Higher performance RIB dinghy?

I'm in the market to replace the inflatable RIB Avon R310 on our EB47. It's got a 15hp Yamaha tiller outboard. The wife would prefer a wheel control.

Among our regular 'raft up' floatilla we used to have some folks with a smaller boat that handled some tubing/wakeboarding now and then. They've upgraded to a larger boat, so we've lost our 'fun boat'.

I realize a dinghy isn't going to throw off the kinds of wakes you'd get from a ski boat. That's fine, there's typically enough other boat traffic/chop to stir things up enough to be reasonably entertaining.

With the 15' beam on the EB47, I'm leaning toward something like a 11'6" Highfield CL340 or AB 11ALX with either a 25 or 30hp outboard. Suzuki being a lighter candidate than a Yamaha. Have to factor not only the length of the tender, but also the skeg of the outboard when tilted up for stowing on the platform.

Those would stay under the 700# limit of our TNT swim platform lift (by a reasonable margin). Others with EB47's have commented that pushing the full weight limit does add a bit more stern squat than is ideal.

Again, I'm not expecting X-games levels of excitement, just enough to keep the kids moderately entertained with a tube or a wakeboard.

And yes, it's entirely overkill for all the typical tender duties it'll usually be called upon to provide. If I wanted that I'd stick with the 9'6" Zodiac inflatable and Torqeedo I already own.

Anyone used a dinghy for this, and have results to share?

"I'm leaning toward something like a 11'6" Highfield CL340 or AB 11ALX with either a 25 or 30hp outboard."

Dinghies of this size are typically able to reach 25 mph top end with 2 adults on board. They often can plane with 4 people on board but suffer from a lack of length which often makes them stern heavy.
You can tow kids on tubes at slower speeds without hard turns but would be limited to tow anything heavier or faster.
Hope this helps

We recently purchased a 2021 Highfield CL360, which I think is the Sport model (don't ask). With the 30 HP Suzuki on the back it will hit 25 knots in calm water and one aboard. Haven't tested it enough to say what it will do with 2 or more aboard.
Am a big fan of the Highfield for almost all of its attributes, except one. The seats are not waterproof; if they get rained on the water goes down into the foam and every time you sit on them after that you get a wet butt. My dealer has been incredibly gracious and is covering the costs of crafting and installing new impermeable covers.
All up our Highfield weighs about 510 lbs with motor and full fuel.

I have a Zodiac YL340 with a 30 HP honda.

It is way more skiff than is needed! Nice and quick, easy to move around in

wkearney99 said:

I'm in the market to replace the inflatable RIB Avon R310 on our EB47. It's got a 15hp Yamaha tiller outboard. The wife would prefer a wheel control.

Among our regular 'raft up' floatilla we used to have some folks with a smaller boat that handled some tubing/wakeboarding now and then. They've upgraded to a larger boat, so we've lost our 'fun boat'.

I realize a dinghy isn't going to throw off the kinds of wakes you'd get from a ski boat. That's fine, there's typically enough other boat traffic/chop to stir things up enough to be reasonably entertaining.

With the 15' beam on the EB47, I'm leaning toward something like a 11'6" Highfield CL340 or AB 11ALX with either a 25 or 30hp outboard. Suzuki being a lighter candidate than a Yamaha. Have to factor not only the length of the tender, but also the skeg of the outboard when tilted up for stowing on the platform.

Those would stay under the 700# limit of our TNT swim platform lift (by a reasonable margin). Others with EB47's have commented that pushing the full weight limit does add a bit more stern squat than is ideal.

Again, I'm not expecting X-games levels of excitement, just enough to keep the kids moderately entertained with a tube or a wakeboard.

And yes, it's entirely overkill for all the typical tender duties it'll usually be called upon to provide. If I wanted that I'd stick with the 9'6" Zodiac inflatable and Torqeedo I already own.

Anyone used a dinghy for this, and have results to share?

Click to expand...

Wifey B: Oh, Speed. Now you're talking. Costly option but Williams Jet Tenders will do the job. We love them. 325 is 11' and weighs 700 lbs. Top speed is 48 mph. They also have smaller that are similar.

