Tabur Yak boats

[Atlantic Rigging]

Has anybody had any experience with one of these, good or bad.

How durable are they. Would you leave one out in the sun all year?

They seem what I need in terms of stability. Any suggestions re alternatives?

Thanks in advance

 

[PeteCooper]

Yak

I had one for a while. The material seemed very brittle, and when, as inevitably happened, it cracked it also seemed very thin. I put it in a skip at the marina as I have read that they are hard to repair.

 

[NUTMEG]

I had a tabur yak 2 when I was a kid some 40 years ago. They have been out of production for years but are now made by Bic boats.

I now have the latest version, with built in wheels, it lives out all year round and no signs of UV degradation. Good stable tender but wet in a chop.

 

[fergie_mac66]

I had a second hand I bought for 10£ had a 6 inch hole in . I repaired with a ply patch silka sealed bolted on . was very happy with it . It didnt get stolen !!

 

[Blueboatman]

Hehe.. had a ..wait for it...Sport Yak. Orange oblong thing that was ugly as sin and very practicable and as said, thief proof.
Whilst not thick, they are light enough and tough enough and withstand dragging up and down beaches.
IIRC what killed mine was getting wedged under a pontoon all winter and the deck parted company...
Excellent s/h buy imo.

 

[jeanne]

Tabur Yak

I used one for getting out to my boat on it's mooring for about 15 years, because it is the lightest dinghy on the market, and I had to haul it up a vertical dock wall (5 ft high at H W, 35 ft at L W) at Portishead. Then I left the tabur on my mooring, because I had a better dinghy on board.
I capsized it once, reaching too far out , and once it filled it, when a slight chop overcame the slight freeboard, with two up. But it is double skinned, with stacks of buoyancy, and when we filled it, I could still row, and we reached the ladder safely.
It is possible to repair them. They are made from a plastic ( perhaps polypropelene) and neither sikaflex, fibreglass or epoxy will stick permanently. But there are lots of firms which repair car bumpers, in various plastics, and they can do it, cheaply and permanently, using hot air welding.
If you get one, avoid dragging it up a slipway. The 'keels' will wear away, and then they are subject to the same problem as a welded repair in thin metal, thin sheets will melt the before the repair is done.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I had one for a while. The material seemed very brittle, and when, as inevitably happened, it cracked it also seemed very thin. I put it in a skip at the marina as I have read that they are hard to repair.

I also had a Tabur Yak many years ago that came with my boat - at first I thought it was good, stable, good load carrier, went well with an outboard BUT when I went on my summer cruise with it being towed, it was fine for several days but going ashore at Queenborough and I thought the baot was going to capsize rollong about all over the place. When we reached shore it was impossible to drag ashore as it was full of water. There was a longitudinal split in one of the hulls which was invisible to the eye. I made enquiries for repairs but found that because of the material it was practically impossible to repair so I got rid of it soon after.
If fairly new and you look after it well they are fine. Would I have another one? Probably not.

 

[Bajansailor]

Sport Yaks are brilliant we dinghies - very light, and row like a dream.
We acquired one second hand about 25 years ago, and it was quite old then. It was laid up for a long time, but was resurrected again last year.
I had done a bodge repair on a split in the transom, just below the hull / deck joint, about 15 years ago - this bodge was just a case of throwing lots of sticky sealant stuff at it - but plastic welding would probably be much better these days.
But then last year it was resting on the beach upside down, and I think some kids came along and jumped up and down on it, and put a few long splits in the bottom. Might be possible to repair by welding, there is a place here that makes plastic water tanks, so I might take it to see them sometime.
Otherwise the plan is to one day use it as a mould to make a fibreglass version.
They are not outrageously expensive, especially when compared to the average inflatable of similar size - if they were easily available here new, I would probably buy one.

 

[[3889]]

I found it fairly delicate but easy to handle ashore. Never capsized but nose-dived once. Good performance with an outboard but I found it difficult to row. I also repaired a cracked hull with glassfibre mat which, despite expectations, worked OK.

 

[fergie_mac66]

Sport Yaks are brilliant we dinghies - very light, and row like a dream.
We acquired one second hand about 25 years ago, and it was quite old then. It was laid up for a long time, but was resurrected again last year.
I had done a bodge repair on a split in the transom, just below the hull / deck joint, about 15 years ago - this bodge was just a case of throwing lots of sticky sealant stuff at it - but plastic welding would probably be much better these days.
But then last year it was resting on the beach upside down, and I think some kids came along and jumped up and down on it, and put a few long splits in the bottom. Might be possible to repair by welding, there is a place here that makes plastic water tanks, so I might take it to see them sometime.
Otherwise the plan is to one day use it as a mould to make a fibreglass version.
They are not outrageously expensive, especially when compared to the average inflatable of similar size - if they were easily available here new, I would probably buy one.

when mine gave up the ghost i opened a hole in the front the right size for a plastic storage box then filled it with empty plastic bottles packed with expansive foam when it was filled to the front I foamed the storage box in place . it was a lot heavier but great to ferry out to the swinging mooring I had at the time .. still unsinkable in fact more so as very little water could get between the skins... It took more than a hundred plastic Bottles to fill !!