We get it we do to! we decided we wanted the aluminum bottom with all the rocky beaches around here so we thought it was the best option. probably be making some chaps down the road and bildge pump would be sweet we weren't planning on running a battery but now that we are we will be doing the same for rainy season. But yeah the few we knew who had Highfield's had nothing but good to say about them so we went for it
Thank you for the great review! I am wondering if you had any concern about housing the battery in the bow locker alongside the fuel tank? I would like to do the same.
Yeah hope it helps, I don't have any worry about it, I've had another person ask. But have had my battery installed a year now with issues. Compartment is vented well, Any fuel spill would leak into bilge and leave compartment to transom, and as long as cables connections are snug odds of spark from a battery are next to none. Wouldn't put my kids in it if I even had the slightest doubt of possible accident
Yeah no problem, and I have hoisted it up on deck and it's not to bad (15/20hp weigh the same) but yeah we are inland cruising so just been towing since we got it and tows great it's very stable and deep v hull breaks waves better then any dinghy I've had before. Worth the money to me anyday and we don't spend that kind of money easily
Like the video and info. What size prop is on it and have you had to change it? Our 20 came with a 12pitch, I put a 10 pitch on, and I may actually put an 8 on. When the 5 of us are on it and the 2 shepherds, still struggles just a tiny bit to plane...but ya, almost sketchy by yourself 😁
No haven't messed with prop size yet, ours is a 9.25Dx11.5P and it'll get up pretty well with all of us but two good size dogs add a lot of weight. But yeah it's flies with one person, could try a 4 blade as well 20hp is enough power to turn a low pitch high torque 4 blade prop
@@sailinguntilvalhalla Thought about a 4 blade but don't want to start over guessing, pretty sure 8 will do (and they are also 9.25 diameter). What was the weight on the dinghy? I think ours is a little on the heavy side at ~165lb
@@SVgoinCoastal yeah not sure what outboard but they usually offer a 4 blade trolling motor prop for most newer brands so usually only have one size but you'd have to look, if I go down im going go that way as you get a ton of torque and plenty of motor to turn it and ill keep this one for my go fast spare haha and yeah ours is about 130lbs (310 size) which is pretty light our old dinghy was almost 200 and made a huge difference
In my opinion absolutely! But depends on the use I suppose for some. I can remember one time we went on a big provision run after being on hook for almost a month 5 of us dinghy full of groceries a few cans of fuel and we were about a mile from the dinghy dock and started raining hard so i hit the throttle hops right on a plane and got back to boat in no time before kids got soaked. In my experience the 9.9 may not even plane with that much weight (I've ran 9.9s and 15s in past) with one person it's straight Flys! But we rarely go out in only one person. We also figure kids are only getting bigger and some day it'll be 5 adults in the dinghy is something else we kept in mind
We love our highfield !! Good choice, I see a dingy chaps video in the future to protect the tubes. We are going to add a bilge pump to ours.
We get it we do to! we decided we wanted the aluminum bottom with all the rocky beaches around here so we thought it was the best option. probably be making some chaps down the road and bildge pump would be sweet we weren't planning on running a battery but now that we are we will be doing the same for rainy season. But yeah the few we knew who had Highfield's had nothing but good to say about them so we went for it
Thank you for the great review! I am wondering if you had any concern about housing the battery in the bow locker alongside the fuel tank? I would like to do the same.
Yeah hope it helps, I don't have any worry about it, I've had another person ask. But have had my battery installed a year now with issues. Compartment is vented well, Any fuel spill would leak into bilge and leave compartment to transom, and as long as cables connections are snug odds of spark from a battery are next to none. Wouldn't put my kids in it if I even had the slightest doubt of possible accident
@@sailinguntilvalhalla Thank you. I have the CL310 with a Yamaha F15. I am headed for the same setup now. Happy sailing!
Nice setup, I would advise to get some chaps to help against UV damage and chafing.
Yeah we will be eventually we're heading north to Alaska now so UV exposure won't be a problem until next summer haha but chaffing is for sure
Thanks for the great review. I'm deciding between the 290 and 310. How's the 310 + 20HP for towing? Assuming you're not hoisting that engine on deck
Yeah no problem, and I have hoisted it up on deck and it's not to bad (15/20hp weigh the same) but yeah we are inland cruising so just been towing since we got it and tows great it's very stable and deep v hull breaks waves better then any dinghy I've had before. Worth the money to me anyday and we don't spend that kind of money easily
Like the video and info. What size prop is on it and have you had to change it? Our 20 came with a 12pitch, I put a 10 pitch on, and I may actually put an 8 on. When the 5 of us are on it and the 2 shepherds, still struggles just a tiny bit to plane...but ya, almost sketchy by yourself 😁
No haven't messed with prop size yet, ours is a 9.25Dx11.5P and it'll get up pretty well with all of us but two good size dogs add a lot of weight. But yeah it's flies with one person, could try a 4 blade as well 20hp is enough power to turn a low pitch high torque 4 blade prop
@@sailinguntilvalhalla Thought about a 4 blade but don't want to start over guessing, pretty sure 8 will do (and they are also 9.25 diameter). What was the weight on the dinghy? I think ours is a little on the heavy side at ~165lb
@@SVgoinCoastal yeah not sure what outboard but they usually offer a 4 blade trolling motor prop for most newer brands so usually only have one size but you'd have to look, if I go down im going go that way as you get a ton of torque and plenty of motor to turn it and ill keep this one for my go fast spare haha and yeah ours is about 130lbs (310 size) which is pretty light our old dinghy was almost 200 and made a huge difference
Hello, I have the same rib, do you think the upgrade from a 9.9 up to 20hp is worth it? (we are 2 adults and 3 small kids)
thank you!
In my opinion absolutely! But depends on the use I suppose for some. I can remember one time we went on a big provision run after being on hook for almost a month 5 of us dinghy full of groceries a few cans of fuel and we were about a mile from the dinghy dock and started raining hard so i hit the throttle hops right on a plane and got back to boat in no time before kids got soaked. In my experience the 9.9 may not even plane with that much weight (I've ran 9.9s and 15s in past) with one person it's straight Flys! But we rarely go out in only one person. We also figure kids are only getting bigger and some day it'll be 5 adults in the dinghy is something else we kept in mind