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Dinghy types - Pros & Cons


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I will be getting a new dinghy set up in the near future, and I am currently thinking of a 3 metre-ish hard alloy dinghy with a 10hp motor, a foam collar to stop it from damaging the mothership when it hits it a hundred times or more per day, but no one seems to have this type of dinghy? I like the idea of no tubes to puncture, likely to be quite fast with a small motor (?), easy to row, lightweight. 


I'm not 100% sold on this setup yet...


What are the pros and cons of the different dinghy types you have owned? Also, how often in practice have the Pros and the Cons been of use or an actual hindrance? What are the possible workarounds if you don't have one of these Pros and Cons?

 

 

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4 hours ago, mcp said:

I will be getting a new dinghy set up in the near future, and I am currently thinking of a 3 metre-ish hard alloy dinghy with a 10hp motor, a foam collar to stop it from damaging the mothership when it hits it a hundred times or more per day, but no one seems to have this type of dinghy? I like the idea of no tubes to puncture, likely to be quite fast with a small motor (?), easy to row, lightweight. 


I'm not 100% sold on this setup yet...


What are the pros and cons of the different dinghy types you have owned? Also, how often in practice have the Pros and the Cons been of use or an actual hindrance? What are the possible workarounds if you don't have one of these Pros and Cons?

 

 

your brief sounds very much like the one Russ Carlyon gave himself when he conceived his Offshore Cruising Tenders https://octenders.co.nz/. He looked at aluminium but it was too heavy for the weight he had in mind. Given his experience with composites it was a no brainer for him to go in that direction. The fender on OCT's is some sort of closed cell foam, inside a Sunbrella cover.

If you wanted a hard dinghy and don't want to pay the OCT Rolls Royce price for a high quality product, you could build/have built an aluminium or plywood dinghy and fit a similar fender to the OCT - just needs a top and bottom bolt rope moulding. Alternatively you could source a foam collar similar to that being fitted to some large RIBs

Do you want to go fast or slow? If slow Jim Young's 2.8 and 3.5m stitch and tape are very good. For a planing hull the Frank Pelin 10 and 12' Nomads are highly regarded (the OCT hull shape is very close the Pelins, just flatter in the bottom). I don't think anyone is manufacturing conventional aluminium dinghies less than 12' anymore (try Fish City), if you wanted to get one built a good start would be to find out who builds the Seafarer RIB bottoms, I think someone in Silverdale.

A solid dinghy does not have the stability of an inflatable, the OCT is however much better in this respect. A solid dinghy has more internal volume. An aluminium bottom is of course the best if you are going to be dragging it over rocks regularly

I have a Naiad 2.5 RIB aluminium bottom inflatable, excellent dinghy but quite heavy (almost twice the weight of an equivalent size Seafarer) due to the aluminium sides being much higher for the top bolt rope and it having inner (hypalon) and outer (PVC tubes).

The best thing you can do for a deck stowed inflatable is put a cover on it - I buy them from Burnsco for about $110 and they last 4-5 yrs.

 

 

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mcp, what do you want to use the dinghy for? Are you in a marina, or on a mooring? Do you want to row short trips in a Bay from anchor to beach, or go on epic missions to supermarkets and back?

I recently replaced our 20 yr old hypalon. Was very interested in a hard dinghy and did a lot of research on shape, characteristics, nesting, towing, rowing etc. In the end on I got a budget model aarkron inflatable. $1,200 I think, where the materials to build a good ply dinghy was coming in at $8-$900, excluding my time.

Basically, the inflatables are cheap and easy. They row like a pig, but everyone uses outboards. Not much room inside, but super stable. We also have a 3.2m Seabird sailing dinghy, fibreglass. Took it on a cruise towing it (no room on deck for one that big), would overtake the mother ship going down wind, going up wind at 7 knts, I thought it was going to blow apart slaming into the waves. Heavy for getting up the beach. Stable enough and loads of space. I will start using it again when #1 daughter wants to learn to sail, otherwise the aakron is the workhorse. Inflatable is OK at towing, inflatable keel and floor.

We are on a mooring, with a dinghy locker, and can get everyone and all gear for a cruise on the boat in 2 trips.

The eastport pram is a good towing / rowing / sailing dinghy, but you need to build it yourself. Never used one myself, but they have good reviews. Would tow better than a alloy fryan I would think. Wont plane though. RIBs are popular if you want more performance than a inflatable keel inflatable.

There are designs around for cat tenders to, in foam sandwich or ply, stable and fast. Again you need to build it yourself. There are rotomoulded plastic hard dinghies. Near indestructible, and popular if that leopard seal is around...

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I had a truekit. Very light and they row quite well which is unusual for an inflatable. The grey ribbed protection layer underneath turns into some mastic type material but way stickier in a couple of years of NZ sun. The sellers in NZ are aware but disinterested in fixing the problem. 

 

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I'd like an Ocean Tender, but way to pricey for me, and I'd really need a bigger boat to put it on deck!

