The roles of a dinghy in the life of cruisers and sailors can’t be overestimated. The mother ship is your conveyance to any port on any ocean or lake of the world. But, once you get there, once you are ready to explore and enjoy your new landfall, you need a practical way to get from the mothership, which is hopefully anchored or moored in some spectacular setting, to everywhere you want and need to go. Going shopping or diving or beaching or touristing, you need a good dinghy.
It has long been the consensus in the cruising community that most of us need and like a RIB with a good outboard and, in many if not most cases, these dinghies are between 8 and 12 feet, with large Hypalon or PVC tubes and thick composite bottoms; they can handle outboards from 4 to 25 horsepower and offer speeds from 6 to 25 knots. The catch is that traditional RIBs are heavy. Read More
