I will be buying a dingy for my 460 sometime this year and was looking for opinions on the new inflatable bottom boats versus the rigid bottoms. Concerned about loading, stability, weight, horsepower constraints. I do not expect to use davits. I think I have enough room on my cabin top to store a dingy on or forward of my liferaft canister. If you've used both, let me know what you think are the advantages or disadvantages of each. We expect to be cruising in a year or two so want to have a good commuter boat to get us from ship to shore safely and in style. Thanks
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same question here?
I am also considering a new dinghy. I sail most always in the protected waters of the inside passage. Mostly have to anchor for the night as there are very few docks to tie up to. The shoreline is almost always rocky and barnacle covered. I have a 34 foot hunter. What about pros and cons for roll up dinghys and fiberglass dinghys as well. Share your experiences. Thanks Eric Linklater "Worlds Away"
I am also considering a new dinghy. I sail most always in the protected waters of the inside passage. Mostly have to anchor for the night as there are very few docks to tie up to. The shoreline is almost always rocky and barnacle covered. I have a 34 foot hunter. What about pros and cons for roll up dinghys and fiberglass dinghys as well. Share your experiences. Thanks Eric Linklater "Worlds Away"
rigid for me
I previously had a 10 foot zodiac inflatable bottom dingy and moved up to a rigid bottom zodiac. The differences Price - rigid bottom costs more Horespower - the rigid bottom can carry a bigger engine comfort -the rigid bottom rides much drier than inflatable control - the rigid bottom runs like a motor boat Weight - the rigid bottom is heavier Speed - the rigid with higher horespower is much faster I plan to use my windlass to hoist the dingy on deck. We usually tow. I would not go back to an inflatable keel dingy for all of the above reasons. See if anyone will take you for a ride. The differences are obvious.
I previously had a 10 foot zodiac inflatable bottom dingy and moved up to a rigid bottom zodiac. The differences Price - rigid bottom costs more Horespower - the rigid bottom can carry a bigger engine comfort -the rigid bottom rides much drier than inflatable control - the rigid bottom runs like a motor boat Weight - the rigid bottom is heavier Speed - the rigid with higher horespower is much faster I plan to use my windlass to hoist the dingy on deck. We usually tow. I would not go back to an inflatable keel dingy for all of the above reasons. See if anyone will take you for a ride. The differences are obvious.
Inflatable floor has my vote
Dave, We have a Zodiac HP285 Fastroller inflatable floor, for use on our Hunter 340. Not cheap, but the saying "you get what you pay for" has panned out. Outstanding stability, and tough as nails. Got a good deal at Annapolis Boat Show. 9'4" LOA, weighs only 52 lbs, payload 1080 lbs. Use a Nissan 5HP, 4 stroke engine (55lbs), and am installing a Garhauer motor davit soon. A smaller engine would work fine too. I am not worried about speed or performace, but it will plane with me (225lbs) @ full throttle. VERY stable. The floor is rock hard when inflated...at the boat show the salesperson had it on the cement and had me jump on it...didn't phase it. Adding up price, stability, ease of handling (very light), payload I would buy another Zodiac hands down.
Dave, We have a Zodiac HP285 Fastroller inflatable floor, for use on our Hunter 340. Not cheap, but the saying "you get what you pay for" has panned out. Outstanding stability, and tough as nails. Got a good deal at Annapolis Boat Show. 9'4" LOA, weighs only 52 lbs, payload 1080 lbs. Use a Nissan 5HP, 4 stroke engine (55lbs), and am installing a Garhauer motor davit soon. A smaller engine would work fine too. I am not worried about speed or performace, but it will plane with me (225lbs) @ full throttle. VERY stable. The floor is rock hard when inflated...at the boat show the salesperson had it on the cement and had me jump on it...didn't phase it. Adding up price, stability, ease of handling (very light), payload I would buy another Zodiac hands down.
