One time, we bought a
Gemini RIB,
aluminum. It weighed ~50 lbs. less than the Swift of the same size, and was less expensive. As it turned out, the cost & weight savings was by using light weight hypalon, rather than the heavier weight hypalon of the Swift. Imo, it was a poor choice; the weight savings was not worth the poorer quality. But ya know, we don't know what ya don't know.
That
dinghy was stolen and set afire, but we found the
hull, and took it back to
Gemini for re-tubing. Those light weight tubes didn't have enough thickness on the tops of the tubes, and sun-deteriorated way too fast. So eventually about 8-1/2 yrs ago now, we had it re-tubed again, this time with West German pvc, and it is holding up well.
We use a medium sized
fender under it to help roll it up beaches, sort of like a log roller. The
motor is a 15hp Yamaha 2-stroke, weight ~ 100 lbs.
Ann