New Tender - Airdeck or Slatted?

[Sans Bateau]

Before you go rushing off with your credit card, we have just switched from an air deck to a slatted floor. The coming season will test the theory!

OK, I know that the air deck with a keel makes a very stable boat with good directional control (ish, as it still tended to go sideways in a tight turn, yes it did have a keel BTW). However, we just stopped using it, to go ashore from the boat whilst at anchor meant pumping up 5 chambers! We just could not be bothered for a short row ashore so just turned another page in the book and stayed on the boat.

I think if you are going to use an inflatable to access a boat on a swinging mooring, then yes get an airdeck, no contest. If you want an inflatable for the occasional trip ashore whilst at anchor, then get a slatted floor, 2 tubes, keep it simple.

 

[doris]

Thanks very much for all of your replies
An airdeck it is then with a keel.
Now all I have to do is decide on size and make, so off to the boat to measure the cock pit locker so I lnow the max deflated size I can get
Thanks you all again

I got rid of a big heavy flat floor last year. Got a Zodiak roller with floor and keel. It had the best carrying capacity to weight and rolled up size. Cost £800 but was worth the extra for the aforesaid. A good one will last so get the best that fits your speck even if you gulp at the price. It will be worth it in the long run.

 

[NPMR]

Is it just me that is bothered by the weight of these things?

I too am looking for new inflatable.

My current, very old Achilles (Hypalon) and about 2.9mtrs long weighs 20 kilos.

The "best" modern versions, smaller at 2.3 or 2.7mtrs, weigh upwards of 23kg. The 'airdeck' versions seem to weigh even more.

Examples:
Waveline 230; solid transom slat floor 30kg
Waveline 270; airdeck floor 42kg
Excel Sd230; air keel 28kg
Excel SF 230; slatted floor 24kg

etc.
It seems modern inflatables and 'air floor's' in particular, are heavier to drag around, when either not using them (when sailing) or dragging them up and down companionways or over the rails to launch them. Is it just me, being a wimp?

 

[JimC]

You can tow them too remember

I take Galadriel's point about airdeck inflatables taking longer to inflate due to the extra chambers. We haven't really found this a disincentive to going ashore because the floor and keel chambers in our Lodestar take only a few extra minutes being small in volume compared to the tubes.

Another advantage of inflated floor & keel dinghies is that they are much better to tow: the V bottom making a shape that slides through the water easily causing less drag on the towing yacht, compared to the more raft-like attitude of a slatted-floor boat. I remember a test in one of the magazines that said towing a Lodestar 260 reduced the speed of a Contessa 32 by only half a knot.

The upshot of this is that we often tow our dinghy when coastal sailing and don't have to do any inflating before going ashore.

 

[KevB]

A small thing to check is the end of the tubes. Best to have them like the Quicksilver (picture below) where the tubes taper to the water line and not to a point like many others. Gives the dinghy a longer waterline so theoretically faster and makes it more stable.

 

[geoid96]

A small thing to check is the end of the tubes. Best to have them like the Quicksilver (picture below) where the tubes taper to the water line and not to a point like many others. Gives the dinghy a longer waterline so theoretically faster and makes it more stable.

I think the main benefit of taperered tube ends is that they provide more buoyancy aft of the engine than the cut off ones found on some lightweight dinghies and make a backwards flip less likely.

 

[enterprise]

Weight will be an issue for sure, probably the reason we opted for a zodiac 220rib, it was lighter (30kg) than some of the airdeck floors(30kg +), see the link to Ron Hale above for the weights.

I can only say that you tend to get what you pay for, the excel range looked good but being only marginaly cheeper than highly regarded equivalent tenders it's hardly worth taking a risk.

Once you see the Lodestar range you can quite understand where the rave reviews originate, not that we bought one as the zodiac suited our needs better but they were a close second.
You really need to see them side by side before you decide, not that it's possible easily but a quick read of the reviews can make it a less daunting task.

watch those tubes, some manufacturers specify length by the length of tube, you need to look at internal volume for passengers!