is prone to getting badly abraded on it's bottom, and will eventually fail. I don't think there is much choice really in the above scenario but to use a hard dink of some sort. My own will stay afloat even if awash to the gunwales, she has three large buoyancy tanks, one is the centre thwart, one in the bows and one in the stern.
 
You won't get more stable than an inflatable except perhaps a heavy Dell Quay Dory. I have recently switched to a rigid dinghy after years with inflatables and, while it is a good load carrier and far easier to row, it is still much more tippy and I can no longer step on the side while getting in and out. You will find a RIB feels more tippy as it will heel until the tubes immerse then harden up.

It depends a lot on the cross section of the hull. Many here have confused stability with flotation. Rib tubes and fenders keep them afloat, not stable.
My rigid tender has a flattish bottom with a tight turn to the bilge (almost hardchine) that gives support at the sides, and I can stand on the gunwale. I leave it on the mooring.
I wouldn't change it for the world.

Others are more roundbilged and look OK, but they roll underfoot as you step to the side as if you were in a barrel and I suspect that is snowleopards problem.

Tenders get a rough life, the "closed cell foam" filled ones crack, soak water and get heavy.
 
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I don't think anyone has mentioned adding inflatable tubes to a rigid dinghy other than the Walker Bay add-on kit which is excellent. Harvey Products makes inflatable tubes called "Dinghy Dogs" that can be added to pretty much any hard dinghy to improve stability.

Don't want to violate any rules, (I make Dinghy Dogs) but it might be a helpful alternative for some folks.

That's the second time you've posted that - have you added a link from your site back here?

We don't mind pros promoting their products - but would prefer if you had something else to say rather than just "buy my kit".

We are ppl on here - not just target audience - engage with us and you might find it a pleasure.
 
It depends a lot on the cross section of the hull. Many here have confused stability with flotation. Rib tubes and fenders keep them afloat, not stable, as snowleopard says
My rigid tender has a flattish bottom with a tight turn to the bilge (almost hardchine) that gives support at the sides, and I can stand on the gunwale. I leave it on the mooring.
I wouldn't change it for the world.

Others are more roundbilged and look OK, but they roll underfoot as you step to the side as if you were in a barrel and I suspect that is snowleopards problem.

Tenders get a rough life, the "closed cell foam" filled ones crack, soak water and get heavy.

I think you are right, I wouldn't stand on the gunwale of mine, I'd be getting very wet if I did! Has anybody seen one of these? It's an Orkney Flattie, they build 'em up there out of anything lying to hand, use them as tenders to get to their fishing boats and such, seems like they might make a good tender? Hard chine an 'all, I quite fancy building one.
 
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