I had one 2.4m and was happy with it.but it disappeared from the back of my yacht one night, only 6 months old so cant comment on how good it lasts. I now have a mercury inflatable same size but the air chamber's are smaller. I much prefert the aquacraft

nswsailor said..
I've had one for some time and have logged just over a years cruising with it, that's two trips to the Whitsundays [from NSW] and one down to Lake Macquarie.

I'm setting off north again this April and I do think that at some point I'm going to have to replace it.

Just hoping I will be near a Whitworths

Thanks, why do you say you have to replace it after 2 trips? Is the Sun or the corals in the sea?

Bought one last year and has been fine, no hassles. Does go sideways a bit compared to to the alum bottom RIB I use to have, however you get this with any flat bottom inflatable. And being able to roll it up and stow below has been worth it, nice to have the foredeck clear. Plus harder for some bugger to pinch it :).

Have the high pressure floor which works well, no problems with standing in the dinghy.

Ilenart

Had two, one slat bottom, one inflatable keel, pvc, would not touch it again with a sixty foot barge pole. They are crap on the long run.
The constant hassle to hide them folded or covered is well compensated for on the long run.
One with inflatable keel made of hypalon or like, !welded!, is the one to be had or a rib for bigger yachts.
Lasts a lifetime on the Sun.
Costs more? Yes. 3x but the quality explains it less one thinks short term.
Money well spent!

I found it wasn't the seams that failed but the glued attachments, like the rowlocks etc that failed after a few years. Eventually even the transom peeled off.
We got a few years out of it and bought it ridiculously cheap so I wasn't unhappy but the material wastage is hard to swallow.
Maybe the new ones are better?

My 2004 model Aquapro SLR 710 came with the boat when I bought it in 2015. Last year I took one of the fold down wheels off for repair and noticed the corner of the seam attached to the hull was peeling away. After some investigation I found that almost all of the glued seams were very weak, so much so that it was possible the whole dinghy could have disassembled itself in the water.

The welded seams were fine and it is a good dinghy so I decided to repair it. Over several weeks I re-glued every seam and attachment with AzbondR, just doing small sections at a time and it is now as strong as new. A very small leak that I had and always assumed was from the bung also disappeared, it must have been that corner section of the seam leaking.

The AzbondR is a good product but you must follow the instructions to the letter, I had some mix left over one time and decided to glue on one of the attachments without much preparation, it didn't hold and had to be re-done properly. The other warning is to apply neatly and stay within the glued area, when it first dries it is pale yellow but after 6 months it darkens considerably.

We should all be trying to reduce plastic waste, please don't buy throw away dinghies.

I bought the 2.5m air deck a couple of weeks ago, as a tender to and from the boat. Rolled up and transported in back of the car. Does the job with a 5hp on the back. I hope it's okay for a good while. I think they are still selling at discounted price of $699.