Here’s a new possibility as a tender for smaller cruising boats that don’t have enough room on the swim platform or lazarette for a traditional inflatable or RIB. The company says the EZRaft 250 is the “ultimate in portability and convenience.”
Built in The Netherlands, the EZRaft is just 8’ 2” long and 4’ 7” wide, and it folds down to just 2’ 6” by 10” to fit into its own carrying bag. It also weighs just 24 pounds, so it’s easy to carry.
You can inflate/deflate it in about five minutes, using the supplied electric pump. It doesn’t have any extra flooring or panels to insert. Even the paddles are integrated into the hull sides with a telescopic design so they fold and store with the boat; you can’t lose them or have them fall overboard.
The EZRaft 250 can hold four people or up to 750 pounds, according to the company. The hull is a trimaran design for stability, and it’s self-draining since the floor/deck is above the waterline. It has a patented three-tube design for safety, and it’s built with lightweight, high-tensile fabrics adapted from kite-surfing technology.
A removable transom plate can hold up to a 4-hp outboard. We don’t have any information about speed, but I suspect that with the EZRaft slower is better.
The EZRaft 250 costs about $950, and the company makes larger models.
Read more at http://ezraft.com and see the videos at https://www.ezraft.com/movies
