History of dinghys and a deep think on why we like RIBs

[TabbyCat]

How about this?


https://www.sailblogs.com/member/tab.../39344/817273/

Lots of room
Stable
Fun to drive
Lighweight, needs less HP than our old AB rubber dink
Rows well
Sailing rig available
Best of all, no more tube repairs

[hpeer]

I saw one of these Offshour Cruising Tenders the other day. At first I thought it was aluminum, apparently not. It’s wrapped in some kind of flotation, which provides abrasion resistance, has wide tunnels to step on, and Mew bags underneath for your stuff.

A bit pricey and takes up a lot of deck space. But if you always tow or keep your tender on davits it might be a nice option.

https://octenders.co.nz

[Jammer]

Those look nice. 94 pounds for the the one that's not quite 10 feet long, quite light for what it is.

[waterman46]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

But even on 40-45' sailboats, planing solid dinks aren't significantly more difficult to store than a similar size RIB.

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I keep seeing this interesting claim appearing in this thread - drives me nuts. Let's talk about a dinghy stored on the foredeck, as many or most cruisers do, if they don't have davits. I suppose you can actually say it's no more "difficult" to store, in fact the hard dinghy is actually easier to just hoist and store on deck since you don't have the option of reducing it's height by deflating it, so less work to do. And you don't have to reinflate it either. OK, you win, it's no more "difficult" to store and un-store but A RIB uninflated will present about 1/3 the view obstruction and 1/3 the windage as a hard dinghy of similar length and capacity. In addition to all it's other advantages of stability.

I did however, wish I had a hard dinghy (and a very big rifle) when I am exploring these crocodile infested estuaries in Central America!

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by hpeer

I saw one of these Offshour Cruising Tenders the other day. At first I thought it was aluminum, apparently not. It’s wrapped in some kind of flotation, which provides abrasion resistance, has wide tunnels to step on, and Mew bags underneath for your stuff.

A bit pricey and takes up a lot of deck space. But if you always tow or keep your tender on davits it might be a nice option.

https://octenders.co.nz

They are $10,000

I got rid of a "spare" 10 ft tinny a few months back for a couple of hundred.
For several hundred more it could have a kapten flotation collar fitted making it very stable, unsinkable and undeflatable.
It would also protect your topsides being foam.

Kapten Boat Collars - the best stability & performance-aid for small boats

[hpeer]

Looking for a USA source for those boat collars.

I came across some poly boats which also look interesting

https://www.polycraft.com.au/model-r...nder/open-boat

No idea of cost.

And One from Norway looks interesting.

https://pionerboat.com

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by hpeer

Looking for a USA source for those boat collars.

Perhaps diy?
Some suppliers that you could cross reference material names in the US

https://www.marconindustries.com.au/...-buoyancy-foam

https://www.jenkinsrubber.com.au/sto..._Buoyancy_Foam

Buoyance Foam - PJ Bowers Pty Ltd

I had one of the 8ft pioneer dinghy's decades ago, doubt it was the same brand but it was shockingly heavy as I suspect the polycraft would be.
Due to double skin construction, internal dinghy space is limited.
Polycraft are around $2000 here from memory.