Achilles LSI Air Floor Model Reviews?

[RigBig]

I've been pondering on purchasing a Achilles LSI-290E. Anybody here have any experience with Achilles LSI air floor models? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thank

David

[Orion Jim]

That is precisely what I have. I’ve had it since 2018 and I have nothing but praise for its construction and handling. It is significantly more stable than my last inflatable, a Zodiac 8’6”. I’m so happy with it that I would buy an exact replacement without looking elsewhere. I suits my needs precisely. That air floor has a hidden feature, it allows for a shallow “bilge” so every time it rains your feet or groceries stay dry while the rain water settles in the area between the floor of the dinghy and the air floor above it.

[RigBig]

That sounds like a good review. Is the floor mushy when under way. What size motor are you using? I have a Nissan 5hp I've been storing away just for a dinghy.

[Orion Jim]

I have a 2.3 Honda, primarily because it’s so light and extremely reliable. With 5 HP you’ll get it up on a plane.
The air floor is hard when inflated and you can easily stand on it. I really can’t think of anything which is flimsy or could have been improved upon. It just a real good inflatable which performs exactly as advertised. Not cheap, but a great value for what it cost.

[Off Trail]

We use a 6HP Yamaha on ours. Works well, easily planes with two. Very happy with the inflatable floor.

Dan

[sv_pelagia]

We have a little shorter version (only 1 wooden seat). Love the air floor. Not mushy at all.

With Yamaha 6HP, I can get it to plane but only with 1 person.

[CSY Man]

Had the same dink with a 3.5 Mercury four stroke.
Good combo, but sold the dink and motor after very little use, like an hour or 2, decided not to mount davits and just use the mother ship without no dink.
(Powerboat, anchor close to the beach for swimming, or go to a marina for food and supplies. Different than my days owning a cruising sailboat where a good dink was essential)

[Wollamai]

I have an Achilles LSI Air Floor 2-4 with a Yamaha 2 HP outboard. It is used as a tender and kept on davits. It is 7 years old and remains in good condition despite constant exposure to the elements. I would buy another Achilles if and when I replace this one. They are more expensive than some other brands, but are made in Japan (not China), the seams are welded and not glued and the Hypalon material used in construction has proved to be UV resistant. Air floor is not at all ‘mushy, and for a small dinghy it is remarkably stable. A bit underpowered with the 2 HP but sufficient for my needs and very light to pull up onto a beach.

[jen1722terry]

We echo Orion Jim, and not just because he has the same Cape Dory model as we do, though that certainly helps.

Anyhow, we have the small LT-2 with the Honda 2.3. We have davits and weight/length was a consideration on a sailboat that is really a bit too small for davits. 7'3", 37 lbs.

We live at a marina mooring all summer and use the LT-2 a lot every day. Never a problem. Rugged, stable and durable, as most hypalon boats are. Zero maintenance, other than a monthly bottom scrub.

You do need a bailing pump with a narrow barrel to get between the inflatable floor and the side tubes to get the boat dry. You can also get a bit of mold down under the floor, which we clean out at storage by deflating the floor.

We have thought about putting a 5 hp on it (it's rated for 4) to get more speed, which is nice in larger anchorages. On the list, but we'll probably never do it unless we can get a great deal on a used 5.

Hypalon is really the way to go if you have the budget. It's soooooooo much more durable than PVC. We have a 1986 Avon dink at our other home in Nova Scotia. It sits in the sun all summer and our renters beat it up pretty good. It's still there, air-tight and we've never had to repair it. Hypalon is amazing.

Cheers!

[CassidyNZ]

I just discarded a very old Achilles air-floor dingy because it had simply reached its point of structural obsolescence. It was really tired. It was a great dingy but to be honest, it led me to the understanding that I’ll never own another air-floor. Years before my dingy got tired, I replaced the air-floor with plywood interlocking panels that I made myself.

Truth is, because of the much higher pressure required to keep the air-floor functional, once it develops a leak (and that’s not as difficult as it may seem), it’s virtually impossible to repair it and it will always deflate. Several dingy repair professionals had a go at fixing mine, none succeeded. The floor had to be re-inflated literally every time I used it. It simply had to go.

I’m not knocking Achilles dink’s, mine was a great boat to own. Just never another air-floor for me. Kudos to owners who have preserved the integrity of their air-floors for several years. My current dink has interlocking aluminium floor panels and they’re just great.

[Captain Puget]

Same model I have - very happy at 4 years.

Started with a Honda 2.3, but found it too noisy and switched to an electric. Very happy with the EPCarry outboard -simple, quiet, light, no gas onboard and no maintaining it every year. Not quite as fast, but I’m in no hurry 😉

[David B]

Originally Posted by RigBig

I've been pondering on purchasing a Achilles LSI-290E. Anybody here have any experience with Achilles LSI air floor models? Would love to hear your thoughts.

Thank

David

We don't have the Achilles (Zodiac Fastroller), but just a note on the high-pressure air floors, they really are quite hard, and work very well. I would not have a RIB - you are stuck with it on deck. The HP air floor concept works very well. We have a 3.5 metre with a 15HP on the back, and with two-up, it easily does 20+ knots.
A RIB would be better performance wise, but not enough for me to be stuck with a tender I cant stow in a locker.

If Achilles is what you are looking at, I dont think you would be dissapointed, but get the biggest outboard it is rated at if you can manage it (I know - 4-stroke/cycle motors make that so much less convenient .........).

[GWilly]

I bought a LSI290E in 2018 and have been super happy. In my case, the dinghy is stowed on top of the cabin, and until last year I had to pull it down and shove it back up manually. Weight was a critical factor for me, and the 290 was 15lbs lighter than the zodiac the PO had on left the boat. I have since had a davit hoist installed, so I can keep my 4hp Yamaha on the dinghy full time. I was impressed by the quality of the Achilles construction. All very well done.

[wsmurdoch]

We have a 2011 LSI-290. We have had it from new taking it with us to the Bahamas every year since (except last year when we aborted our trip in Miami due to the Covid). We use a 8 hp Nissan 2 stroke and a 3.5 hp Tohatsu 2 stroke to push it. One will plane the dinghy and the other is easier to handle. Our air floor is the original lighter weight material and has had a few leaks which we have successfully repaired. Larger leaks have been patched and the tiny ones repaired with a drop of Loctite super glue. We have a piece of gray outdoor carpeting that we keep over the air floor to protect it from sand spurs and general damage and wear. After 10 years the dinghy is showing its age with aluminum corrosion damage and plastic cracking on the aluminum oars, and the rub rail is separating from the tubes. Over the years we have replaced air valve caps, o-rings, and tethers. The dinghy has removable Beachmaster dinghy wheels which help when beaching the dinghy. When this dinghy goes, I'll buy another just like it.

Bill

[michaeld]

We recently purchased the LSI-310E. It seems to be very well constructed (as compared to two others we previously owned). We push it with a Tohatsu 5HP propane 4-stroke. So far so good.