Inflatable Dinghy vs...

[Tortuga's Lie]

The other consideration for some may be the cost/life span ratio concern, obviously, hard dinghies will outlive an inflatable unless the hard one gets crushed. The average cost for a RIB will be at least 3K new, a high quality hard dink will run about 4-5K but will last a lot longer. So the ratio actually favors the hard dink. Of course you can always buy used.
Most hard dinks won't plane but RIBS do, so speed may be a factor. Some new designs of hard dinks like the O.C. Tender and the AST seem to have solved the planing issue but they are very costly, especially if you have them shipped. These new designs are also as stable as a comparable RIB and have similar load capacity, though I think RIBs will haul a tad more. This past July, I put in an order for the carbon fiber version of the O.C. 300 but between the high demand and limited production, the pandemic, shipping problems, trucking problems, I may see my new dink in the spring. Good thing it's now too cold to sail where I am!

[rls8r]

We gave up trying to answer this "either ... or" question and just went with both.

We have a Dyer 7-11 ("Midget") sailing dinghy that we store on the foredeck most of the time. We raise it up by hanging a moving blanket over the side and using the spinnaker halyard. It's not too heavy - so that's not too difficult a chore. We use this dinghy when we're at leisure - and want to 'play' some or get around without too much angst or need for speed. We can sail it, row it, or use our 2.4 HP 4-stroke Honda outboard. It tows quite nicely. I've put foam/canvas padding on the rub-rail, so I don't have the problem of the dinghy scratching the side of the boat. It's a bit tippy at first - but you get used to it. It's also a very pretty little boat - it compliments our larger boat and fits with our view of 'traditional' sail boats.

We also have a small inflatable dinghy that we store folded up in the lazarette. We use that when we want to quickly get back and forth to shore, if there's more than a little chop, or if we want to venture quite a ways from the boat. We generally only propel that with the outboard as we've found that rowing is not the best way to move it about. It's our 'utility' dinghy - and it fulfills that mission very well.

[JAFO]

Originally Posted by tamicatana

There are no hard dinghies that i have found in that weight range, but I’d be glad to find a 60-70 lb hard dink…

I'm working on it. Currently building a 10'4" nesting dinghy that I anticipate will be close to that weight range. We'll have to see what it comes out to when I'm done.

[valhalla360]

Inflatables tend to be light and more easily stored on small boats.

When you look at large vessels, they typically shift to RIBs then as size increases rigid hulls because they can easily accommodate the size and weight.

[tamicatana]

Originally Posted by JAFO

I'm working on it. Currently building a 10'4" nesting dinghy that I anticipate will be close to that weight range. We'll have to see what it comes out to when I'm done.

How much HP/how far would you go in it?

[Hasbeen]

My 9'6" nesting sailing dinghy was built by Swanson in Sydney in about 1978, & was about 80 Lb each half. Much heavier than specified, but very strong, [to still be sound today], & easy enough to handle each half aboard. It cost about $1000 then with mast sail center board & rudder..



I once tried it with a 10 horse, but planing put more stress on the join, so ran it with a 4 horse. The only problem could be in very rough conditions spray could come over the bow, & water was restricted to the forward section by the joining bulkhead. Someone going forward to bail the front made more spray come in, which would limit planing. Only happened a couple of times, but is something to consider at the building stage.

[Buzzman]

Matt and Amy on YT channel 'sailing Florence Around the World' have a two-part hard nesting dinghy that they dissassemble on deck, having used a halyard to haul it aboard.
They did a specific video on their reasons for choosing the nesting hard dinghy, principle of which was the lack of space on their 37'-ers foredeck.
But they also row with it for exercise, and sail it using the mast and sail kit for the dinghy, as they are both competant dinghy sailors.
I think their dinghy motor is 2.5HP.
Google their channel and search for the specific video.

[scooper321]

Originally Posted by Hasbeen

I found that when I had a dinghy that was harder, or took longer to launch when making an overnight stop I sometimes didn't bother, & perhaps missed some interesting spots.

