What is the best light weight tender with big tubes and air deck

[KompetentKrew]

Love my Honwave T27-IE - it planes well with an engine, and rows well without. Paid £400 for mine secondhand and would buy another tomorrow if I needed to replace it.

IMO 240cm is too small - used a couple in 2018 - and I doubt 250cm would be much better.

 

[ctva]

We have the Seago 270 airdeck and it is well made, light and cheap. Our last one was 10 years old when we had to sell it (long story) for £200 as it was still going strong.

 

[vyv_cox]

Love my Honwave T27-IE - it planes well with an engine, and rows well without. Paid £400 for mine secondhand and would buy another tomorrow if I needed to replace it.

IMO 240cm is too small - used a couple in 2018 - and I doubt 250cm would be much better.

I agree, 240 is too small. Unfortunately anything bigger will not fit our foredeck, babystay pushes it too far forward. Hence we towed our 280 everywhere, pretty much the whole length of the Mediterranean.

 

[MoodySabre]

An AX2 is light but it's a wet bum experience and with no seat is difficult to row. I sold mine and bought a WavEco with an airdeck. Very much better. a bit heavier of course.

 

[seumask]

An AX2 is light but it's a wet bum experience and with no seat is difficult to row. I sold mine and bought a WavEco with an airdeck. Very much better. a bit heavier of course.

AX2 always seemed like a toy inflatable not suitable for more than 2 small adults to me. Tube size particularly small and hence wet when any passing wake needs negotiating. They have been around a long time and hence are quite well known but beware they are small!

 

[TonyMS]

Our lightweight Lodestar disintegrated in its 6th year with the spherical tube ends coming unglued. To be fair, our cover didn't protect the ends very well. Up till then we'd been delighted with it.

 

[greeny]

Lodestar stockists seems to be like rocking horse s**t both in UK and the rest of Europe. Seems that they were "taken over" by one company then they appeared to have been absorbed under the Mercury brand. Name seems have disappeared from the current market place. Even if they're still out there somewhere, its all too difficult to buy one in the UK at the moment so have dropped them from my list.
I did have a Honda wave some years ago and was very impressed with it except for the "rubber" rubbing strake and fittings. They quickly got sticky and left blue gooey marks on anything or anyone they came into contact with. UV damage was the cause of this.
Is there anyone using a more recently bought one at the moment in a hot climate that can comment on this?

 

[Seastoke]

Anyone had a aqua fax air deck

 

[rszemeti]

Honwave 3.2m air deck, ours has been absolutely superb. Gaelforce has them on offer ..

Honda Honwave Inflatable - 3.2m Air V-Floor Gael Force Marine

 

[Seastoke]

Honwave 3.2m air deck, ours has been absolutely superb. Gaelforce has them on offer ..

Honda Honwave Inflatable - 3.2m Air V-Floor Gael Force Marine

to heavy

 

[geem]

The kiteboarding school here at Green Island, Antigua have a fleet of Honwaves for teaching and transporting their students the mile from the resort up to the teaching beach. Those dinghies get a pretty hard life but stand up surprisingly well to the abuse. They would get my vote

 

[ashtead]

If you want lightweight a Seago is fine but don’t expect it to perform Locke a heavier Zodiac or Quicksilver. Just carry 2 and deploy as required?

 

[Offshore57]

We have a Lodestar...wanted one for ages but didnt want to pay the full premium.........found one on Fleabay in the end...unused and still in its valise....very lucky find. There was a dealer in uk but the website is down at the moment...Roche Marine 01562 777200

 

[Seastoke]

We have the Seago 270 airdeck and it is well made, light and cheap. Our last one was 10 years old when we had to sell it (long story) for £200 as it was still going strong.

So what size tubes on a seago lite

 

[Lucy52]

From the dimensions on the drawings given they appear to be 350mm

 

[Lucy52]

Sorry, that was the slatted floor, The spirit air deck is given as the 240 @270mm and 270 @410mm

 

[ctva]

So what size tubes on a seago lite

Big. 41cm as said above.

Keeps the two of us good and dry.

 

[Seastoke]

Big. 41cm as said above.

Keeps the two of us good and dry.

hi looking at the 2.5 lite is that the same

 

[vyv_cox]

I also have a Waveco 2.3 airdeck, quite impressive for a relatively cheap dinghy. Gael Force have them on offer, as do Marinescene, where I bought mine.

 

[emandvee44]

We bought one of these 3 years ago. It is beamy and the tubes are big towards the stern. It does 6 knots with a honda 2hp one up and rows well. Has 4 lifting points and is easy to lift on board with the spinny halyard.

M.