The once ubiquitous grey Avon redstart..

[bitbaltic]

I bought a redstart last year from a forumite for 240 quid, having looked at brand new chandlery offerings around the three hundred quid mark and deciding a 30 year old Avon for about the same money was a better option. Haven't been proved wrong! The dinghy is complete, no patches or repairs, pumps up and stays up beautifully. I reckon there's years left in it. Plus it packs away easily into the lazarette.

It's also nice to own a bit of 'vintage' yachting kit

 

[BabaYaga]

Thanks babayaga, I hadn't seen them. Can only find dealers in the US, do you know anybody in Europe who sells them?

No, I think they withdrew from the European market a couple of years ago, unfortunately.
Guess the price competition got too tough here. Like the OP, many praise the longevity of hypalon/CSM boats, but what do they in fact buy?
http://www.achillesinflatables.com/about-us/
I ordered mine from Defender Marine, using one of those services that provides you with an address inside US and handles shipping, VAT, duty etc.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Just taken delivery of an R3-10 Avon Rover GRP hull RIB today, from about 1995 I reckon and it's clearly got quite a few years left. Thanks for the earlier tips on patches if we need them, apart from that and issues to be aware of? How do I find out what it weighs? It's not going to make it onto the bathroom scales - that would be silly but I need to match it to davits etc. Is there a site which lists historic/legacy models?

 

[Pete7]

Take it to the park and put it on a see saw. Next armed with a box of chocolates bribe a selection of young adults to sit on it until it balances. Weight of dinghy equals one small child.

There is a maths formula for this (L1 x W1) = (L2 x W2) when it balances but it was a long time ago since I did physics so might be wrong.

http://liferafts.airseasafety.net/i...ib-/air-floor-recreational-inflatables/r310-4

http://zodiacribs.com/site/BoatRange/Zodiac/Rover-Light-R310-Rib.html


Pete

 

[LONG_KEELER]

So pleased that the Redstart finally has a thread all on it's own.

Not a bad word from anybody .

A couple of year's ago I heaved mine into the marina skip with a heavy heart. She was too far gone.

Thanks old girl.

 

[VO5]

Just taken delivery of an R3-10 Avon Rover GRP hull RIB today, from about 1995 I reckon and it's clearly got quite a few years left. Thanks for the earlier tips on patches if we need them, apart from that and issues to be aware of? How do I find out what it weighs? It's not going to make it onto the bathroom scales - that would be silly but I need to match it to davits etc. Is there a site which lists historic/legacy models?

The problem with putting these beloved dinosaurs of ours on davits is not the weight, but the effect of windage.

 

[Hadenough]

So pleased that the Redstart finally has a thread all on it's own.

Not a bad word from anybody .

A couple of year's ago I heaved mine into the marina skip with a heavy heart. She was too far gone.

Thanks old girl.

OK, I restrained myself earlier but having just an hour ago witnessed three adults coming into the marina from the swinging moorings in a Redstart.
Dinghy hogged like a banana, water slopping over the bow, outboard (Seagull naturally) twisted to 30 degrees or so on that ridiculous bracket and as usual three very wet arses! They might last forever and squeeze into lockers but they are horrible things to use.

 

[Hadenough]

The problem with putting these beloved dinosaurs of ours on davits is not the weight, but the effect of windage.

No, it's the weight. If the davits will take it I doubt very much that a fat bottomed girl like the LK will notice the windage.

 

[GrahamM376]

They might last forever and squeeze into lockers but they are horrible things to use.

Agreed, couldn't wait to get rid of the one we inherited with a boat. Watching them in choppy conditions, they bend over waves like a caterpillar crawling over twigs and everyone gets wet.

 

[doug748]

So pleased that the Redstart finally has a thread all on it's own.

Not a bad word from anybody .

A couple of year's ago I heaved mine into the marina skip with a heavy heart. She was too far gone.

Thanks old girl.

Thanks Long_Keeler, the first time I have ever heard of a first hand account of the passing of an Avon. I began to think they were indestructible or went to some sort of elephant's graveyard.

