The ultimate tender test

Dinghy design has moved on from the old, heavy lumps just about good enough to carry you a few yards ashore. Modern inflatables roll up small enough for one person to lift aboard and stow in a locker, but they can just as easily leave the mother ship for a bit of extra-curricular harbour exploration. And with the right size outboard, inflatable tenders can give you lots of planing fun. For this feature, the Motor Boats Monthly team has tested 14 inflatables from 10 manufacturers to see how they performed. All the tenders are approximately 9ft long and weigh between 30-45kg. We inflated them, carried them, rowed them and powered them with either a 4hp or – where their rated power allowed it – a 5hp outboard. Read on for the full results of all 10 dinghies tested: Sunsport AIB265 Design The AIB has an inflatable keel and a flat inflated floor, although when pumped up, it actually rose in a slight inverted vee. It has three tube compartments, and two in the floor, which all have to be inflated in the right order and to the correct pressure. Short grab ropes are fitted on each side, but there are none across the bow. The drain bung can only be reached from outside the boat as the floor gets in the way inside. There are no transom rings or davit lifting points. Ride This dinghy was simple to row as it sat lower in the water and the flatter floor made it easy to move around. Under power the AIB planed with the 2.5hp and one light person aboard. With the 5hp the dinghy reached 13mph one up, and even faster at 15mph with two aboard, but the seat was sited too far forward. Vital stats At 31kg this tender is easy to carry but the packed dimensions were on the long side, with an average girth. Folding the tubes in tighter might improve this. Price At £715 it is one of the most reasonable tenders on test, due to less material in the floor, and has a two-year warranty. Contact: www.barrus.co.uk 01869 363636 Rating 4/5 Honwave T27 Design Part of a new design range from Honda, this is a purposeful-looking craft, with an inflated vee floor, that extends past the transom to give a better planing area. It has a two-stage foot pump, plus a separate pressure gauge. You have to inflate the three tubes in the right order, as the internal divider between them has a diaphragm that is designed to equalise pressure if the ambient temperature builds up during the day. Securing the end of the hose into the valve proved difficult for some. The T27 has good all-round grab ropes, plus four large handles. Four stainless steel davit lifting eyes are fitted, but a non-return transom drain means it will not self-drain. A strap in the floor secures the fuel tank. Fabric triangles between the transom and the tube stop your stern wave flooding the boat if you stop suddenly or go astern. The row locks consist of a stainless steel pin and plastic nut, with a horse-shoe clip to secure the oars when not in use. Ride The boat sits very high out of the water when empty, and even with one person aboard it tipped slightly from side to side, but you could still keep a straight course when rowing. With a 5hp outboard the T27 got up onto the plane easily with one or two people aboard, helped by the extended hull. It ran smooth and level up to 12mph with one up and 8mph with two up, although the seat is sited too far forward to sit on and look the way you are travelling. A tiller extension would correct this. With the 2.5hp engine the tender made 6mph with one or two crew. Vital stats At 44kg it was the heaviest on test, due to its GRP transom and seat. Its packed length was at the short end of the scale, but its girth was slightly high. Price £870 puts it in the middle of the field, with a warranty of two years. Contact www.honda.co.uk 01753 590545 Rating 3/5 Bombard AX3 Design This budget dinghy has a slatted floor, smaller diameter tubes and no seat, but it shared other common components with the Zodiacs, including its oars, which are fixed in their row locks with simple-to-engage securing clips. It only has two tube compartments. The lack of a seat made rowing difficult – you had to kneel or sit on the floor. Ride It is only rated to 4hp but it planed with the 2.5hp and our lightest tester, reaching 8mph. Vital stats At 27kg it was the lightest in our test. It also packed up small and with fast inflation it would appeal to people wanting a basic tender. Price At £587 it’s decent value, and comes with five-year tube and two-year seal warranties. Contact www.bombard.com Rating 3/5