Bingo. We have a West Marine inflatable dinghy. Nice boat, in all seriousness. We had a 5HP Lehr propane on her and upgraded to a 2-stroke 9.9HP Mercury this year. It's still a displacement boat (ha ha). But it gets us around for dinghy bar crawls and such. We normally leave it on the dock, however, because our boat's swim platform isn't large enough for davits AND access to the transom door. So we find we don't take it with us very often. Thus, we don't anchor out as much as we otherwise could.

My point in all this is to determine how you'll store it FIRST. Once you determine where the most accessible, easiest-to-launch-and-retrieve spot for it, THEN you can determine what boat fits that spot. THEN select the best boat to fit HOW you will use it. This logic might seem backwards. But if you don't have a dinghy that you can load, launch and retrieve easily, you won't use it. And in that case you may as well burn your money. Boats are expensive enough without finding additional ways to spend money...

[Happ]

YeaRs back I discovered the Takacat inflatable dinghy. It as an inflatable floor. What makes this dinghy special is it is based on a catamaran design. I can easily step on the tube when getting in and off the boat. It folds un in 2 small bags for longer trips. When I’m read y to use it I have a rechargeable pump and its inflated in minutes. When I want to pull it out of the water I run my Spinnaker Halyard through my Whisker Pole and crank it up on the fore deck. Easy and light weight. I have added a Torqueedo 1103 CS (3hp equip). I can take off the battery and tiller and easily lift it onto the deck when I want to put it away.

[MicHughV]

it's very simple....

two things...

if you dive/snorkel from your dink, an inflatable is the ONLY way to go as it so much easier to get back aboard an inflatable dink from the water...trying to get back onto a fiberglass dink requires youth and the ability of a monkey...

99.99% of people " sit" on the tube of a rubber dink, it's soft, comfortable and provides a lot of leg room, most dinks are cluttered with fuel tanks, anchors, oars, groceries, etc..finding "seat" room amongst all that clutter is daunting..

there you have it....argument closed....

[Buzzman]

YT channel 'Sailing Florence Around the World' did as Scooper suggests - looked at where and how the dinghy could be stored and launched off their 37' boat.

The foredeck being too short to stow a full size dinghy, either inflatable or hard, they determined a two-part nesting dighy was the solution. researched and built one that also has a mast and sail, so they can use it for recreation. They mostly row the dinghy.

It's simply to put it together using a halyard to haul one half up and then drop it to attach it, then lift the whole lot over the side. Is an easy one person job, takes less than 5 minutes.

They devoted a video to it on their channel. Feel free to search it and watch for yourselves. Very interesting. Good logic and well thought out solution to this vexing issue.

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

if you dive/snorkel from your dink, an inflatable is the ONLY way to go as it so much easier to get back aboard an inflatable dink from the water...trying to get back onto a fiberglass dink requires youth and the ability of a monkey...

I am in my 50s and no longer thin and can still get in a canoe in deep water. Or a dinghy. Lots of ways to do it, put a paddle float on an oar, hang your scuba kit on the opposite gunwale for balance. Or with two people get in at the same time on opposite sides.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddle_float

99.99% of people " sit" on the tube of a rubber dink, it's soft, comfortable and provides a lot of leg room, most dinks are cluttered with fuel tanks, anchors, oars, groceries, etc..finding "seat" room amongst all that clutter is daunting..

Wood and fiberglass dinks have more room because they don't have sponsons consuming half the interior volume.

[carlosproa]

About 10 plus years ago I followed the build of a foam and honeycomb catamaran. He had so much honeycomb left, he basically built a hard style copy cat of the tacacat which allowed him to dive, row, and use out board. It was very light. I will look at my old drives to see if I can find the pictures of the build - it was very nice and light

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by Buzzman

YT channel 'Sailing Florence Around the World' did as Scooper suggests - looked at where and how the dinghy could be stored and launched off their 37' boat.

The foredeck being too short to stow a full size dinghy, either inflatable or hard, they determined a two-part nesting dighy was the solution. researched and built one that also has a mast and sail, so they can use it for recreation. They mostly row the dinghy.

This is why, on my 37-footer, I opted for a Portabote. It stores on my side deck, with the seats stashed in the bow. I can assemble and launch/retrive it from my small foredeck, despite the cutter inner stay. And I can do it without the need of a halyard for lifting.