[Lucian]

Thanks for your responses.
For what it''s worth, here are my conclusions (so far).
There are two widely available plastic folding boats:
Banana boat (D)
Portabote (US)
both sold through Germany (here in Europe). The first is, well, banana-shaped, the second sports a square transom which may give it a slightly greater rigidity (or not).
There is also the
Stowaway (GB)
made of marine ply and looking a bit like a pram.
All things being equal, I would go for the wooden boat as being a finer thing altogether, but things ain''t: putting it together in a cramped cockpit would inevitably lead to scrapes and bumps on Mother Boat and/or Baby Boat. But then, the others really do look like bananas!
I''m not too worried about stability and swamping as we rarely get choppy seas here (Adriatic) in the sort of places I might use a tender. I am more interested in ''rowability'', on which inflatables score 0 (the distances are often short and it''s not worth the hassle of shipping the outboard). I really think these boats offer me a good alternative to an inflatable that would have to be towed everywhere, plus I could conveniently use one on non-sailing weekends to explore the great rivers, lakes and lagoons we have here with an ease of transport no inflatable could offer.
So, probably pricier than an inflatable but as far as I am concerned, much more versatile. Besides, I rather fancy rowing in a banana; as an Englishman, I have a reputation for eccentricity to nurture!
Boributai