New R25 - Best Option for Dinghy

Good afternoon,
We are excited to take delivery of our new R 25 on May 14. Is it possible to have a small dinghy or Kayaks on board for shore transport. If so, how have others handled storage?
JM

Bulljon said:

Good afternoon,
We are excited to take delivery of our new R 25 on May 14. Is it possible to have a small dinghy or Kayaks on board for shore transport. If so, how have others handled storage?
JM

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I have a Zodiac Cadet Aero 270. It has a high pressure air floor and inflatable keel. It planes with a 5hp outboard or higher. If in a hurry, 6hp would be ideal. If not in a hurry, a light electric outboard like a Remigo that weighs 25 lbs would be even more ideal. It usually lives at home. On trips to the islands I throw it in the center lazarette, and inflate it with an automatic pump when I get where I am going. I lay the outboard in the cockpit because I don't have a bracket for it. Once inflated, I can tow the dinghy at slow speeds. When it is time to put it away, I remove the outboard, partially deflate the dinghy, and drag it into the cockpit until I can finish deflating it and stow it again.

All of this is a hassle but it works. There aren't great options for a dinghy on an R25 OB. The factory dinghy rack that goes over the outboard is (in my opinion) too much weight at the very aft. (I believe it works better on the R27.) It's hard to get anything heavy on and off the roof rack. Kayaks would be much easier to store up there.

Good luck with your new boat and congrats!

Thank you for the reply, I like the idea of having it if you need it. I suppose in a situation where we might be cruising for multiple days and have multiple uses for it. We could drag it behind. The KAYAK option might work too. I’m curious to see how others have rigged those up on the racks.

While we have a 2023 R27 with the “dinghy thingy”, I would suggest you take a look at “Expedition Sea Nest” on YouTube, if you haven’t yet. They have an R25 and have found ways to utilize the boat in many ways.

We have an R27 and did not purchase a dinghy lift because we fish often. We tried a zodiac cadet 230 but found it did not fold up easily due to a thick stiff rubstrake. We then switched to an Achilles LT2 which is great but very small and was difficult to mount our mercury 3.5. It would be great with a small electric motor if you don't need much space, as it is very light and folds up very small to fit in lazerette. Ultimately we found a Truekit navigator 250 at the boat show and have an EPCarry electric motor on order. We built a rack above the Bimini to store when underway and are hoping for better dinghy adventures this summer. The Truekit is awesome and very stable. We have used it with the mercury and it does about 5 mph. It will do about 4 with the EPCarry and with the added ease of the 14 pound electric we are excited about the decrease in hassle deploying our dinghy this year. My mercury and Achilles are nearly new and available if anyone is looking for these. The Truekit and EPCarry are both available on line and great to work with.

The dinghy lift is a factory option on the new R-25 ($10,500). If you want that option and didn’t already get it you may want to check with the factory or the dealer if it can be added. The gallery on the factory page shows a picture of it (also added below). Like @sogreer we did not get it because we fish a lot on the boat and did not want to have the dingy or the lift in the way. If that’s not a consideration, the main downside is just that it blocks the view out of the boat.

Sogreer, I’d love to see a picture of how you attached yours. We never got a dinghy for our R-25. Instead, we got two Magma racks to carry a paddleboard on the bow. We also got a pair of Oru foldable kayaks. Practically speaking, we used the kayaks a lot more than the paddleboard. The Oru Lake is compact and really fun and two of them fit in the cave.

Jesperjo said:

The dinghy lift is a factory option on the new R-25 ($10,500). If you want that option and didn’t already get it you may want to check with the factory or the dealer if it can be added. The gallery on the factory page shows a picture of it (also added below). Like @sogreer we did not get it because we fish a lot on the boat and did not want to have the dingy or the lift in the way. If that’s not a consideration, the main downside is just that it blocks the view out of the boat.

Sogreer, I’d love to see a picture of how you attached yours. We never got a dinghy for our R-25. Instead, we got two Magma racks to carry a paddleboard on the bow. We also got a pair of Oru foldable kayaks. Practically speaking, we used the kayaks a lot more than the paddleboard. The Oru Lake is compact and really fun and two of them fit in the cave.