Tried 3 types - found a winner
On my h34 I had a solid dingy, a RIB inflatable and a roll up inflatable. The solid dign was unstable and lacked capacity. The RIB I purchased was a Quicksilver and put a new 15hp on it. I like that it went 26mph but it weighted 150# without the motor and towed like a stone with the motor tilted up. Sailing at 5-6 knots I couldn't pull the tow line by hand - had to be secured to a cleat. It seriously detracted from the hull speed. Ended up with a roll up inflatable. Light weight, tows like a feather, easy to lift up on deck or roll up and put down below. Currently using a 3hp motor so it slow but does the job for me. Barry s/v "PER DIEM too"
On my h34 I had a solid dingy, a RIB inflatable and a roll up inflatable. The solid dign was unstable and lacked capacity. The RIB I purchased was a Quicksilver and put a new 15hp on it. I like that it went 26mph but it weighted 150# without the motor and towed like a stone with the motor tilted up. Sailing at 5-6 knots I couldn't pull the tow line by hand - had to be secured to a cleat. It seriously detracted from the hull speed. Ended up with a roll up inflatable. Light weight, tows like a feather, easy to lift up on deck or roll up and put down below. Currently using a 3hp motor so it slow but does the job for me. Barry s/v "PER DIEM too"
ditto on the HP285
I recently purchased a Zodiac HP285 and find it to be a fabulous boat. I use it with an Evinrude 8hp four stroke, which is a bit heavy for the boat and requires the floor/keel to be pumped up to its maximum hardness. Otherwise the boat porposes like a drunk sea lion at higher planing speeds. I've owned two rigid-hulls in the past: they are higher performance and handle much more weight, but are too heavy in my opinion to be good tenders on a sailboat in the 40-foot range. I rarely tow the dink when underway, but the difference between towing an RIB and a pure inflatable are phenomenal. The best part about the inflatable is that I have the option of rolling it up and stowing it in a transom locker.
I recently purchased a Zodiac HP285 and find it to be a fabulous boat. I use it with an Evinrude 8hp four stroke, which is a bit heavy for the boat and requires the floor/keel to be pumped up to its maximum hardness. Otherwise the boat porposes like a drunk sea lion at higher planing speeds. I've owned two rigid-hulls in the past: they are higher performance and handle much more weight, but are too heavy in my opinion to be good tenders on a sailboat in the 40-foot range. I rarely tow the dink when underway, but the difference between towing an RIB and a pure inflatable are phenomenal. The best part about the inflatable is that I have the option of rolling it up and stowing it in a transom locker.
I've tried them all
I have a lapstrak fibreglass dink, a thirteen foot fiberglass canoe, and a 9 ft inflateable Avon, three years old. We've also tried plastic dinks--just about everything on the market. We really like our 9 ft Avon with an inflateable floor. They are now owned by Zodiac and I put in the new floor which gets rock hard. It tows well (a major consideration), weighs 62 lbs and I can host it to the foredeck for extended passeges. Another reason we like it is the ease in getting out of it onto the H 380. It is easy to step aboard. While this is not a major importance, our cats like it and they ride on the tubes--claws don't seem to be a problem. Oh yes, another reason we like it is that rain water stays under the floor and you always have dry feet. Easy to pump out at the stern--important here in the northwest rain. We're planning on buying the Honda 2 hp 4 stroke outboard for it this ear. Hope this helps
I have a lapstrak fibreglass dink, a thirteen foot fiberglass canoe, and a 9 ft inflateable Avon, three years old. We've also tried plastic dinks--just about everything on the market. We really like our 9 ft Avon with an inflateable floor. They are now owned by Zodiac and I put in the new floor which gets rock hard. It tows well (a major consideration), weighs 62 lbs and I can host it to the foredeck for extended passeges. Another reason we like it is the ease in getting out of it onto the H 380. It is easy to step aboard. While this is not a major importance, our cats like it and they ride on the tubes--claws don't seem to be a problem. Oh yes, another reason we like it is that rain water stays under the floor and you always have dry feet. Easy to pump out at the stern--important here in the northwest rain. We're planning on buying the Honda 2 hp 4 stroke outboard for it this ear. Hope this helps
My opinion...RIB the way to go
I've had 3 different inflatables and the RIB's are the best. We tow ours with the motor on, and with the painter properly set to place the dinghy just in front of the standing wave just off the stern it just kind of surfs down that wave and the effect on boat speed is negligable. The RIB's are also a much more ridid and stable platform to step into. The down side is that they are HEAVY. My 9'6" weighs 150 lbs plus the weight of my 9.9 Yamaha. 200 lbs total is just too much weight to pull out of the water. I haven't tried yet, but I don't think the electric halyard winch is strong enough to lift that kind of weight. Mark Johnson