Excel SD260 Design The Excel has three tube compartments, plus an inflated floor and keel. It has a single-action manual pump with an integral gauge but you cannot get a pressure of more that 0.2 bar, even though the instructions tell you the keel has to be inflated to 0.4 bar and the floor 0.7 bar. The boat has an all-round rope, plus grab handles aft, but these are inside the tubes. Stainless steel rings in the transom and D-rings forward provide davit points. There is an anti-chafe pad in the floor where the tank stows. Ride The boat rowed well, with oars in fixed row locks and good securing clips. Under power it gave 6mph with the 2.5hp engine, and 14mph one up with the 5hp, with no porpoising. Vital stats The weight was average at 35kg, but rolled up it is on the large side for stowing. Price At £589 it is the lowest price for its class and it has a five-year warranty. Contact www.excel-inflatables.co.uk 0121 323 2333 Rating 4/5 Zodiac 260AD Design Zodiac now owns Avon and Bombard, so you will find all of them on the same stand at boat shows, but Zodiac has kept the individual brands to provide variations in price and features. The 260 Air Deck has an inflatable floor and keel but only two tube compartments, although the floor would give buoyancy if one tube punctured. The two-stage foot pump enables you to pump the floor up to a higher pressure than the tubes and keel, and there is a separate gauge to measure this. The design of the pump means you can only get part of your foot on it, which made inflating the dinghy very tiring. The drain valve has a lever, which you move over to let the water out, plus a screen and a non-return valve. There is one grab handle and a strap/carrying handle on each side. The floor rises slightly in the middle when inflated, which means any water runs to the side away from your feet, but the floor valve is vulnerable to being kicked. The seat is sited too far forward, which meant it rowed bow down with one up, although this left you with more room at the stern for more passengers and gear. The oars press into the row locks, so you can quickly take them out and use them as paddles. The oars also slide in and out, which means you can adjust their length for different rowers, but the securing clip was very fiddly. Ride The 260AD has a maximum power of 4hp. We tested it with our 2.5hp and the boat achieved 5mph with one or two crew. We also tried it with the 5hp outboard at three-quarters throttle, and it planed with one person. Vital stats At 31kg this dinghy is fairly light and its packed dimensions were the smallest in the test. Price It is pricey at £1100, but it does come with a five-year warranty for the tube material, and a two-year warranty for the joints and seams. Contact www.zodiacmarine.co.uk Rating 4/5 Avon 260AD Design Avon has been the leading name in the inflatable business for over 50 years now, and its products are respected for their longevity and toughness. Avon hulls are made from hypalon for ultimate durability but this comes at a price, which is why this is the most expensive model in our test by some distance. The 260 Air Deck has an inflatable floor and keel but only two hull compartments. The oars are traditional wood, unlike the aluminium and plastic oars of all its competitors, and they sit in conventional open-top row locks. On the plus side they are easy to fit, ship and adjust. The downside is they can jump out when you are rowing, or drift away if you let go of them. To stow they slide through the aft canvas carrying straps, although this means you cannot use the strap for lifting. Ride The boat rowed well, with the keel giving good directional stability. Under power the Avon produced our top speed of 17mph with one aboard with the 5hp engine but it was porpoising at this speed, which we couldn’t avoid even by moving the motor’s tilt-pin in and out. For safety you would want to back off the throttle. Vital stats At 35kg the weight is mid-range, while the packed dimensions are good. Price At £1,357 it would only appeal to someone who values the 10-year guarantee that accompanies the hypalon tubes. Contact www.avoninflatables.co.uk Rating 4/5 Zodiac 260RU Design This has a slatted floor and only two hull compartments, which gives you little reserve if you get a puncture. But on the plus side it only takes five minutes to inflate. The slats are close together, held by webbing straps, which form a reasonably firm floor, but it isn’t as solid as Zodiac’s Air Deck. Otherwise, its features are the same. Good adjustable oars allowing you to feather them when rowing. Ride With a 4hp maximum rating, we only tested the dinghy with our 2.5hp. It would plane with one crewmember, but not two. Vital stats A good weight of 32kg, and small packed dimensions. Price At £825 it is priced in the middle of the pack but it has five-year tube and two-year seal warranties. Contact