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I installed 4 stainless rocket launcher rod holders on the Bimini supports and then used pvc 1 inch inside of 1.25 inch for the cross bars with about 14 inches of vertical 1 inch pvc going down into the rocket launchers. I used chrome paint and it looks decent. I ptriced getting 1 inch stainless and it was well over $1000 so I thought I would start with this. It easily supports the dinghy and can be stowed in the lazerette when not in use. I don't have photos yet since the boat is hibernating in our barn. I have seen other posts with photos of stainless racks above the Bimini which reportedly work well. Our Truekit weighs about 53 pounds and should be easy to push up top from the swim step. We also use an aqua glide chelan 140 tandem kayak which we carry in a Yakima J hook rack on the sport rack which works great. We ended up using this much more than the dinghy last year because it was easy to deploy. Downside is it acts as a sail when docking and I bring it down and deflate in high wind docking.

That sounds pretty smart. I like the idea of having it on top of the Bimini.

The “act like a sail” part is one of the reasons we ended up using the foldable kayaks much more. We had nothing on top and nothing on the bow, and just stuffed them in the cave.

I use the swim platform on our R-25 way too much to be willing to give it up to the dinghy lift. And between blocking the solar panel, damaging the dinghy on sharp edges, being an absolute bear to deploy/store, and biting away at fuel economy, I abandoned the attempt at storing a dinghy on the roof.

I just picked up this TrueKit Navigator 2.5 (https://truekit.us/products/true-kit-navigator) at the boat show that is stored in the center cockpit locker. Can't speak to performance as I haven't had the chance to putt around in it, but we just use it with an electric motor to get to shore or mess around the marinas, so all I need is for it to stay afloat.

I had another inflatable dinghy previously using the same setup but it was nearly 100 lbs all said and done and a massive pain to pull out and put away. This TrueKit is worth the cost solely due to the low weight and small volume it takes up. I compared every dinghy I could possibly look at for weight, assembled size, and packed volume and this one beat every other option, disregarding price.

I will take a look at that option. Like you, I can’t justify taking up too much space on the swim platform. Something small and lightweight that could be stowed away and a portable electric motor sounds like a good option.

Bulljon said:

I will take a look at that option. Like you, I can’t justify taking up too much space on the swim platform. Something small and lightweight that could be stowed away and a portable electric motor sounds like a good option.

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Bulljon said:

I will take a look at that option. Like you, I can’t justify taking up too much space on the swim platform. Something small and lightweight that could be stowed away and a portable electric motor sounds like a good option.

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If you are looking for ease, weight and storage the Achilles LT2 is great. 37 pounds, easy to inflate, handle, and repack in lazerette. Drawback is its small size and stability compared to True kit. If you just want ship to shore this rows well and is very easy. We wanted a sturdier larger dinghy and thus bought the Truekit. If it doesn't work out well, we still have the LT2

I will be using the boat mostly on Lake Pend Orielle in North Idaho where I will have it in a slip, generally, there is not a need for a dinghy while boating there.

I am thinking for trips to the San Juan Islands and Florida next winter, there will be times I will need to go ashore. I like the idea of storing it until it is needed. I appreciate all of the input!

brtnstrns said:

I use the swim platform on our R-25 way too much to be willing to give it up to the dinghy lift. And between blocking the solar panel, damaging the dinghy on sharp edges, being an absolute bear to deploy/store, and biting away at fuel economy, I abandoned the attempt at storing a dinghy on the roof.

I just picked up this TrueKit Navigator 2.5 (https://truekit.us/products/true-kit-navigator) at the boat show that is stored in the center cockpit locker. Can't speak to performance as I haven't had the chance to putt around in it, but we just use it with an electric motor to get to shore or mess around the marinas, so all I need is for it to stay afloat.

I had another inflatable dinghy previously using the same setup but it was nearly 100 lbs all said and done and a massive pain to pull out and put away. This TrueKit is worth the cost solely due to the low weight and small volume it takes up. I compared every dinghy I could possibly look at for weight, assembled size, and packed volume and this one beat every other option, disregarding price.

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x2 on the True Kit Navigator 2.5, had one for 3 years. That said, sold it last fall and went back to a fiberglass boat for dinghy service, towed behind our r27ob. We go to Desolation etc for 2 months each year and need a bigger "fish boat"

sfladgard said:

x2 on the True Kit Navigator 2.5, had one for 3 years. That said, sold it last fall and went back to a fiberglass boat for dinghy service, towed behind our r27ob. We go to Desolation etc for 2 months each year and need a bigger "fish boat"

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Not a Tug, but we also tow our 11’ Console style dingy behind our CW CB 30