Highfield… any regrets?

Man you guys are infectious. I dropped by our local Highfield dealer to just look.... just to look...
Ended up buying the Highfield CL360 with FCT console option rigged with a Tohatsu 20HP with electric start and trim.
They said March delivery....
So I guess I'll sell my Mercury 280 Dynamic RIB and brand new Merc 9.9.
 
That is what we started out with and had a 15hp on then I wanted to upgrade to a dinghy with the steering wheel and bench but then we heard that Highfield sells a kit with the upgraded 20hp Suzuki engine. Saved lots of money by utilizing the dinghy we already had.
upload_2022-2-23_16-59-9.jpeg
 
Man you guys are infectious. I dropped by our local Highfield dealer to just look.... just to look...
Ended up buying the Highfield CL360 with FCT console option rigged with a Tohatsu 20HP with electric start and trim.
They said March delivery....
So I guess I'll sell my Mercury 280 Dynamic RIB and brand new Merc 9.9.

woah, awesome! The FCT is really cool but too heavy for our current setup.
 
For anyone with a 310 (or similar) and h2o davits (or similar) - approximately where did you mount them in relation to the centerline of the platform?

my very rough measurements along with the Highfield diagram showing the outboard in the up position make it seem like I could mount them 24” on either side of the centerline, symmetrical, and still get good support. That would put one arm 10” from the transom and the other one at the last flat point of the keel forward before the bow starts sloping up. It will also allow me to load the dink in either direction.

my only concern is having the support 10” in from the transom and the motor weight back there but the hull seems very rigid

edit: nevermind, I just realized I would never flip the dinghy around to load it in a different direction because one I figure out the tie downs it’s only going to work one way. I’ll shoot for 6-8” from the transom to support the outboard and move the bow one a bit so it better supports the center of the boat
 
Last edited:
For anyone with a 310 (or similar) and h2o davits (or similar) - approximately where did you mount them in relation to the centerline of the platform?

my very rough measurements along with the Highfield diagram showing the outboard in the up position make it seem like I could mount them 24” on either side of the centerline, symmetrical, and still get good support. That would put one arm 10” from the transom and the other one at the last flat point of the keel forward before the bow starts sloping up. It will also allow me to load the dink in either direction.

my only concern is having the support 10” in from the transom and the motor weight back there but the hull seems very rigid

edit: nevermind, I just realized I would never flip the dinghy around to load it in a different direction because one I figure out the tie downs it’s only going to work one way. I’ll shoot for 6-8” from the transom to support the outboard and move the bow one a bit so it better supports the center of the boat

Highfield has chock drawings in their website. It shows optimum positioning, which you probably can't fully achieve with the H2O fixed width, but I would go between them favoring the stern position.
 
If you're worried about transom weight, I have a thread in the dinghy section showing a transom support block I made for my air floor dinghy. It was obvious the stress the big outboard was having on it.

Even with a hard bottom, it's not a bad idea if you can make it work with your davits.
 
For anyone with a 310 (or similar) and h2o davits (or similar) - approximately where did you mount them in relation to the centerline of the platform?

my very rough measurements along with the Highfield diagram showing the outboard in the up position make it seem like I could mount them 24” on either side of the centerline, symmetrical, and still get good support. That would put one arm 10” from the transom and the other one at the last flat point of the keel forward before the bow starts sloping up. It will also allow me to load the dink in either direction.

my only concern is having the support 10” in from the transom and the motor weight back there but the hull seems very rigid

edit: nevermind, I just realized I would never flip the dinghy around to load it in a different direction because one I figure out the tie downs it’s only going to work one way. I’ll shoot for 6-8” from the transom to support the outboard and move the bow one a bit so it better supports the center of the boat

I would give yourself more than 6” from the transom. Speaking from experience, that’s not much leeway as you pull the dinghy on the arms and settle it. It’s very easy for it to slide off during the loading and and have to reload it. Minimum I’d go is 12”
 
Thanks guys, appreciate all the help. I’ll take a look at Highfield a site and play around with configurations in the garage

Seems like I'll luck out with my guesstimates. If I place them evenly 24" from the centerline of my platform it puts the stern davit 10" from the transom and the forward almost spot on to the highfield drawing. I'm still going to screw the davits into a piece of wood in the garage and load the boat up to see how it sits.

https://www.highfieldboats.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/CL310-CHOCK-2019-12-14-Model.pdf
 