So, at realistic prices, I prefer a RHIB, for its better performance, robust to drag, rows ok only. But weight is a huge factor, I want under 35kg, which I have in a 2.9m alloy hull. Yep, its a compromise, but its pretty good all around.

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we bought a s/hand Aakron rhib, 2.4m.  It replaced a soft floor Aakron that died as I outlined here earlier) from seam failure.

The ali hull tows better, has more volume (deeper) and is more confidence inspiring when you are approaching a rocky shore.

It needs more hp to drive it - we have a 2.5hp merc and it could really do with double that.

And all the surface glued stuff (rollocks, lifting handles) have fallen off.  Again.  A bit annoying because the rest of the dinghy is like brand new, but the glue system Aakron use seems to have issues.  This model isn't made anymore.  They are importing chinese manufactured ones instead at this pricepoint.

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3 hours ago, Island Time said:

I'd like an Ocean Tender, but way to pricey for me, and I'd really need a bigger boat to put it on deck!

MCP was looking for light weight and easily rowed which the Ocean Tender is not actually it’s pretty disappointing at the 9k minimum cost if you are looking for those usability features as a go to cruising tender.

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With a hard dinghy it's not just the gunwhale, but also the chines and corners that could hit the boat, particularly if you have a scoop stern.

My solution is a 12 foot fibreglass surf casting rod ($50 from the Warehouse), a few metres of 4mm polyester, and a hook (part of a shackle).

The rod is wedged in a rod holder on the pushpit and extends about 8 feet aft. The rope loop goes from where the reel would mount, out through the eyelets, down to the hook, and then has a nice loose retrieval loop back to  where the reel would mount.

To use it I retrieve the hook using the retrieval loop, hook the rope to some part of the dinghy and let it go. The length of the line and so on is set so that it all holds the dinghy away from the boat at rest. It even works towing if the lengths of rod, painter and rope are right.

 

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5 hours ago, darkside said:

I had a truekit. Very light and they row quite well which is unusual for an inflatable. The grey ribbed protection layer underneath turns into some mastic type material but way stickier in a couple of years of NZ sun. The sellers in NZ are aware but disinterested in fixing the problem. 

 

Mmmm, that’s interesting. Was the stickiness inside or outside the boat ie on the bottom?

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Underneath. The ribbed material protects the tubes on the beach. We removed ribbed stuff and replaced with a heavy vinyl then happy days. They are really light and the windsurfer style stiffened floor works very well. I have a new little Southern Pacific RIB downstairs waiting for the next boat to be built.

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11 hours ago, Priscilla II said:

MCP was looking for light weight and easily rowed which the Ocean Tender is not actually it’s pretty disappointing at the 9k minimum cost if you are looking for those usability features as a go to cruising tender.

It's a bit like the options of do you want it 1. fast, 2. light and 3. cheap - you can have 2 of the 3

The Ocean Tender is rowable but Russell has always been clear that he optimised the design for motoring, which results in quite a different hull shape - a dinghy for rowing needs some of "rocker" in its fore and aft bottom shape, whereas a planing boat needs straight lines. All the old ally dinghies had planning hull shape, except for the diabolically unstable Parkercraft pram bow dinghy

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10 hours ago, Priscilla II said:

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yes, Pete has always preferred ally dinghies. I went for a row in that dinghy when he first bought it and found the rowlocks were in the wrong place - too close to the seat. The Young 2.8 has the same error in its design

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21 minutes ago, marinheiro said:

It's a bit like the options of do you want it 1. fast, 2. light and 3. cheap - you can have 2 of the 3

The Ocean Tender is rowable but Russell has always been clear that he optimised the design for motoring, which results in quite a different hull shape - a dinghy for rowing needs some of "rocker" in its fore and aft bottom shape, whereas a planing boat needs straight lines. All the old ally dinghies had planning hull shape, except for the diabolically unstable Parkercraft pram bow dinghy

I agree you can have only two of the three

10kgs lighter than the Ali rib, rows just as well as the Ali rib, same length more room. And dry storage within

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Ive got the 2.6 Southern Pacific rib with the larger tubes, it is easy for one man to handle, rows ok if you dont have to go far and there isnt much wind and its very stable planing at 15kts with an 8hp. It's on the small side if you need to transport more than 2 over a distance but like any inflatable you can load it with an incredible amount of gear for short hops. If I was to get another I would definitely get 3m plus for the gulf. In my view a reliable tender is the one of the most important and underrated part of a successful cruising holiday on yacht. The tender gets used not only for ship to shore transportation, but fishing, diving, exploring, potential liferaft etc.  I have had an inflatable floor model but the alloy hulled boats are better for all round performance. 

Unless I had a real reason for a hard dinghy like sailing or perhaps extreme durability, Id stick with a rigid hull inflatable. One of the biggest advantages is the safety aspect in transferring from yacht to tender, 3m might be ok for a hard dinghy but smaller ones can be very tricky in sloppy conditions.

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