Newport vessels dinghies?

[Peregrine1983]

Anyone cruising with one of these? I'm considering buying their hard floor 10'6" Newport model for $1099. Excellent price. It appears to be well made, but curious to hear about real-world experience cruising with these. Thanks in advance for any help.

Link here - https://newportvessels.com/dinghies-inflatable-boats/

[KD8NPB]

They’re mostly glued PVC from a supplier in China, made with a mid range quality material. When I sold them in the past, they lasted about 5 years, give or take 2. As long as you don’t expect more than that, you’ll be ok.

Biggest issues, usually the transoms would delaminate and the material would get “UV cooked” quickly.

[Peregrine1983]

Thanks very much KD

[jeffatds9]

Here in the Caribbean, my Newport lasted about 1.5 years. I mistakenly deflated the dingy for about 3 months during hurricane season and stored it down below. When I reinflated it, every seam separated.

You get that you pay for.

[Peregrine1983]

Thanks Jeff. I’m higher latitude, so I’m hoping I’ll get a bit more life out of a pvc boat up here.

I need to deflate my dinghy for winter storage. My worry is that if I pay $3k for a dinghy, it’s still only going to last me two years before it starts to deteriorate. This was the case with my last dinghy. The letters were falling off and it was constantly deflating after just two seasons.