Last edited:
The dealer I was at also had these St. Croix inflatable boarding ladders which were very cool. the tubes on the Highfield are a larger diameter than those on the Mercury so had to have the ladder also.
What we didn't talk about is if there is an inflation kit that comes with the Highfield; I need to find out about that.
R.f4a9f200c001e883522dac30f58acabe
 
The dealer I was at also had these St. Croix inflatable boarding ladders which were very cool. the tubes on the Highfield are a larger diameter than those on the Mercury so had to have the ladder also.
What we didn't talk about is if there is an inflation kit that comes with the Highfield; I need to find out about that.
R.f4a9f200c001e883522dac30f58acabe

that's cool. I also want to find a small removable boarding ladder for our platform so we can swim without completely launching the dinghy off the davits. I have enough room to get on and off the port side with the dinghy up there but I don't want to put more holes in the platform if I can avoid it
 
The dealer I was at also had these St. Croix inflatable boarding ladders which were very cool. the tubes on the Highfield are a larger diameter than those on the Mercury so had to have the ladder also.
What we didn't talk about is if there is an inflation kit that comes with the Highfield; I need to find out about that.
R.f4a9f200c001e883522dac30f58acabe

The previous owner of our boat was gracious enough to forget one of these on our boat when he removed the tender we didn't purchase from him. We haven't used it yet but it looks really nice.
 
The dealer I was at also had these St. Croix inflatable boarding ladders which were very cool. the tubes on the Highfield are a larger diameter than those on the Mercury so had to have the ladder also.
What we didn't talk about is if there is an inflation kit that comes with the Highfield; I need to find out about that.
R.f4a9f200c001e883522dac30f58acabe
I think any new inflatable comes with a hand pump. Electric is a different matter.
 
Both Highfields I have purchased new came with manual foot pumps, repair kits and a dry bag. The CL290 also came with a seat and seat bag.
 
Same. Our 310 came with the pump, seat, dry bag, patch kit, and a bunch of little goodies.
 
Here is what the boat will look like centered on our stock platform and the davit arms slightly offset. You can see the masking tape on either side representing our platform. The 2x4 is the centerline. This configuration puts the aft davit about 10” from the transom of the dinghy. The forward one could stand to be moved a little bit forward but it is very stable. I can stand in it and shift my weight without it rocking on the cradle arms.

Now I need to order my shiny new outboard. A 40 year old beat up merc just doesn’t look right

Edited slightly. The arms are 22” on either side of our centerline here
8999DA49-F10C-4187-B672-051F6F3F8DD1.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I think any new inflatable comes with a hand pump. Electric is a different matter.
Confirmed that it (fct option) comes with 6 gal fuel cell plumbed and installed in bow locker, battery, center cross-beam seat, bilge pump, cross-beam seat cushion with storage compartments, really nice dry storage bag, foot pump, navigation lighting, electric trim, electric start, bow step, paddles, plastic keel protector, and optional boarding ladder.
Also was notified today that they are expecting up to a 30 day delivery/rigging delay. Now looking late in April rather than late in March. Very close to Bahamas departure; so, I think I'll hang on to my current dink until delivery.....
 
Last edited:
Confirmed that it (fct option) comes with 6 gal fuel cell plumbed and installed in bow locker, battery, center cross-beam seat, bilge pump, cross-beam seat cushion with storage compartments, really nice dry storage bag, foot pump, navigation lighting, electric trim, electric start, bow step, paddles, and optional boarding ladder.
Also was notified today that they are expecting up to a 30 day delivery/rigging delay. Now looking late in April rather than late in March. Very close to Bahamas departure; so, I think I'll hang on to my current dink until delivery.....
Foot pump, oof. You'd think those are easier to use vs. a hand pump because your legs are big and strong. In my experience though, they are harder to use. The wedge-shaped bellows foot pumps are low volume per pump and just awkward all the way around. You need to stand up for any kind of efficiency and that's NOT easy in a bobbing dingy with no hand holds. Even on land it's a real chore. Just about the only benefit to a foot pump is that it's compact to stow.

Consider springing for a good quality dual action selectable hand pump (selectable to pump on push only, or push and pull. The kind that looks like a fat bicycle pump. Much easier to use when on the boat.

The rest of the options sound great!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,944
Messages
1,422,729
Members
60,927
Latest member
Jaguar65
Back
Top