Tenders

[pnloud]

Has anyone carried a HD polyethylene tender on their swim platform ?

[tribologist]

I use a harbormen marine sling to carry a Mercury 210 inflatable back on our A25

https://albinowners.net/aog/viewtopic.p ... 880#p95880

[DesertAlbin736]

You're talking about an Albin 25 I presume? We used to tow an 8 ft Achilles Hypalon inflatable behind the Catalina 25 sailboat we owned before transitioning to our Albin 25 in 2014, which we sold last year. If talking about inflatables their are two types, PVC and Hypalon, the latter being the better material. Polyethylene is something different like Walker Bay or the the West Marine brand hard shell.

DSCN0632 crop.jpg

When we bought the Albin it came with an 8 ft Boatex hard shell fiberglass dink inherited from previous owners and attached to the swim platform via Weaver Snap davits . By HD polyethylene are you talking about something like a hard shell Walker Bay or equivalent? If so for the Albin 25 the only real issue regarding carrying a Walker Bay type on a swim platform, which I assume would be latched on with Weaver snap davits is the overhang of the narrow transom where you end up with a situation like this:

20160626_202426 (1024x576).jpg

Which is fine except for the risk of a large wave in rough seas catching it and ripping off the the latches, especially the dinghy's stern as it sits down low, as happened to us transiting Georgia Strait up in BC, Canada back in 2016. You could also do alright towing a Walker Bay behind you.

After that incident I replaced the Boatex with a new Gig Harbor Nisqually on Garhauer lift davits like this:

20161028_111256.jpg

That served us well for the remainder of the time we owned the boat until we sold it last September.

As for towing, that's a viable option. The Sailors Sketchbook DIY book by the late, great naval architect Bruce Bingham, which is available on Amazon, has a whole chapter on the does and don't of towing dinghies, as well as lift davits, mostly devoted to hard shell dinks.

sailor sketch book.jpg

However if you're talking about an Albin 27 with the wider squared off transom I'd say no problem with the Walker Bay type as long as it's limited to 8 or 9 ft length.