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Dinks
We have had three dinks over the years. We had a 10 foot Zodiac roll-up as our first. It is the cheapest and the lightest and it can fold up inside this little bag they give you (with considerable effort), but you can forget ever getting anywhere fast in it. It will not plane out. It will not handle well. And it is awkward to get used to steering it. We were on a 32 foot boat at the time and it's simplicity was nice, but I would not buy one again.
The next boat we bought (38 feet) we had davits put on it and bought a Avon Rib (10'2). It had a little anchor locker and seat and we really liked it in the water. We found it cut about a knot off our speed when we hauled it behind and in a storm offshore it will really "jam" the painter and fling around. Forget putting it on the davits in one of those storms (at least for us). It was so heavy and bulky that it would slam all over the place and we never found a good way to really lash it down. Even the Sports Fishers would really rock it. That being said, it was by far the best performer and fun to take to shore and piddle around in. Our dogs liked it better than the big boat!! One other comment about weight: It was murder to get it up on the davits. Unless you have davits, a fairly large and sturdy boat, and lots of upper body strength... don't buy it. Unles you plan on just hauling it everywhere with you.
The tender we have now is an Avon High Pressure Inflatable Floor, 10'2. It is Hypalon (which is probably the way to go). It does not plane out nearly as well or handle nearly as well as the RIB, but it typically stays on the davits wherever we go. It is easy to hoist and responds moderately well. Not as good as the RIB, but still night and day from the wood slat tender.
They ALL have trade-offs (I think that is true of all boating). I like Avon the best. They really stand behind their products. We had an issue with our second Tender and they bent over backwards to get it fixed for us.
My thoughts. Hope it helps. Let me know if you have other questions.
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