OC Tender Owners - would you buy again?

[motion30]

Although the hull might be forever that foam pad on the side is not. I wonder what the replacement costs for that is?

[SV Tom Crean]

Originally Posted by elaak

Late reply but pretty relevant.



I bought one of their first 100 hulls and had it shipped to SF. Sailed all over with it including Alaska, Mexico, across the pacific and now New Zealand. I've done some serious damage to it over the years but it is all repairable with basic composite repair techniques. I'd be fully replacing an inflatable if I had one.



I loved it so much that I've got a new sailing carbon one on order and am replacing my non-sailing one.



I have indeed bought again [emoji2]

Big fan of the OC sailing tender. Just adds another use to your basic tender. Lot of $$$ but sweet tender.

[Manateeman]

We know a little bit about building boats, especially aluminum. Every vessel design is a compromise and with computer design one can pick between hundreds of dinghy plans. This size boat can be built easily after computer cutting and that can be done by even a one man shop.
We took a look at OC. The plans are not what we find as the ideal but the cost?
Honestly, wow. They’ve got to make a profit but add that to shipping and it’s a very expensive boat which could be built and sold for far less in the USA or Europe. We think small local aluminum boatbuilders can give you a custom boat for this kind of money.
The manatee crew has owned a collection of dinghys. Wood, hypalon, glass. So what’s our next victim of the wrath of the blubber butts? A Polycraft Tuffy.
We shall report the destructive testing results.
Happy trails to you.
Captain Mark and the manatee crew of professional boatbuilders.

[NaClyDog]

Just wondering how the bottom of these tenders hold up over time (specifically the carbon ones).


I'm just thinking of all the dragging onto beaches some of these things need to withstand.

[Apollo19.5]

Originally Posted by Manateeman

We know a little bit about building boats, especially aluminum. Every vessel design is a compromise and with computer design one can pick between hundreds of dinghy plans. This size boat can be built easily after computer cutting and that can be done by even a one man shop.
We took a look at OC. The plans are not what we find as the ideal but the cost?
Honestly, wow. They’ve got to make a profit but add that to shipping and it’s a very expensive boat which could be built and sold for far less in the USA or Europe. We think small local aluminum boatbuilders can give you a custom boat for this kind of money.
The manatee crew has owned a collection of dinghys. Wood, hypalon, glass. So what’s our next victim of the wrath of the blubber butts? A Polycraft Tuffy.
We shall report the destructive testing results.
Happy trails to you.
Captain Mark and the manatee crew of professional boatbuilders.

Mark


These are built near me. I have seen plenty of horribly abused ones and they keep standing up to it. Heavy but tough. Enjoy the destructive testing process!

[wingssail]

Light weight but flat bottomed and very expensive.

For about $3100 I can get a very high quality inflatable dingy with an inflatable floor so it can be completely deflated and stowed, which will handle rougher water, be more stable, and hold more stuff (and weigh about the same).

Will an inflatable last? I have had two of them in the last 25 years and, yes, they last.

[basiliopoulos]

Hi all! Thanks to this thread I found my new tender, the AST Beach 280! I was really keen on the OC tenders but the cost of shipping was prohibitive. On this channel someone mentioned the AST, so thanks for that

We're equiping her with a Torqeedo 1103 and trialling her this summer. We'll be sure to report back.

Does anyone have any tips on how to store these rigid tenders on the front deck without causing damage?

[elaak]

Originally Posted by basiliopoulos

Hi all! Thanks to this thread I found my new tender, the AST Beach 280! I was really keen on the OC tenders but the cost of shipping was prohibitive. On this channel someone mentioned the AST, so thanks for that

We're equiping her with a Torqeedo 1103 and trialling her this summer. We'll be sure to report back.

Does anyone have any tips on how to store these rigid tenders on the front deck without causing damage?

If it’s not too late - find some owners of ASTs and talk to them privately. There was a bunch that sailed across the Atlantic and Pacific this year with the Outremer rally. There was not a lot of love for them when they arrived here in NZ after that true offshore test.

With that being said - perhaps they’ve improved based on feedback.

