Mercury Hypalon Air Floor dinghy opinions

[sanibel sailor]

I am thinking of switching dinghies. There are a bazillion choices that I csn choose from. Presently, there is a used 7' Mercury Hypalon Air Floor nearby that may meet my needs. I am looking for opinions about this specific brand/model, less interested in opinions about other options at the moment.

[bstreep]

Run, Forrest, run! We had a Mercury Hypalon airdeck for several years. When the 4th airdeck failed, we threw it in the trash. With an new $750 airdeck, it was worht $700. The warranty on the floor is only 1 year, and it's made of PVC, and it goes at the seams. Every time. Mercury knows, and they don't care. We spent more on airdecks than the boat. Nearly 2X as much. We went with an AB (mamma's choice!), and we would have been way ahead if we'd done that from the start.

[slug]

Originally Posted by bstreep

Run, Forrest, run! We had a Mercury Hypalon airdeck for several years. When the 4th airdeck failed, we threw it in the trash. With an new $750 airdeck, it was worht $700. The warranty on the floor is only 1 year, and it's made of PVC, and it goes at the seams. Every time. Mercury knows, and they don't care. We spent more on airdecks than the boat. Nearly 2X as much. We went with an AB (mamma's choice!), and we would have been way ahead if we'd done that from the start.

Does AB Make an air floor inflatable ?

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by slug

Does AB Make an air floor inflatable ?

I don't think so. I do know that Achilles makes one. But like Mercury, the air deck is the "Achilles heal" (sorry...) of air deck boats. After owning one, I'd buy a roll up with boards. We considered doing that to our Mercury, and i thought "it then might be worth $300 - and it's still a piece of carp".

[sanibel sailor]

Air floor seems like a great idea in theory. In practice, the shortcomings may be more apparent.

[Boatguy30]

The Achilles air floor is the best. Or atleast used to be when still made in Japan.

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

The Achilles air floor is the best. Or atleast used to be when still made in Japan.

We have friends cruising with one. As with the Mercury, the floor is the weak point. And they have had to replace theirs. $800 plus shipping.


BTW, our Mercury dinghy was covered except when in use.