PDQ OWNERS FORUM

I just bought 2002 hull #19, (ex "Favorite", now "Looking Glass"), and need to buy a rigid bottom inflatable that will fit the davits and space between hulls. What RIB's do you have out there that you are happy with? I want one with 8-10 hp that will plane w 2 adults + groceries. Thanks.
Mark Richter, Ortona, FL

hi mark,

we've had duetto 11 years and have had 2 dinghies. the first was a 9'8" ab rib with a 15hp yamaha 2 stroke. that died 3 years ago and we replaced it with a 10'6" west marine rib with the same 15 hp yamaha. both fit easily between the hulls. we used the ab with the original davits but have since replaced them with st croix davits. we never used the west dinghy with the original davits so i can't comment on that aspect.

the west marine dinghy is a winner. it's $1000 less than the equivalent ab. it's fast and will plane with 3 adults plus the usual stuff. it's extremely dry and very stable. i highly recommend it.

on another note a 10 and a 15hp are the same physical motor, at least in 2 strokes, so i'd go for the 15.

One of my few complaints about our boat is the location of the lifting points on the davits. No dinghy I have seen that would fit between the hulls has lifting points spread that far apart and that makes it tough on the hoisting tackle. All they would have had to do is angle the davits inboard a bit and make the dimension about a foot narrower. Just something to think about when selecting a dink.

Hi Mark, I'm on my second Mercury 8' 10". fits between hulls, and has a max HP rating of 8 HP, and 4 persons.works well with factory davits. Roger on Teamwork

My sig has our boat year, but it is worth noting that the davits changed a lot at some point in the process, We have the later version. It is very possible the earlier models have a different spacing.

the early factory davits are very different than the later versions. they are lower and spacing worked on our ab 9'8".

Thanks for the help, everyone. I'll measure the spacing between my presumably older (2002) davits and check the lifting points spacing of any dinghy I buy.

I measure 9'0" between the top of the hulls back there, so it's hard to understand how dinghies of 9.5 and 10' could be lifted up on the davits there. Am I missing something?

AB has a 9'1" ultralight aluminum bottom RIB at only 75 lbs. sounds like a strong point when weight aft can hurt the performance of the 34. Anyone have experience with one of these?

Our Achilles RIB is 9 ft 2 in and with the motor takes up almost 10 feet of length. It does not fit especially well between the hulls and requires me to lift one end (the bow) first and wiggle the boat until it is above the hulls. It is not a big deal, but the RIB that came with the boat was 6 inches longer and that was a real pain. I am not sure how the previous owner dealt with that.

duane's correct. you hoist the dinghy at an angle, bow up. you do need to get the dinghy high enough so it clears the step area.

the west rib is 105 pounds.

Bow first.

My dinghy had a rubber bow handle that kept snagging; I cut it off.