Which Achilles is best with no trailer?

[gwozhog]

Greetings my blow up buddies I have traveled 300 hours on my mastercraft in the last 2 years and sold it for my true obsession in life (SIB's). I have now got my hands on a later model 8hp yamaha 2stroke and it needs a home. Due to back issues I have narrowed it down to the Achilles lex96 wood floor or the Achilles lsi290. The both way about the same 77lbs and under. This boat will be used 95 percent of the time in a glass river that my pro barefoot skier buddy calls the best water he has ever footed in. I have had a kaboat in the past so I'm familiar with airfloors. I'm not familiar with wooden floors. Will it be a PIA every time I want to put it together. How about disassembly is it tough too. My kaboat could be disassembled and in a bag in less than 3 mins. Which will ride better. 15.5 inch tubes with wood or 17 inch tubes with an airfloors. Also how is the quality of the lex compared to the LSI. The boat is about 30 percent less in price. Thanks for any input you guys have.

 

[Sea Rider]

Will the sib be used with 2 or more up ? Personally would go for a larger size, those 280-290 are crampy boring sibs. Assembling alum or wooden decks takes its time, how much will depend on how fast you assemble them. Disassembling is way faster. If you don't have issues with air decks why don't you go for one along a larger size sib.

Happy Boating

 

[gwozhog]

Well I was able to finally see an lex96 this afternoon. Was quite disappointed. The 15.5 inch tubes were just tiny and the wood floor boards were held together with cheep plastic braces. And the most disappointing thing was its made in China. They had a few 2014 Achilles in there showroom and they were made in Japan. It looks like all the 2015 Achilles boats are coming out of China WTF! I seriously doubt there boats will last 20 years now. Achilles has made it perfectly clear that they are now about profit not quality. Very disappointing. I will still probably pick one up but will try to find a 2014 that is made in Japan. I'm now looking at the spd310 with the aluminum floors.

 

[gwozhog]

As far as passengers it will most likely be just me and 10 year old son so that why I'm keeping it small.

 

[Sea Rider]

Does Achilles states that all their 2015 production is made in China ? If so, it's really not made but assembled with good quality Hypalon (CSM) fabric. . Won't find huge tubes on small standard sibs 38-40 is the norm. How about alum roll up floor LSR-310 or LSI 330, 360E air deck sibs ?

Happy Boating

 

[gwozhog]

No they did not state that. It was what I observed at the dealer from the Lex96 to the folding transom rib to even there Heavy duty RIB. If the serial had 2015 it had china right next to it. Yes I still believe CSM is still made in Japan and only the labor is in China. Its still disappointing. When you pay a Japaneese worker an honest days pay he will most likely take alot more pride in his work than a chineese factory worker being taken advantage of. Maybe im wrong though.

 

[gwozhog]

So I emailed the Achilles West Coast rep and asked him about there new production. He stated that all 2015 achilles boats are now assembled in China and then they are sent to Japan to be inspected and packedged before they are shipped out to the United States. I'm not sure why they wouldn't just ship them directly to the United States and put an inspector up in an apartment in China. Having to ship there boats twice seems like a waste of money and I almost find it hard to believe that they are doing that.

 

[Sea Rider]

10 years back reputed brands sibs/ribs were very scarce and expensive, only affordable with people owning yachts, sailboats. Now you have a wide range of brands and friendly prices to choose from for different water activities. The only way chieving so is assembling them at a fraction of hand labor cost of Japanese or EU workers. Achilles offers a 5 year warranty on their products and being Hypalon manufactured with Japanese glues is a big plus. Now even low end Zodiac and other reputed brands manufactures their inflatables in PRCH as near all other goods. Don't know about their double shipping.

Happy Boating

 

[gwozhog]

No Title

Hammer was dropped on Friday. Here is my new baby SPD310E that I purchased locally from Triad Marine in Kemah, Texas. Im very glad I purchased from them instead of trying to save a few bucks online. There customer service was better than anything I have ever experienced in past purchases of high end cars or luxury watches. There head service guy took me back into there shop and showed me how to profesionally repair a Hypalon boat. He also went over every part of new boat and demonstrated inflation and deflation. I timed myself when I got home and it only took me 10 minutes to install the floor and blow up the boat using a cheap coleman airmattress pump and bravo foot pump. Not bad at all. The quality of the Achilles even though it is made in China seems to be top notch. I went over every seem in the boat and could not find an area that could have used more glue. I can not say the same thing for the Zodiac boats I saw in west marine or my previous Kaboat I owned a few years ago. Im waiting on launch wheels ordered from defender and still waiting on paperwork to title my 8hp Yamaha so she still has not gotten wet. Hopefully this weekend will be her first voyage. My wife and friends still thing Im out of my mind for selling my Mastercraft and buying an inflatable. All I can say is that I got a bad case of Dinghy Fever!

 

[Sea Rider]

Congrats,

Just pump all air chambers and keel to their factory working pressure and will have guaranteed fun. Many sell their boats and never see water again. You can still enjoy what you like doing in a much smaller boat with a fraction of the operating cost of a larger one.

Happy Boating