THE TEST
SAILING
The Tiwal 2 genuinely feels for all the world like a small performance dinghy and inspires confidence to throw her around. She did, however, feel possible to capsize, whereas the other boats on test felt much more stable. The sail works effectively but was a little short on power in the relatively light conditions for our test day. I suspect with a bigger sail or a bit more breeze a modest-sized crew could easily get her onto the plane, which would be impressive for an inflatable boat that is small enough to throw into an onboard locker.
UNDER MOTOR
The boat as tested had no option to attach an outboard making her something of a one-trick pony. However, the manufacturer has recently developed an engine mount, which can replace the rudder stock (available January 2020 and compatible with all models). Swapping the two over would be a fairly simple process, though we found it was much easier to attach the rudder stock when the main hull was partially deflated. As such we feel it’s more likely you will decide before use whether you would be using her with a motor or with a sail.
Without a cockpit of any real description, the Tiwal 2 is never going to make a particularly practical tender but we felt she could carry two adults and a bag or two. Things on deck are likely to get a bit wet; provided you accept this and store your shoreside kit in a dry bag then using her to get from ship to shore would be possible.
ROWING
There are no rowlocks so rowing will never be an option. Being generous, without the rig in, you could probably treat her a bit like a standup paddleboard but she is too large to do this very effectively.
YM VERDICT
If you want a simple, quick and easy sailing toy that can double as a makeshift tender, this is the one for you. Realistically this seems rather more a boat you might store on board and let the kids race around in while you are at anchor. She certainly sails better than the other options on test and doesn’t pretend to offer much else.