Our new to us boat came to us with a Rigid dinghy. These look identical to a RIB but are entirely grp. It came with a 40 hp Yamaha, wheel and remote controls. It totally screams and the whole shot puts your eyeballs back in your head. If performance your goal it’s a thought and the sport models are under your weight restriction.

The Jet Tenders are interesting, but the 325 pushes the weight limit I want to be hanging off the stern. Not to mention they're pretty spendy. The 285 are smaller than I'd like for all the other times I'd be using it as a tender.

It'd be interesting to try a Rigid dinghy. I've not seen any around here (though it's possible since they look much like a RIB it'd be hard to tell). How wet is the ride at speed? Stable? I've sent an e-mail inquiry to learn more, but I'd welcome real-world comments.

Haven’t had it out in chop so can’t offer an informed opinion.

My dock neighbor has a Rigid and is pleased.

I have had a 12’ Rigid Sport with a 40 Yamaha for 10 years and love it. Dry ride and takes a chop well for a 12’ boat. We fish and dive out of it and it can plane with four people. Also can pull the grandkids on a tube.

One review of the Highfield Ocean Master 420 (has the Honda 60): https://youtu.be/yDcjKJnVsJ8

The 4.2 meter might be larger than you want but it struck me because I know they are doing water sports like wakeboarding with it.

Alaskaflyer said:

One review of the Highfield Ocean Master 420 (has the Honda 60): https://youtu.be/yDcjKJnVsJ8

The 4.2 meter might be larger than you want but it struck me because I know they are doing water sports like wakeboarding with it.

Click to expand...

Total weight being the biggest factor. TNT claims the swim platform and hydraulics will handle up to a 700# load. But other EB47 owners have mentioned problems due to excessive squat with that much hanging back there. So staying around/under 500# (rigged) seems a necessary plan.

The OM420 boat alone is 573# dry. A quick search says a Honda 60hp would add another 250#. That'd put it well over the rated capacity of the lift. No argument that it wouldn't be FUN though!

This is from a much older post we made - photobucket pics were removed.


Inflatable sizes and speeds

Most folks do not operate their tenders at WOT speeds and most do not really care about what those speeds might be.
Since this post was mostly about the typical top speeds that these tenders will realistically hit I figured a few pictures and numbers might help.

1. 5 - 8 mph / High pressure and hard floor inflatable's between 9 and 11 feet - we have had a few of these and have used outboards between 3 and 8 hp to power them. Often we would carry both a 2 and an 8 hp but added hp on these tenders made little difference in top speeds unless you were a light operator all alone.

9' Airfloor with keel with either 3 Merc or 8 Yamaha

2. 20-25 mph / RIBS in the range of 11' or so with 20-25 hp. These will run and plane with up to 4 'reasonable' sized pass on board.

11' Zodiac YL-340 with 25 hp

3. 30-35 mph / RIBS between 12 and 15' with 40-50 hp. These will run and plane with 4 adults or more and be much more stable at higher speeds. Still when operated alone at near full speed they are a handful to keep controlled.

12.5' Zodiac YL-380 with 40 Hp

4. 45-50+ mph / RIBS between 18 and 22' with 90 to 115 hp. These will run and plane with up to 8 good sized passengers and will also transport up to 12 under decent conditions. These boats tend to be easily towed and very stable even up to the mid 40 mph range.

19' Nautica with 115 Hp

5. 55-60+ mph / RIBS above 22' and having 250-400 hp. These will run and plane with up to 12 good sized pass and will also transport up to 18 under decent conditions. These boats are very stable to tow and will run into the 50's while remaining very controllable.

24' Nautica with 300 Hp

FWIW - general things that will make any tender run faster:
- A lighter load will make it run much faster, they are very weight sensitive.
- Trim , engine height and weight distributions similar to the above.
- Trim out to the point of 'blowout' and backing off just a couple of seconds will make any boat faster.
- A light chop on the water will make the tender faster than perfectly flat water
- A tail or headwind makes a large difference with inflatable's
- Correctly propped to reach full room will be faster
- Salt water will be faster than fresh water
- Cool dry air out will run faster than hot heavy air
- A clean and waxed hull will run slower than a slightly roughed or tightly painted hull

I replaced my Avon 310 RIB with a Highfield 340 ultralight, keeping my Yamaha 15 two stroke. I'm often solo and wanted to minimize weight to be able to easily handle and hoist the dinghy.
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I've been really impressed with the Highfield. It's a much more capable boat than the Avon was, and in my case I shaved about 30 pounds off the overall weight with the swap.

