[persue52]

I purchased a used Zodiac Cadet 250 (I believe that is the model number) and i can share my experiences with you. The LOA is 8'3" and the weight is 75 or 80 pounds. The weight makes it very difficult for me to launch and retrieve by myself.  Our Tiara 3100 is on the South Shore of Long Island and we dock at a siip without a finger pier.  We lash it to the swim platform and it pretty much takes up the entire swim platform which makes boarding and de-boarding a challenge (and not safe), particularly for our young grandchildren.It is heavy and we inflate and deflate it after each outing. We transport it back and forth from our home in my Range Rover Evoque in which it just about fits. There really isn't enough room on the boat to store it. We use it when we go to the beach, can't get a slip and have to anchor out and dinghy in. It is a Zodiac and it is of high quality - no complaints there. If I had a finger slip and didn't have to inflate and deflate it each time, I would just leave it inflated and install mounting brackets on the swim platform.

If I could do it again (and I probably will next summer), I would get an inflatable about 2 feet smaller and around 50 pounds. I've found a few high quality inflatables that fit those parameters.

Mike