Gear test

D

inghies are in their

element on the

water – but drag

one ashore, and

you’ll soon fi nd it’s

as manoeuvrable as a brick.

Ideally, you want some sort of

amphibious craft – but unless

you plan to head down the

aquacar route, here’s where a

set of wheels comes in handy.

Dinghies come in all shapes and

sizes. If you’ve got a dedicated

launching trolley, that will make

life much easier, but fl ip-down

wheels mounted on the transom

have advantages: there’s no

messing around with trolleys,

you can move the dinghy

single-handed, and you can take

them with you wherever you go.

We rounded up fi ve options that

are readily available from the

chandlery shelves, bolted them to

the back of a Zodiac Zoom 2.6m

dinghy, and put them to the test.

Waveline dinghy

wheels

PRICE: £66.99

AVAILABLE FROM £54.95

Max load: 125kg

Contact: http://www.force4.co.uk

This set of wheels is made from a lightweight fi bre/nylon mix with
stainless steel springs and fi xings, and has three positions – locked
down, at 90° (good for manoeuvring a dinghy standing on its transom),
and locked up for when afl oat. They are well made and trundled our
dinghy around well. They coped admirably with concrete and hard
sand, but were harder work on gravel, soft sand and shingle,
as their small size might suggest.

Dinghy dolly

wheels

PRICE: £89.45

AVAILABLE FROM £59.95

Max load: 200kg

Contact: http://www.force4.co.uk

A similar design to the Waveline dinghy wheels, although from a different

mould and with thicker ‘arms’, these dinghy dolly wheels can take up to

200kg. They also have three positions, allowing you to lock the wheels

up, down or in an intermediate position. In their up position, they sit

tucked into the transom. Like the similar Waveline wheels, they

coped well with hard surfaces but struggled

somewhat with gravel.

Dinghy wheels on test

5

sets of

dinghy

wheels

Moving your dinghy around when

ashore can be a drag, so Ben

Meakins tests a variety of fl ip-down

dinghy wheels and alternatives to

fi nd out which are best suited to

different types of terrain

These wheels coped well

with most surfaces.

INSET They can be locked

in three positions

Similar to the Waveline

wheels, these are compact.

INSET When folded, they

tuck up neatly to the transom