I think a 340 classic with 25 - 30 HP and a small console would be a great boat for playing around on with 3 or fewer passengers. I guess it's all relative - bigger is better, but I think that package is a big leap from your current dinghy and would probably satisfy your needs while not being overly heavy.

How's the handling of the Highfield vs the Avon? I know the 310 we've got is a pig to get on plane, and then pretty terrifying to control once it is (largely due to the tiller control).

According to Highfield's website, the 11' CL360 is only 7# heavier than the CL340. What I haven't seen is a weight for their "GT" variant, with an actual console (not just the FCT7 wrap-around arm). I've sent them e-mail and hopefully they'll reply sometime soon.

wkearney99 said:

How's the handling of the Highfield vs the Avon? I know the 310 we've got is a pig to get on plane, and then pretty terrifying to control once it is (largely due to the tiller control).

Click to expand...

One of my surprises is how easily the 340 planes off. The Avon had a real hump to get over. I'd score control, handling and ride as being noticeably better in all categories. It's a bigger contrast than I had expected. If I replace the motor I'll likely go to 20 HP with tiller steering, and I'd feel comfortable with that on the 340. 15 hp on the Avon was a little scary at times.

I think this is a likely a reflection of design evolution - the Avon 310 RIB was developed in the 1980s. I have no doubt that the good new 310 RIBs are superior. They have bigger tubes and typically can handle more power with a little more deadrise. Some are lighter. In my case I benefitted from both that and a bump from 10 to 11 feet. You'll get that plus a modern motor... I think there are lots of good choices that you'll be happy with in the 340/360 range.

wkearney99 said:

How's the handling of the Highfield vs the Avon? I know the 310 we've got is a pig to get on plane, and then pretty terrifying to control once it is (largely due to the tiller control).

According to Highfield's website, the 11' CL360 is only 7# heavier than the CL340. What I haven't seen is a weight for their "GT" variant, with an actual console (not just the FCT7 wrap-around arm). I've sent them e-mail and hopefully they'll reply sometime soon.

Click to expand...

I've operated my friend's Avon 13 footer (40 HP Yanmar) and I found it to be essentially the same as my Highfield CL360 (30 HP Suzuki). Granted, his has a higher top end (29 knots vs my 25 knots with one on board), but has been pointed out earlier, one would rarely cruise at top speed so it is only one point of comparison.
The manufacturer's plaque on the CL360 (With the proper console and fixed side seat) states that the bare boat is 325 pounds; with full fuel and our 30 HP Suzuki it comes out to around 530 pounds. (I mistakenly said in a different post that it was 510 pounds.)

Here's a youtubers review of a new Whaly boat that he seems pretty high on. ( No affiliation, I just like his videos )

The downside to the plastic boats is either weight (some are much heavier) or limited power. The Whaly 310 will only support a 10hp outboard. The next size up could have fitment problems on our swim platform. That and I don't know that they have enough rigidity for towing a tube/wakeboard. Still, they're a clever alternative.

wkearney99 said:

I'm in the market to replace the inflatable RIB Avon R310 on our EB47. It's got a 15hp Yamaha tiller outboard. The wife would prefer a wheel control.

Among our regular 'raft up' floatilla we used to have some folks with a smaller boat that handled some tubing/wakeboarding now and then. They've upgraded to a larger boat, so we've lost our 'fun boat'.

I realize a dinghy isn't going to throw off the kinds of wakes you'd get from a ski boat. That's fine, there's typically enough other boat traffic/chop to stir things up enough to be reasonably entertaining.

With the 15' beam on the EB47, I'm leaning toward something like a 11'6" Highfield CL340 or AB 11ALX with either a 25 or 30hp outboard. Suzuki being a lighter candidate than a Yamaha. Have to factor not only the length of the tender, but also the skeg of the outboard when tilted up for stowing on the platform.

