Help selecting the aluminum (tinny) tender I want in australia

[mischief]

Hi okay firsts thing I'm in Australia so local knowledge is likely needed.

I've been looking at a plethora of aluminum boats trying to find the one I want.

Here's what I'm after and I'm having trouble figuring out exact models I should be focussing on that have the following characteristics

-Prefer Used
-Reliable and strong (should be able to cope with adverse conditions in the harbor and descent amount of chop. And use in open water when weather is more suited)
-Deep V or deepish
-Close to 10' or 11' max
-10hp rated min 15hp rating preferred. (Will likely power with 9.8)
-Hull Weight < 45kg prefer as light as possible.

Does it exist? I've heard some say their car topper v bottom 3.1m boats are like 35kg rated to 15hp but can't seem to validate the information

I'd like to stick to aluminum. As with poly the weight seems to be a lot higher. I've ruled out RIBS for what I want need.

Thanks

[Reefmagnet]

You won't find anything at those specs I reckon. A lot of people use aluminium dinghys for tenders up here but most seem to be in the 12 ft + range. These boats will handle the bigger outboards, can handle some chop and are relatively stable. I think most smaller dinghys wouldn't be rated much past 5 to 8 hp, especially car topper models.

Just for info, I have an old 10 foot Quintrex with a 5 Hp outboard that I use as a tender from time to time. Being older, it's probably got fairly low freeboard and a narrower beam than later models. I'm no lightweight (100kg+) but I can get it to plane with me and a little cargo on board. Having already sunk it once though, I personally would not be confident relying on that boat in rough weather far from shore. It also feels very "tippy" when people move around in it compared to an inflatable and it will ship water over the bow going to windward in a chop with two onboard and a bit of gear (although it is overall drier than my inflatables). I have no idea how much mine weighs as I haul it to the boat on a trailer but it would be heavier than 45kg I think. As a knock around work boat for crunching against hard shores it's great, but I much prefer my 9ft RIB with 10 hp motor for outright fun factor.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

You won't find anything at those specs I reckon. A lot of people use aluminium dinghys for tenders up here but most seem to be in the 12 ft + range. These boats will handle the bigger outboards, can handle some chop and are relatively stable. I think most smaller dinghys wouldn't be rated much past 5 to 8 hp, especially car topper models.

Just for info, I have an old 10 foot Quintrex with a 5 Hp outboard that I use as a tender from time to time. Being older, it's probably got fairly low freeboard and a narrower beam than later models. I'm no lightweight (100kg+) but I can get it to plane with me and a little cargo on board. Having already sunk it once though, I personally would not be confident relying on that boat in rough weather far from shore. It also feels very "tippy" when people move around in it compared to an inflatable and it will ship water over the bow going to windward in a chop with two onboard and a bit of gear (although it is overall drier than my inflatables). I have no idea how much mine weighs as I haul it to the boat on a trailer but it would be heavier than 45kg I think. As a knock around work boat for crunching against hard shores it's great, but I much prefer my 9ft RIB with 10 hp motor for outright fun factor.

If weight is an issue why not knock one of these ripple tenders up. Kit form and very light. Spirited Designs - Home of the Spirited 380 by Craig Schionning

Ash Spirited for study plan and costs.

[Boracay]

I got a real beat up old 9' De Haviland Cub with Boracay when I brought her. Nice dinghy but the condition was so bad I gave it away and brought another one in much better condition.

They are made out of very thin aluminium so I've had a pinhole despite keeping it out of the water. Does mean they're light. I'm guesstimating 25Kg which is nice when you're as old as I am.

5 hp pushes it along pretty well but 8 would do a better job though maybe not legal some places and certainly not as safe. Do make sure you always wear a life jacket. I'd actually have been better off going with a 2.2hp. Not much slower and much easier on the back.

If yous have a look on ebay under "tinny" or "tinnie" you should find lots of aluminium boats round 10' with a trailer. They may weigh less than 45kg or not much more. I sold the trailer that came with my tinny for almost what I paid for both.

I saw a few Stacers on Ebay. The currently produced 319 SeaSprite is listed at 58kg but does take a big motor.

I like new outboards myself. Some of the secondhand engines I saw were near new price and quite old. You'd need to research which engines best suited any boat you were considering.

i would expect that any 10' dinghy would be a real handful on a 33' yacht.