I've had 3 different inflatables and the RIB's are the best. We tow ours with the motor on, and with the painter properly set to place the dinghy just in front of the standing wave just off the stern it just kind of surfs down that wave and the effect on boat speed is negligable. The RIB's are also a much more ridid and stable platform to step into. The down side is that they are HEAVY. My 9'6" weighs 150 lbs plus the weight of my 9.9 Yamaha. 200 lbs total is just too much weight to pull out of the water. I haven't tried yet, but I don't think the electric halyard winch is strong enough to lift that kind of weight. Mark Johnson
RIB
I think it really depends on where and how you cruise. We used a light, cheap soft-bottom inflatable for years and moved up to a RIB in 1993. With an 8 hp outboard it is a fast, multipurpose, boat that we use as much more than a dinghy. We can anchor miles from our destination and have a reliable, secure, dry, transport back and forth. Some weekends we use it for fishing and touring the local creeks, and leave the big boat at the dock. It is 125 lbs empty, without motor. It can be hoisted onto the foredeck with a spinnaker halyard, but on out H-34 it leaves little room to handle the anchor, so we mostly tow it. I think that towing it offers many advantages here in the Chesapeake. Though it takes a half knot off the cruising speed, it is ready to immediately run out an anchor for kedging off the shoals. It has yet to get into trouble under storm conditions - the extra weight of the glass bottom keeps it from flipping. Rowing it is cruel punishment. On a larger boat like yours, many people inflate their dinghys and keep them covered and on deck all summer. I see no down side to a RIB if that is how you are going to use it. For voyaging, the high pressure inflatable that can be stowed out of the way has a big advantage, but I have trouble thinking that it will take beaching as well as a RIB. Those coral beaches and stone ledges are tough on hypalon.
I think it really depends on where and how you cruise. We used a light, cheap soft-bottom inflatable for years and moved up to a RIB in 1993. With an 8 hp outboard it is a fast, multipurpose, boat that we use as much more than a dinghy. We can anchor miles from our destination and have a reliable, secure, dry, transport back and forth. Some weekends we use it for fishing and touring the local creeks, and leave the big boat at the dock. It is 125 lbs empty, without motor. It can be hoisted onto the foredeck with a spinnaker halyard, but on out H-34 it leaves little room to handle the anchor, so we mostly tow it. I think that towing it offers many advantages here in the Chesapeake. Though it takes a half knot off the cruising speed, it is ready to immediately run out an anchor for kedging off the shoals. It has yet to get into trouble under storm conditions - the extra weight of the glass bottom keeps it from flipping. Rowing it is cruel punishment. On a larger boat like yours, many people inflate their dinghys and keep them covered and on deck all summer. I see no down side to a RIB if that is how you are going to use it. For voyaging, the high pressure inflatable that can be stowed out of the way has a big advantage, but I have trouble thinking that it will take beaching as well as a RIB. Those coral beaches and stone ledges are tough on hypalon.
Zodiac 310 fastroller
I purchased a Zodiac 310 fastroller at the Miami boat show in 1996. The boat has been used about one month a year since the purchase. When it is not being used it is stored in an air conditioned home. The first year it performed flawlessly. The second year the floor would not stay inflated. The repair facility said it had been punctured by a grain of sand and charged me $60.00 to fix it. The third year both main valves in the tubes leaked. It was fixed under warranty. Last year the air floor leaked again at a seam. It was fixed under warranty. Next the main floor separated from the tubes and the oar locks became unglued. This, according to Zodiac was not covered. The dealer from which I had purchased the boat, elected to fix it at his expense. The warrenty expires this year. We hope it inflates next week when we give it the blow up test 3 weeks prior to our planned Bahamas trip.
I purchased a Zodiac 310 fastroller at the Miami boat show in 1996. The boat has been used about one month a year since the purchase. When it is not being used it is stored in an air conditioned home. The first year it performed flawlessly. The second year the floor would not stay inflated. The repair facility said it had been punctured by a grain of sand and charged me $60.00 to fix it. The third year both main valves in the tubes leaked. It was fixed under warranty. Last year the air floor leaked again at a seam. It was fixed under warranty. Next the main floor separated from the tubes and the oar locks became unglued. This, according to Zodiac was not covered. The dealer from which I had purchased the boat, elected to fix it at his expense. The warrenty expires this year. We hope it inflates next week when we give it the blow up test 3 weeks prior to our planned Bahamas trip.
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