My wishlist for a Dinghy

[Kiltmadoc]

I am looking for an inflatable dinghy. From what i have seen so far, no manufacturer has everything i want. My research so far has led me to conclude that the following features are what I want:
1. 8.5 feet or less
2. 75 pounds or less
3. hypalon/cms construction
4. inflatable keel
5. air floor or roll-up slatted floor
6. 16 inch or larger tubes
7. reinforced transom mounts onto tubes
8. blunt bow (as opposed to pointy)
9. rounded tubes on stern (dont need the total length to be counted by having useless pointy ends)
10. Payload around 900 pounds
11. a seat, preferably two
12. And the biggest s ticking point of all: Less than $2000.00

If anyone has any links for a boat that would meet these criteria, please let me know

[bljones]

If you're willing to give up Hypalon, here ya go:

RDR series Inflatable Boat by Rubber Duck Inflatable Boats

[eherlihy]

Has anyone had experience with HarborYacht?

Not Hypalon, but;

On sale through eBay; 10.5' Rigid Inflatable Boat * RIB * brand new dinghy - eBay (item 130490838872 end time Mar-17-11 15:15:51 PDT)

and CraigsList Inflatable Boats (Brand New)

I saw them at the NE Boat show, and they looked good... and sale priced for ~$200 off...

[Gabriola]

have you looked at a "port-a-bote" ? It is a foldable boat

Porta-Bote Folding Boat Makes Inflatables Obsolete Also Portaboat

[jrd22]

Defender has an Achilles air floor 8'6" that meets all of your criteria except the tube dia. is 15.5".
Link

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|215570|216319|295567&id=1316669

[Siamese]

Ditto on the Achilles. I believe it's their LTS series. They have two sizes. Hypalon, priced right, rounded stern, and very low weight. I'm getting the smaller of the two in the Spring. It's 7'3" and only 37 pounds and under $1,000.00.

[islandskipper23]

forgive my ignorance, but what is the advantage of a non-pointed bow on a dinghy?

[bljones]

Originally Posted by Siamese

It's 7'3" and only 37 pounds and under $1,000.00.

Might want to double check that weight spec.

[LinekinBayCD]

Originally Posted by islandskipper23

forgive my ignorance, but what is the advantage of a non-pointed bow on a dinghy?

A litle more interior space for a given length.

[JonEisberg]

You don’t mention how you plan to stow it, but if you’re gonna bring it on deck, I HIGHLY recommend an RIB with a folding transom – such as the Avon Lite…

I’ve tried a pretty wide variety of dinghy solutions, and for me the Avon Lite has turned out to be far and away the best overall… For an inflatable, it rows and tows very well, and with the folding transom makes for a very low stowage profile on deck, stows very neatly on the foredeck/cabintop of my 30-footer...

It doesn’t meet several of your criteria, of course… It’s a bit heavier than you want, and probably more expensive… But it is very easy to set up – inflate, insert the seat, and she's ready to go overboard… By far, the driest ride I’ve ever had in an inflatable of its size , and the rigid bottom will take far more abuse than a fabric bottom w/ inflatable keel… Whether you simply plan to row it, or use a small outboard, or make it a planing tender with a larger engine, this boat will do it all…

Just 2 caveats… The transom is a bit of piece of crap, in an effort to keep the weight down, I suspect… You’ll want to seal the top edge with epoxy, and do the same if you intend to drill through it to mount hardware.. Having done that, mine has held up fine. Also, the storage cover is worthless, the zipper will fail early on, and it has no UV resistance whatsoever, I made another cover from Stamoid… Other than those 2 issues, I’m very satisfied with mine, I’m a folding transom RIB convert, for sure…