[mischief]

Yes 10' is about max for our 33' I'd pull it right upon to the mother ship for passage making.
I see the Dart 310 is rated to 8 but a tad heavy. I've also noticed some older Stacers that people claim are sub 45kg and rated to 15hp (3.1) but I'm a little leery of thinking 3.1 is an exact equivalent to its imperial measurement. Some appear to be almost 12' and other 3.1m are around 10'

I have a plan to deal with the instability etc and make more seaworthy.

Ill just say I on e went fishing with a fellow that had a 10' well he said 10 but maybe it was an 11? and a 15hp yammy 2st not sure it was legal he had a few motors and said lets take the 15 today.

It was an old tinny low sided but had a bit of a deeper v all the way to the transom. I'm not sure what brand when we dragged it, it was very light tide was out and we pulled it across the flats pretty easily.

Now was 15hp too much? Probably that thing hooked like a rocket. But actually felt pretty stable. On the way back from fishing and crabbing the weather picked up and there's a section that gets some big swells through it even though still in protected waters.

Well he just about kept it WOT off and on jumping from wave too to wave top prop out of the water as much as it was in. Okay at that point I thought we would flip and die or drown for sure. But after we got back I couldn't help but be impressed with what that little combo did and handled. Now ill likely out a 9.8 on it cause if a 15hp 2 guys and gear can go like that then a 9.8 would be plenty.

So I'm fairly confident that I can get something close to what I want. But I just don't know what models to look for. Likely the gems are older models, maybe ill have to go up in weight slightly. BTW I've ruled out the dart as its 8hp rated
The nipper is 15hp rated but is also solid sided thicker bottom and so 65kg or something like that.

Devillehand seem to make some prospects but again not sure which models may fit the bill.

If I had to guess which one my old buddy once owned that we went on that day. My memory wants to think he me ruined Stessel but I'm struggling to remember how to spell Stessel so that should tell ya something ;-)

[mischief]

Okay getting a few PM with some hard facts. Seems it is sort of possible but strong is sacrificed Stessl made one that was 3.0m and about 45-47kg but was pretty thin. But still rated at 15hp I'm hearing they were strong for how thin they were whatever that means.

They still make a 3.0 but with 1.6mm sheet, of corse has extras like anchor shelf floatation etc but comes in at 65kg rated 15hp

The one 3.1 Quintex I mentioned earlier with flat sides 15hp rated, is deeper has 2.0mm sides bottom and transom is actually 3.2long and is 70kg bare boat.

So I wonder if I'm approaching this a bit the wrong way. Is 70kg too heavy for a tender out back on the davits? Seems heavy to me but ribs aren't exactly feathers. I'm off to see how heavy a 2.7-3.0 Rib weighs.

By the way my davits themselves would be plenty strong they are quite large diam tapered aluminum welded joint main tubes with support legs.

We keep a lot of weight away from the stern on our boat and with the wine glass transom their should be good buoyancy there. She's close to 9' wide at the stern I'd guess.

[Boracay]

As far as finding out the weight goes for current models it's usually in the specifications. Otherwise it's the pick up test.

I became much more interested in weight when I had Boracay on a commercial mooring and had to drag the dinghy up the beach, lift/drag it onto a jetty and then shove it into the dinghy rack. 25kg was the absolute maximum that I could manage by myself.

As far as power goes as you've already noted much depends on the skill of the operator. I did find out (don't ask how) that if one uses a tiller extension with a 9' DH cub and a 5hp motor that the boat does not flip if the tiller is suddenly put hard over but it certainly goes round in some interesting circles. A bigger engine may have had me swimming!

I found that my aluminium dinghy had two big advantages. I could drag it up the beach and shove it into the rack with minimal damage, and I could leave it in the sun for years on end again with few problems. For keeping a boat on a mooring it was as good as I could get.

However active cruisers almost universally prefer inflatables, RIBs if they can get them. The advantages are many but light weight, safety, minimal damage to expensive gelcoat and easy storage come to mind.

My suggestion would be to get the lightest aluminium dinghy that you can find for your present use but when you actually go cruising sell it and get an inflatable, preferably one that will store inside your yacht.