I have two, one a venerable 10 foot job with inflatable keel which will blatter through anything.

 

[Birdseye]

Is the Renaissance of the Redcrest a result of cheap Chinese dinghies falling apart , a return to a superior product, or due to something else I am missing?

Survival of the fittest - the Darwin dinghy?

I have a Redcrest that wasnt new when I bought it 20 years ago. I also have a modern Excel with inflatable floor. The latter rows well and is much dryer but is a bitch to pack, weighs twice as much and is made in China from polythene so wont last.

I would happily pay twice the price for a new Avon with modern sized tubes and an inflatable floor but sadly the company was broken up by asset strippers and the great british public is only ever interested in "cheap" and usually nasty. How else can you explain Citroen cars or Zodiac dinghies?

 

[machone]

I'm in the same boat!! I am surprised there isn't a modern alternative, Achilles boats excepted. Avon boats were obviously very good and made to last. I have yet to find a boat available in Europe that will do what the Avons did.

I don't understand a white dinghy. It is designed for a type of boating I either can't afford or have never done; where there is a staff of people to scrub or the dinghy is replaced every season. A white dinghy!!??

I can't believe there isn't a significant gap in the market. Many things with boats have improved over the years but I dont think collapsible tenders are one of them, even if the shape allows a drier backside.

 

[Halo]

The Avons were a case of a product so well made that they had to stop making new ones. I sold my recrest after 20 years service and got one of the last ones made from eBay. Dingies are the only thing I feel are genuinely dangerous when sailing with competent people. I M HO those little bombardier ones are a death trap outside a swimming pool. (I had 2)

 

[pvb]

I would happily pay twice the price for a new Avon with modern sized tubes and an inflatable floor but sadly the company was broken up by asset strippers and the great british public is only ever interested in "cheap" and usually nasty. How else can you explain Citroen cars or Zodiac dinghies?

Not sure that Zodiacs are "nasty" (they're not "cheap" certainly!). My Zodiac Cadet Aero seems rather well made and will, I'm sure, last many years.

 

[machone]

Is it hypalon or pvc? Is it white?!

 

[pvb]

Is it hypalon or pvc? Is it white?!

Not sure whether you're asking about my Zodiac Cadet Aero. If you are, it's welded PVC and is grey/blue.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Thanks Long_Keeler, the first time I have ever heard of a first hand account of the passing of an Avon. I began to think they were indestructible or went to some sort of elephant's graveyard.
I have two, one a venerable 10 foot job with inflatable keel which will blatter through anything.

I looked into the skip a day or two later and it had gone.

Perhaps Hypolon Elves come out at night , rebuild the things and sell them with an assumed title on ebay. You certainly see enough of them for sale .

Agree that if you don't bother with outboards , floors or hard seats , they pack away beautifully
and are light to shift about. Unlike PVC , you never need talcum powder either.

 

[GrahamM376]

Unlike PVC , you never need talcum powder either.

We've never used talc on pvc and I've never heard of anyone doing it until your post.

 

[machone]

I just ordered an Achilles LSI 290E.

I think the hypalon is actually made by a Dutch firm and I ordered it through them. They have yet to inform me of delivery time.

It looks good - hypalon, air floor and keel and grey.....

Thanks babayaga.

If anybody else is interested in getting one these are the contact details:

Catalogue 2016:
http://www.achillesboats.com/pdf/files/AchCatalog2016.pdf

Wendt B.V.
Achter de Watertoren 11
2182 DV Hillegom
The Netherlands

Phone: 0031 - (0) 252 516 938
Fax: 0031 - (0) 252 830 256

E | Jasmin@achilles-wendt.com
W | http://www.achilles-wendt.com

 

[pvb]

I think the hypalon is actually made by a Dutch firm and I ordered it through them. They have yet to inform me of delivery time.

Looks like a nice dinghy. The hypalon fabric is made by the Achilles Corporation in Japan, and the boats are made in either Japan or China.