Porta Bote or Seahopper? Best folding boat?

[lyralicious]

We've finally made a decision to buy a folding boat to use as a tender on board 'Esper' and at the moment have narrowed it down to one of the above.

Does anyone have any experience of either of these boats, good or bad? How do they perform in choppy seas? How does their stability rate compared to a RIB?

Are there any others we should be considering?

Cheers

 

[npf1]

I've got a Seahopper. It's very quick to assemble, can easily be manhandled by one person and rows very well. Stability is more like a sailing dinghy and nothing like a RIB. It's fine for regular use but I'd be wary of leaving it in the water for weeks on end, as it's probably a bit delicate for that. I use mine every couple of weeks to stick on top of the car and get out to the mooring - it's fine with four people and a few bags. I wouldn't like to be in choppy seas with it.

I've also got a 3 metre RIB that's on davits and the dinghy we use for everything except going to and from the mooring. It's much more robust and stable than the Seahopper and planes well 3 up with a 9.8 outboard. It's horrible to row but is massively more stable and robust than the Seahopper, but it does weigh 64kg compared to about 25kg for the Seahopper. It's a [--word removed--] to carry up a beach so it's now got wheels to make it a bit easier. I've used it in seas of around a metre without trouble.

IMHO, the Seahopper and a RIB are very different beasts. If I had to choose one, it would be the RIB.

 

[sighmoon]

If you buy a Seahopper, go for a second hand one, as dealing with Seahopper is an uphill struggle.