2nd seat for inflatable

[wa7pug]

I have tried to find out who makes the inflatable for RT, but so far no joy and I have my doubts RT is in the inflatable business, BUT, the one I have (no brand names marked) has only one seat board back by the transom. There is a second slot support (see pix https://photos.app.goo.gl/A5Rho6QS5WkZgsE4A ) that is built into the boat but there was no (second) seat board for She Who Must Be Obeyed ... I could make one out of an oak board and jury rig something to grab onto that 'track', but I was thinking if there was some source that I could buy another seat board, then it would look alike ...does anyone know anything about it, as in, where I could buy one??

 

[glider4]

According to past posts the FM dinghy’s are OEM under the FM brand name but with no branding on the dinghy. That’s conclusion based on the hull number of the dinghy’s. Some Highfield and/or Zodiac parts will fit. We were able to find a replacement seat for our prior dinghy from Defender. They carry parts for quite a few brands.

 

[dbsea]

Wish I had seen this a few weeks ago. I had a second seat with mine that I didn’t use so I left it on the “free to take” pile at the yacht club. :/

 

[SJI Sailor]

This was 4 years ago, so it may have changed now, but I bought a second bench from the RT Parts department for our RT 290 dinghy. If I recall correctly the Parts department shut down for a while but is now operating again (?) I'd start with them if so.

The new seat was identical to the existing one, except slightly different length. Slid on easily with a bit of soapy water, and was a huge improvement for us.

As an alternative someone might be able to measure theirs (we sold that boat or I would) and then find a functional equivalent from Zodiac etc

 

[wa7pug]

THIS IS TEMPORARY, and certainly not best practice but for now it makes me at least operational
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yxknEfZv5y9hFhND6
I made temporary hooks out of plastic EMT's (should not really be any stress on it other than to keep it from sliding)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/huwsjY9svf4a2u1J7
I do have a piece of that white board stuff (some kind of plastic for boat building) that I am going to try to mill a groove into and then affix with screws like the original ..... I got rid of my milling machine so I am going to have to beg someone to groove it ...

At least until I can find one - I will try the RT Parts .... of course they have to use this groove thing instead of like everyone else and use a plastic wedge 😳

 

[dbsea]

FWIW, my extra seat came from Fluid Motion when their parts department was still open. They might be able to source it. I have the same style as yours, with the groove.

 

[scross]

Looks a lot like the Achilles seat.
https://defender.com/en_us/achilles-rep ... ats-ast330

 

[Wee Venture]

It does look a lot like the Achilles seat, but if I’m not mistaken that uses a larger tube. Here is a bracket I found which I attached to a seat and it worked fine.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07TJTDM ... asin_title

 

[dbsea]

depending on the year (mine is a 2016), RT/CW used a Mercury 260 dinghy. Hence why they call it the RT260 RIB. Hopefully this helps in finding a new one.

 

[wa7pug]

Thanks everybody - I can either FIND a couple of these brackets, a seat, or now have enough pictures I can make our buy the brackets and remake it ...
One thing I have found about boats over 50 years... detail ... attention to detail ... even the little niggly things that stick in your brain until you find a solution .... makes me nuts ... but worth every minute ... makes it all that much better when folks like you help out. I try to help out what I can when I can ... there is a lot of collective knowledge out there. All I know to say is: THANK YOU.

 

[wa7pug]

Folks, I found replacements and they work well ... I had to buy them in package so I have two spares if anyone needs one - you could make another seat for your inflatable or you can fix one you might have broken. You can have for the cost of mailing cheap.