Those would stay under the 700# limit of our TNT swim platform lift (by a reasonable margin). Others with EB47's have commented that pushing the full weight limit does add a bit more stern squat than is ideal.

Again, I'm not expecting X-games levels of excitement, just enough to keep the kids moderately entertained with a tube or a wakeboard.

And yes, it's entirely overkill for all the typical tender duties it'll usually be called upon to provide. If I wanted that I'd stick with the 9'6" Zodiac inflatable and Torqeedo I already own.

Anyone used a dinghy for this, and have results to share?

Click to expand...

We have a 10 foot Bullfrog yacht tender (driver console) w/20hp Suzuki. Pops up on a plane pretty quickly in a light chop with 3 adults aboard. Weighs about 500#.

Ok, of the many choices to consider, there's not a ton of available inventory. I'd been leaning toward a Highfield CL340 but they're largely sold out anywhere that'd be convenient. I did manage to find a CL360, and plan to put a 30hp on it. It'll be around 12'4' bow to raised outboard prop, so it'll still fit effectively on our swim platform. Weight will be well under the 700# rated for the lift. Hopefully delivered mid-November, just in time to sit around all winter!

Check rigidboats.com. Very stable and fit your weight requirements. If looking for used, also check 'boss boats'.

wkearney99 said:

Ok, of the many choices to consider, there's not a ton of available inventory. I'd been leaning toward a Highfield CL340 but they're largely sold out anywhere that'd be convenient. I did manage to find a CL360, and plan to put a 30hp on it. It'll be around 12'4' bow to raised outboard prop, so it'll still fit effectively on our swim platform. Weight will be well under the 700# rated for the lift. Hopefully delivered mid-November, just in time to sit around all winter!

Click to expand...

Sounds like a great choice. Not much difference in weight between them, and bigger is better if you've got the storage. I think you'll like it.

Pulled the trigger on a Highfield CL360 with a Tohatsu 30. Took delivery today. Fantastic day on the water, unusually high temps for a November day. Couldn't run it hard as the outboard still has to break-in. But got about an hour on it just above idle taking it from the ramp to the boat.

The platform chocks will need some adjusting but for the most part it fits into the same setup as the Avon. Clearance is as I expected, about 8" on either end.

That’s a nice setup.

wkearney99 said:

Pulled the trigger on a Highfield CL360 with a Tohatsu 30.

Clearance is as I expected, about 8" on either end.

Click to expand...

That's useful info. What's the width (beam) of your swim platform?

I don't think I can fit anything larger than a CL340 on ours without more overhang than I'd prefer...

-Chris

ranger42c said:

That's useful info. What's the width (beam) of your swim platform?

I don't think I can fit anything larger than a CL340 on ours without more overhang than I'd prefer...

Click to expand...

The hull beam is 15' but the platform has a slight taper, so the max width at the point of the dinghy bow and stern is somewhat less. When I strung a tape measure from bow to tip of the prop the dinghy came in at approximately 13'1". I haven't specifically measured the swim platform, so I can't be exact, but there's enough clearance to allow the dinghy with raised outboard to fit with a bit to spare, with no overhang.

Your boat and tender look wonderful!

I know someone who has a safeboat brought to him as his tender. A bit extreme I agree.

bowball said:

Your boat and tender look wonderful!

I know someone who has a safeboat brought to him as his tender. A bit extreme I agree.

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Yowza, that'd be something!

Thanks, I got as large as would fit on the platform, while trying to remain as light as possible. We probably won't get to find out how well it performs until next Spring though.

But given inventory availability (and lack thereof) it seemed wise to get what I could now rather than be stuck waiting until what could probably be next FALL.

wkearney99 said:

The hull beam is 15' but the platform has a slight taper, so the max width at the point of the dinghy bow and stern is somewhat less. When I strung a tape measure from bow to tip of the prop the dinghy came in at approximately 13'1". I haven't specifically measured the swim platform, so I can't be exact, but there's enough clearance to allow the dinghy with raised outboard to fit with a bit to spare, with no overhang.

Click to expand...

Thanks!

Our widest beam is 16' but more like 13" at the stern... and the platform taper makes ours only 12' at it's widest point....

I think your measurements are confirming a CL340 is about the largest I want to go...

-Chris