Want To Buy: Which 8ft Dinky??

[geoleo]

I plan to buy a 8ft Alum or FG inflatable hypalon RIB------It will be either a Hyfield, A ZARA, or a Achilles. Which would work best as I keep it on foredeck of my Beneteau 41S5. ?? The FG is heavier than the Aluminum. The ZARA lite seems best to me. Thanks.

[bobnlesley]

When we were looking for similar, we eventually settled on the 8' hypalon Walker Bay; it was the cheapest of those we saw, no heavier than the others, though I suspect that it perhaps wasn't quite as fast, but what it did offer was far more load capacity/stability, along with what seems decent build quality. We found the Hyfield especially to be far more unstable when getting in or out of it (due to the deep v-profiled bow?) and thought the Achilles build quality seemed very poor; we didn't see/look at A Zara.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by bobnlesley

When we were looking for similar, we eventually settled on the 8' hypalon Walker Bay; it was the cheapest of those we saw, no heavier than the others, though I suspect that it perhaps wasn't quite as fast, but what it did offer was far more load capacity/stability, along with what seems decent build quality. We found the Hyfield especially to be far more unstable when getting in or out of it (due to the deep v-profiled bow?) and thought the Achilles build quality seemed very poor; we didn't see/look at A Zara.

Thanks

[Cheechako]

Always been impressed with Achilles. I had one that was 16 years old and still held air all winter.
Aluminum bottoms can be noisy and aluminum corrodes well sometimes. Just a thought. Single floor fiberglass RIBs aren't too bad weight wise. The double floor ones are though.

[hlev00]

I have a Highfield UL260 Hypalon, with a Tohatsu 6 4-stroke.
Pluses
- Super light. Even with the engine my wife can move it pretty well on a beach, especially if we remove the gas tank. Considering wheels.
- Planing - With one (170#) easily. Barely with two (320# combined) and a little gear in most conditions. It feels uncomfortable, and maybe hard on the boat if trying to plane in much over 12" seas. Requires a tiller extension of some sort to get far enough forward.
- Fits great on our bow without the engine (Beneteau 423) and is easy haul up with a halyard.
- Powder coating keeps it cooler than I have seen on bare aluminum boats but see below...


Minuses
- Technically we can't use a bigger engine but we don't want the extra weight anyway.
- Wet in chop. Generally a little 8ft dinghy probably can't handle chop over a foot or two anyway.
- Bottom is very low. A model with a false bottom would make it much more comfortable getting in and out of.
- Method of securing oars in the boat with velcro is pretty useless. Working on another solution.
- So light that we have to be careful of conditions we tow in.
- Powder coated aluminum is already showing problems three years in from manufacturing. Likely to be more deterioration of powder coating from scratches of normal wear and tear.

Harry
s/v Juno
https://juno423.blogspot.com

[Cheechako]

Also, as noted above, 9 ft seems much better in chop etc than an 8 ft. An 8 ft inflatable outside length is what.... 6.5-7 feet long inside? Real small. But I'm sure you have length limits.

Powder coating has not proved be a good coating on aluminum in seawater for sure. Hardly good in the rain.

[Manateeman]

There is a beautiful two piece handmade dinghy for sale on Craigslist in Jacksonville Fl . It’s in Ortega River. Asking $ 1700 which is a great deal.
Just too small for manatees but ought to be a great yacht dinghy.
The manatee crew.

[JPA Cate]

Powder coating has not proved be a good coating on aluminum in seawater for sure. Hardly good in the rain

@Cheekako,

Sorry, but I have to disagree with this, with a proviso. It depends on the type of powder coating and how it is applied. Our dinghy has a 17 yr. old powder coated hull. The hull had a fire set in it at one time, after being stolen, so it has been abused. There are some bare parts, too, but where the powder coat is, it is fine, and slippery and looks super. The process involves some acrylic chips in the powder coating, and it has to have been baked twice. Swift hulls are made this way, and our Gemini uses the Swift hull, so it is fine. I believe Naiad now uses this method. Sorry, but I don't know who else would know, but some dinghy repairers have access to the knowledge.

Based on our experience, I would have to say that our powder coated RIB has stayed just fine for 17 year, rain, shine, and mainly daily usage.

Ann

[hlev00]

Update. We just put our 2018 Highfield dinghy on deck and discovered 5 blisters where the powder coating is failing.