www.zodiacmarine.co.uk Rating 2/5 Lodestar NSA260 Design Many of the boats in our test obviously come out of the same factories, but Lodestar seems to have ticked all the boxes on the options list. These include three tube compartments, inflatable floor and keel, over-pressure relief valves, extra wide rubbing bands round the gunwale and under the tubes and keel, a full-length adjustable strap in the floor to allow you to alter the position of the fuel tank, and a two-position seat. Details include a spray deflector in the rubbing strip, anti-flooding transom quarter panels, and even red and green reflective strips on the tubes to tell people if you are coming or going at night. A generous-sized grab rope runs right round the boat, and there are two D-rings forward and two large holes in the transom for davit lifting points. The double-action hand pump was the best in the test, giving fast inflation and a second position for high pressure. Even the valves are numbered, to ensure you inflate them in the correct sequence and the pressure gauge is fitted in-line to show you the pressure as you pump. Ride Rowing was excellent with the aid of two seat positions and easy-to-feather oars. The dinghy was able to track a straight course thanks a pair of plastic skegs under the tubes. Under power the 2.5hp gave 6mph with one person aboard and 5mph with two, and 14mph and 7mph with the 5hp. Vital stats At 37kg it is fairly heavy but the packed size was good. Price At £749 with a five-year warranty it is a good price for its class. Contact www.lodestardirect.co.uk 01562 777200 Rating 5/5 – Best buy Zodiac Zoom 260 Design Similar to the Air Deck, the Zoom has an inflatable floor and keel with two tube compartments. The oars are different as they are fixed in their row locks, with a positive securing clip. The Zoom also has a slightly better rowing position. Ride Under power the Zoom achieved 6mph with one on board and 5mph with two on board with the 2.5hp engine. With the 5hp engine it just managed to plane with one person on board at 10mph, and hit 8mph with two crew. Vital stats The Zoom weighs 32kg and its packed dimensions were the smallest in our test, along with the Zodiac 260AD. Price At £809 it is mid-range in terms of price, and comes with five-year tube and two-year seal warranties. Contact www.zodiacmarine.co.uk Rating 3/5 Wetline 260AD Design Wetline is a newish name in the inflatable market and its products obviously come from the same factories as most of the other makes, but the pricing is very keen. The 260 Air Deck has three tube compartments, plus an inflatable vee bottom. The oars are fixed in the row locks with easy-fit securing clips aft. Grab ropes run along the sides, with two more grab handles. Two holes in the transom and D-rings forward provide davit lifting points. Substantial gunwale rubbing strips protect the tubes. Ride The rowing position felt high, because of the inflated vee bottom, and the two-piece oars gave problems trying to get their locking bolts to stay in place, but otherwise it rowed well. Under power it achieved 5mph with the 2.5hp outboard, and 14mph with the 5hp and one on board, with easy planing, no porpoising and good cornering. Vital stats At 38kg it matched other vee-bottomed tenders on weight, although the packed size was on the large side. Price At £600 it is a clear £200 below the competition, making it a very good buy. Contact www.unipartleisure.com Rating 4/5 Conclusion The Chinese may have just about taken over world inflatable production, but our test shows they can build a pretty good boat. Provided European fabrics are used, and the UK or European importer specifies the design and equipment carefully, the resulting product is well up to the required standard, certainly for light-use leisure craft. [caption id="attachment_27549" align="alignright" width="300"] Mariner Stand[/caption] Of the three styles available, the boats with slatted bottoms are cheaper, lighter, quicker to inflate, and perform adequately with a small outboard. The craft with inflated floors and an inflated keel row best, and will give you planing performance for one adult or two kids with 5hp, but they can start to porpoise over 15mph, and the floor pressure is critical. Their flat floor is also more comfortable for normal use. The inflated vee-bottomed boats are best if planing performance is your main ask, but they can take up to 20 minutes to inflate by hand, and will be slightly heavier than other dinghies. If you want an inflated floor and keel, the Excel at £539 is a great buy, although the Lodestar wins on features. However if you’re looking for a dingy for life, still buy an Avon. Ultimate tender test Ultimate Tender Group Test Sunsport AIB265 With the 5hp the Sunsport AIB265 reached 13mph one up, and was even faster at 15mph with two aboard, but the seat was sited too far forward.

