SAILING TENDERS TEST

We put half a dozen portable sailing tenders to the test to see which ones really deserve a place on your boat, writes Toby Heppell

We sail six inflatable and folding tenders that can also sail to find the best all-rounder

Long-gone are the days that yachts would lash a clinker dinghy to the deck, or tow it bobbing astern, replaced instead by the ubiquitous inflatable rubber tender. For all it’s pack-down convenience, however, these bulbous craft have never been easy to row, and mostly can’t be sailed, prompting heavy reliance on outboards, and with it, losing a peaceful means of exploring new harbours. With a sail and reasonable rowing abilities, however, you can get around without a noisy engine, occupy family for hours on end, and sail up creeks that a yacht could never explore.

New inflatable technologies, such as lightweight fabrics and drop-stich construction enabling rigid high pressure structures, have opened the door to all-round inflatables that are far more capable than their predecessors. We wanted to try out vessels that offered the best of both worlds – genuinely portable tenders that also double up as capable sailing dinghies.

The Seal, a new product, most closely resembles the once popular Tinker Tramp. The two Dinghy Go dinghies are the closest to conventional tenders, but with rigid inflatable floors, centreboard casings and stayless rigs. The Seahopper will delight traditionalists and fans of hard tenders, while folding completely flat, and the two wildcards were the Minicat Guppy and the Tiwal 2, both of which offer plenty of fun afloat and could double as tenders if needed.

HOW WE TESTED THEM

We judged the six craft against a few key factors. First we measured the size of the bags in which the dinghies and all their kit were stowed, and weighed each bag, giving us a fair idea of how realistically portable each is and how much space it might take up on board.

We then assembled each boat and timed how long it took from packed to ready. Whilst assembly will always get quicker with practice, some manufacturers sent representatives for the test, easing our learning process.

Once on the water, both Toby Heppell and Theo Stocker took the boat out for a spin, sailing the boats upwind and downwind, as a well as rowing and motoring those that were equipped to do so (the Minicat and the Tiwal were not equipped with rowlocks or an outboard bracket). We measured rough speed via GPS to give us an idea of what speeds could be achieved. The weather during our test was a little variable with winds between 7-13 knots

and minimal wave state.