Disclaimers;
- I don’t own an AST - I do own an OCT (I have bias)
- I’ve spoken to 3 AST owners who all did some serious sailing - that doesn’t represent the whole population of everyone who might want an AST (sampling bias)

[Tortuga's Lie]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

Just wondering how the bottom of these tenders hold up over time (specifically the carbon ones).


I'm just thinking of all the dragging onto beaches some of these things need to withstand.

I know this question is 6 months old, but since this whole thread was revived, I thought I would address the issue of the bottom. OC Tenders come stock with a protective aluminum plate at the aft end of the bottom but if you want, they will add an aluminum plate over the entire bottom that is flat, which is what I opted for. This and you can add beach wheels that fold up when under way.

[Tin Tin]

I would be interested to know the difference in carrying capacity between an OC and same length alloy RIB especially for Scuba diving and number of people it is certified to carry.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Originally Posted by Tin Tin

I would be interested to know the difference in carrying capacity between an OC and same length alloy RIB especially for Scuba diving and number of people it is certified to carry.

I would think the load capacity would be similar per length, although the main advantage to the OCT is that you can store things under the side deck and they stay dry in the netting that they include. The ability to do this is huge as it gets stuff out from under your feet. If you are using the dink for SCUBA, I would opt for the largest you can fit/afford. I haven't used mine for this yet but others may chime in ...........
By the way, you can install a telescoping swim ladder on these too.

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by elaak

If it’s not too late - find some owners of ASTs and talk to them privately. There was a bunch that sailed across the Atlantic and Pacific this year with the Outremer rally. There was not a lot of love for them when they arrived here in NZ after that true offshore test.

With that being said - perhaps they’ve improved based on feedback.

Disclaimers;
- I don’t own an AST - I do own an OCT (I have bias)
- I’ve spoken to 3 AST owners who all did some serious sailing - that doesn’t represent the whole population of everyone who might want an AST (sampling bias)

Interesting. I'm curious what the issues were. Just looking at the 2 of them, particularly in terms of hull shape, the AST strikes me as a somewhat better design than the OCT. I'd certainly expect it to ride better.

[Tortuga's Lie]

Originally Posted by rslifkin

Interesting. I'm curious what the issues were. Just looking at the 2 of them, particularly in terms of hull shape, the AST strikes me as a somewhat better design than the OCT. I'd certainly expect it to ride better.

This is from another chat room, so all 3rd party stuff here so take it with a grain of salt:

"I’ve only had one chance to see one (AST) up close so far and had a chat with its owners, they were not happy with it. Biggest complain was the foam rub rail not being adequate and causing damages to their trimaran and the dinghy itself. Also has several stainless fixtures leaving nasty rust marks all around. They also complained about cost vs OC, especially considering not much comes as standard, even oars are an optional extra. I wish I could have had a chance to take it for a ride to compare (they have a deep V) but that will be for next time"

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Tortuga's Lie

This is from another chat room, so all 3rd party stuff here so take it with a grain of salt:

"I’ve only had one chance to see one (AST) up close so far and had a chat with its owners, they were not happy with it. Biggest complain was the foam rub rail not being adequate and causing damages to their trimaran and the dinghy itself. Also has several stainless fixtures leaving nasty rust marks all around. They also complained about cost vs OC, especially considering not much comes as standard, even oars are an optional extra. I wish I could have had a chance to take it for a ride to compare (they have a deep V) but that will be for next time"

Gotcha, so it sounds like it might be a better design, but built with some inadequate hardware. Thinking about the hull shapes, the OCT might be a little faster with the same power, but it's much flatter (and fatter at the waterline forward), so I'd expect a worse ride in chop than the AST.

[Nicholson58]

We have had several OC tenders in our rally fleets. In general, owners were pleased. One issue was the hull mounted eyes for Davit lifting were poorly fixed to the hull and placement permitted the lifting lines to chafe into the seat sides.

Some rally cruisers had Torqueedo OB. There were three total Torq failures this season and all owners replaced with 10-15 Hp gas engines. Distances and loads are too great to mess with electric power.

Re replaced our old Caribe 9.5 with an AB, aluminum hard bottom, 11 foot, retained the old Merc 15, 2-stroke.