Pros: At 31kg this tender is easy to carry. Cons: It has three tube compartments, and two in the floor, which can be tricky to inflate in the right order and to the correct pressure. Price: £769 Contact: www.barrus.co.uk

Honwave T27 With a 5hp outboard, the Honwave T27 ran smooth and level up to 12mph with one up and 8mph with two up.

Pros: Fabric triangles between the transom and the tube stop your stern wave flooding the boat if you stop suddenly or go astern. Cons: Securing the end of the hose into the valve proved difficult for some. Price: £805 Contact: www.honda.co.uk

Bombard AX3 The Bombard AX3 is only rated to 4hp but it planed with the 2.5hp and our lightest tester, reaching 8mph.

Pros: With fast inflation and a reasonable price, it would appeal to people wanting a basic tender. Cons: The lack of a seat made rowing difficult - you had to kneel or sit on the floor. Price: £587 Contact: www.bombard.com

Excel SD260 Under power the Excel SD260 gave 14mph one up with the 5hp, with no porpoising.

Pros: The boat has an all-round rope plus grab handles aft. It is also good for those on a budget. Cons: It has a single-action manual pump with an integral gauge but you cannot get a pressure of more that 0.2 bar, even though the instructions tell you the keel has to be inflated to 0.4 bar and the floor 0.7 bar. Price: £539 Contact: www.excel-inflatables.co.uk

Zodiac 260AD With the 5hp outboard at three-quarters throttle, the Zodiac 260AD planed with one person.

Pros: At 31kg this dinghy is fairly light and its packed dimensions made it one of the smallest on test. Cons: The design of the pump means you can only get part of your foot on it, which made inflating the dinghy very tiresome. Price: £1100 Contact: www.zodiacmarine.co.uk

Avon 260AD Under power the Avon 260AD produced our top speed of 17mph with one aboard with the 5hp engine.

Pros: Avon hulls are made from hypalon for ultimate durability. Cons: This is the most expensive model in our test by some distance and would only appeal to someone who values the 10-year guarantee. Price: £1357 Contact: www.avoninflatables.co.uk

Zodiac 260RU With a 4hp maximum rating, we only tested the Zodiac 260RU with our 2.5hp. It would plane with one crewmember, but not two.

Pros: It only takes five minutes to inflate and it has good adjustable oars allowing you to feather them when rowing. Cons: This has a slatted floor and only two hull compartments, which gives you little reserve if you get a puncture. Price: £825 Contact: www.zodiacmarine.co.uk

Lodestar NSA260 Under 5hp the Lodestar NSA260 gave 7mph with one person aboard and 14mph with two.

Pros: The double-action hand pump was the best in the test and the valves are numbered, to ensure you inflate them in the correct sequence. Cons: At 37kg it is fairly heavy but the packed size was good. Price: £749 Contact: www.lodestardirect.co.uk Zodiac Zoom 260 With the 5hp engine it just managed to plane with one person on board at 10mph, and hit 8mph with two crew.

Pros: The Zoom weighs 32kg and its packed dimensions were the smallest in our test, along with the Zodiac 260AD. Cons: Slower than some of the other models on test. Price: £809 Contact: www.zodiacmarine.co.uk

Wetline 260AD Under power the Wetline 260AD achieved 14mph with the 5hp and one on board, with easy planing, no porpoising and good cornering.

Pros: Keen pricing and a sturdy build. Cons: The rowing position felt high and the two-piece oars meant it was problematic trying to get their locking bolts to stay in place. Price: £600 Contact: www.unipartleisure.com