Sea Eagle 10.6 SR
A tough tender that performs well and rescued the editors—from one another.
$1,649; www.seaeagle.com
A rugged, easy-to-use, inflatable dinghy is no longer a luxury for cruisers, it’s a necessity. That’s what my fellow editors and I quickly realized when prepping for a five-day cruise in the Keys aboard our Grand Banks 42 project boat, Arawak.
The very thought of sitting, stranded in the saloon, staring at your coworkers in some obscure, insect-infested swamp beside the Okeechobee Waterway sent us scrambling to secure a tender from a trustworthy company. Enter the new Sea Eagle 10.6 Sport Runabout, code-named: S.S. Sanity.
Besides offering an escape from one another, should we need it (and we did), there were a lot of features to like about the 10.6, starting with its construction. Sea Eagle uses a technique called “High Frequency Welded Seams,” which provides confidence underfoot when fully loaded.
What also attracted us to the 10.6 was its lightweight, easily stowable footprint. Rolled up, the dinghy measures 46 inches x 24 inch x 10 inch and weighs in at around 90 pounds; not too shabby for a 10.6-foot boat that easily fits five adults. From the box to fully inflated took us about 20 minutes the first time through, but after a couple practice rounds, we were able to get the raft water-ready in about half that time.
There are two options for flooring in the 10.6: wood paneling or an inflatable air deck. The air-deck we tested was extremely comfortable underfoot, and with the bench seat taken out, doubled as a comfy sunpad.
The maximum advised engine rating for this model is 15 horsepower. Now I know what you’re thinking: Horsepower rules were made to be broken, right? Well, when you consider that a 10-horsepower outboard (not included) on the 10.6 brings you to speeds near 18 knots with two adults, you’ll realize that rating is well advised.
This article originally appeared in the October 2016 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
