So, on the Pudgy. Many, many, many coastal cruisers don't carry life rafts. I don't think that, necessarily, this is a bad thing. If you are going off shore, yeah, they make sense.
So, given that, and given that I will be mostly coastal cruising for a couple years, I'll likely, if the wallet can afford it, try to get the Pudgy as my tender.
Here are my reasons:
1) It's a solid high capacity tender and, from what I can tell, it's well made.
2) It can also sail and, based on the videos, sail pretty well. The fact that the sail rig fits *inside* the hollow hull is just awesome sauce on top.
3) It motors well with an electric motor, or even a small gas one.
4) If one wants, one can add a life boat option to it.
So I would have a tender, that I can get a sail rig for, that rows and motors well that, if I add the cash, can "life boat" if I so choose.
Does this replace a high quality, well ballasted life raft? Not necessarily.
Were I to go offshore, I could have my multi-function pudgy, which I already own, *and* a containerized life raft.
This gives me options. I like options.
As for the looks, I can live with slightly funky looks (hey I've owned BMW motorcycles) if they function particularly well.