58 sedan bridge dinghy

What is the biggest dinghy that will fit and work on the swim platform on our 58 sedan bridge? we hear many different opinions; but want to choose correct one, not experiment

I have a Zodiac 340 YachtLine on my 500DB and it fits nicely - wouldn't want any bigger. Your beam is a little wider than mine so I'm sure you could put a 380 on it, but the 340 is a great size and the 40hp motor really moves it along nicely even with 4 people in it.

You don't want one longer than the beam of your boat, including the outboard. You also don't want one heavier than what your transom is rated for. So find out the beam of your boat, put an email into sea ray and find out what your transom is rated for weight wise, and that will determine the size of your dink.

We have an 12 foot rigid from ft. Myers with an 40 hp tahatsu. She weighs around 1000. We have no issues other than a decrease in fuel burn.

Ken

The 58DB is listed with a beam of 16 ft but at the swim platform you don't get more than 12 ft available. You have to look at an outboard in the 11 ft range. Maybe you can fit a jet ski or jet tender slightly bigger, but then there's the issue of weight, and they don't recommend to load the platform with more than 900 lbs. Which leaves you again with options in the 11 ft range.
I have a Boston Whaler 110 Sports, 11 ft 6 inches LOA and the outboard sticks out on the side of the boat and gets a lot of spray while cruising. Wouldn't put something bigger. That boat fully loaded is probably close to 900 lbs.
A 11 ft jet tender would be ideal if you're willing to deal with an inflatable, the reliability and service issues of jets, and a 30-40K price tag. Their weight fully loaded is close to 900 lbs too, even being an inflatable.
Another thing to consider is the type of chocks and tie downs. The standard chocks usually don't fit the hull of some tenders, which causes the tender to slide and also leads to some hull damage. In the case of the Boston Whaler, the standard chocks that Sea Ray provides with the boat are useless. I got some custom ones that fit the shape of the BW hull. And with a tender that covers almost all of the platform, you also have to figure out and possibly relocate the tie downs, so that the tender stays in place.

I have a 350cm 11'5" that fits pretty well. I would not want to go much longer or heavier.

What is the hp of your outboard?

I have a Walker Bay Generations 360 with a 60hp Yamaha on my Sea Ray 560DB (i.e., same boat as yours - just older). It is the largest that you can effectively put on the swim platform. If it is not situated perfectly on the swim platform, it will either catch wash on the bow of the dingy, or the motor. I have it marked to line up with a flagpole I have attached to the transom, so I know where to line it up. The Walker Bay is a great boat that I highly recommend. It replaced a Caribe that I had previously, which had a wet ride.

paul

flat lander said:

What is the hp of your outboard?

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The Boston Whaler 110 sport comes with a 25hp engine and they don't offer a bigger engine for that model. I've heard of people who put a 40hp with no problems anyway, but they're above the engine weight limit set by the manufacturer. I've run it with 3 people max and the 25hp outboard performs fine.

My Amanzi 350 has a 30 HP, but later builds of the same boat are fitted with a 40HP.

I have the Amanzi 350 w/ 40HP total wt is 675lbs well within the limits of your lift and size requirments.