After a long delivery time – plus an additional one month “delay” from the UAE distributor
– our new Mercury Dynamic RIB 250 (Sold as Mercury Dynamic RIB 260 in the USA) – finally arrived.
One can say it is well packaged. The the local Mercury distributor decided to deliver it to me in the international shipping crate – with only one driver accompanying it.
With the crate I think the weight was above 100 kg – since it broke my little dolly certified for 140 kg.
The Mercury Dynamic RIB 250/260 is a inflatable dinghy with fibreglass bottom and rear end. So no wooden plates or air filled keel. It is about the same weight as other Dinghy’s the same size – but with fibreglass bottom we should have better performance and more precise steering. We also got the Hypalon version – which is better suited for tropical climates. Hypalon is made by Dupont and should last a lot longer than PVC. It is more resistant to
chemicals, extreme temperatures and UV light.
In the USA Mercury gives 10 years warranty on Hypalon boats (limited) – but PVC boats only get 5 years warranty.
What the warranty is on my boat is kind of unknown – as Mercury EMEA lists anything from 2 – 5 years dependent on where you read. But the 2014 EMEA brochure says 5 years – so I am hopeful..
Mercury Dynamic RIB 250 / 260 un-boxing
Once we got the RIB out of the shipping crate – it was still very well protected. Some foam sheets, a few layers of bubble wrap and an outer skin of cling-wrap film protected it from shipping abuse.
Once the shipping skin was removed it revealed a “pouch” where the de-inflated boat was inside. The pouch opens with a couple of zips and inside was another couple of plastic bags surrounding the RIB.
The initial inspection was reasonable. But a few very disappointing issues. There was a few “big-ish” scratches in the Hypalon – and that was not from shipping – so must have been from packaging or manufacturing.
On top of that there is quite a few places where the glue gun has “slipped” or “dripped”. So there are glue-spots in a lot of places. That is very disappointing on such a high price dinghy. I would have expected “perfect” out of the box.
Dinghy Inflation
The Mercury Dinghy has quite specific inflation procedures. They are there to insure that you don’t over-inflate one part to damage
other parts. So part 1 is to check the 3 inlet valves. They are supposed to ship in “closed” position. So if you pump it air – it won’t leak straight out again via the valve.
But on my delivery they was delivered in “Open” position. So first step was to close the valves.
Then to inflate it – you can use the supplied pump. The pump is actually very efficient and you can inflate the boat in about 10 minutes.
But you need to pump each of the 3 chambers in 25% increments. That is to ensure you are not over-inflating one chamber and thereby damaging the other chambers. But it does make you move the pump hose 12 times before the dinghy is inflated.
Just remember to attach the seat before the dinghy is inflated. The expansion of the side chambers is what holds the fibreglass seat in place. The oars attach to a glued-on holder with thumb-screws. It keeps the oars attached and they are easy to lock in place with the “holder” at the stern. It does make the oars slightly in-flexible while rowing and takes some getting used to. Once everything is attached – and inflated – the boat is ready for launch.
Mercury Dynamic RIB 250 / 260 Hypalon Pro’s
- Low weight for Fibreglass bottom dinghy – even with Hypalon
- Super features like well placed handles and the attachable oars
- Perfect size match for our 2008 SeaRay 310 Sundancer
Mercury Dynamic RIB 250 / 260 Hypalon Con’s
- Assembly Quality is good – but scratches and lots of glue drops takes the joy down a bit.
- 12 step inflation “program”
- Specifications are all over the place on European and US websites
- Warranty info is all over the place on European websites.
Link to Mercury USA Dynamic 260 RIB page
Link to Mercury Europe Dynamic 250 RIB page
Check back later for updates… Still considering which Dinghy Davit system to use…
Three years later what is your feeling on the dink?
Hi Carrie,
I do not have the dink any longer but it is a good dink but let down by messy gluing from the factory. I do not think they are better or worse than most – but they are not 5 star IMHO