Choosing The Right Dingy Davits For Your Boat

One of the pleasures of cruising is dropping anchor out at your favorite gunk hole and launching the dingy and taking in the sights of the area or visiting other yachts; it’s a great way to meet new friends. But if your tender is not very accessible or hard to launch, you will not likely use it often.

All tenders require adequate storage. Towing is not always practical and can be dangerous in bad conditions. The same goes for on deck storage; a big wind and you may lose it. But if properly setup your boat with the appropriate davit system, your dingy will offer trouble-free service.

Notwithstanding before you select your davit system, you’ll need to select the right dingy for your boating needs. Do you favor a rigid tender or inflatable? Remember punctures are very common with inflatables? Where will it be used? On the high seas or inland waters? How big do you need her?

Many of the answers to storage locations and systems lie in how large it is and much your tender weighs.

There are 4 basic davit arrangements available to store a dinghy:

· clip-on, where the dingy rests on its side on the swim platform;
· stanchion mounts on the transom, the dingy hangs over the stern;
· rotating davit mounts on the decks; and
· hydraulic - powered lifts mounted to a swim platform to lift large dingies or personal water craft.

Clip-on davits are a great product. Weaver Davits, one of the top sellers, are an economical selection for trawlers with swim platforms and small tenders and outboards up to 10 horsepower. But the motor must be removed from the dingy before hoisting out of the water. Most boaters have an outboard storage rack attached on the transom for easy access. Another concern is lifting the tender from a horizontal position in the water to a standing position for storage. Weaver Davits are limited by the weight of the dingy. I have the davit system on our trawler and I could not be more satisfied. We can launch and retrieve the tender in less than 10 minutes.

Stanchion mounts are secured to the rails, deck or transom. Fashioned for heavy dinghy-engine setups, these davit systems come with universal riser arms for a custom fit to your boat. Big dingies may need optional support kits mounted on the transom or swim platform. When properly installed, the tender lies horizontal from the stern of the boat. On these installations, the dingy outboard can remain in place. On a negative side, the tender setup requires a fair amount of manual labor to hoist the tender using 2 block and tackles. These are common setups on sailboats.

Rotating davits raise, rotate and position the dingy onto the foredeck or sundeck. If the deck can support the load, these systems can be directly mounted, or the supporting post may be placed on a lower deck. Most setups are supplied with an electric winch to mechanically lower and raise the tender. Dingies with large motors (15 horsepower or more) often combine a rotating davit on the transom with a cradle for the dingy mounted on deck. The setups allow lifting for the heaviest of dingy/motor arrangements. On a negative side, these arrangements may place the operator at heights that could be risky in rough waters. In addition, care must be made to keep the outboard from striking the mother ship as the dingy is raised or lowered, breaking windows or damaging the gel coat.

Hydraulic - powered lifts have become common on large yachts to lift heavy dingies or personal water craft. Most are complex and not easily owner installed. Costs for these davit systems increase as the lifting load increases– the bigger the dinghy, the pricier the davit system. To use, the lifts are lowered into the water and the dingy is driven onto the cradle. A negative feature is that these units may not work well in a following sea.

In most examples when buying a used yacht, the tender and davit system is already in place. You will just need to acquaint yourself with it to see if you like it. If you do not, there are other choices for you.

By: Marinetrader

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Mike Dickens, the author, is a live aboard boat owner and owner/Broker of Paradise Yachts in Florida USA. Paradise Yachts offers used quality yachts to customers worldwide. Visit the Paradise Yachts website to view our selection of Used Trawlers, Used Motor Yachts, and Used Sailboats for Sale National and international sales. We ship Used Trawlers, Motor Yachts and Cruisers worldwide. Located in Florida, USA. 904/556-9431 Interact with us at the Trawler Blog