Dinghy Davits for Swim Platform

[kenyoung]

I'm looking for feedback on the choice between Forespar and Weaver quick release dinghy davits for attaching an inflatable to a swim platform. The two appear to be very similar in design and operation. At Defender, Forespar is a bit less expensive. Pros and cons? Thanks.

[Pitou]

I'll start off with that I might be biased as I currently have the Weaver Removable Snap Davits and had them on my prior boat as well.

The "Quick Davit" by Forespar is pretty new to their lineup. In the past they concentrated on crane type hoisting davit systems and not the swim platform type which with Weaver that is their claim to fame and the longtime industry go to.

Forespar is the maker of Marelon fittings so it makes sense for them to incorporate that technology into their copycat davits of Weaver so that their "Quik Davits" aren't a complete knockoffs.

Just by looking at the Forespar website photos, I'm not sure that I care for the way the yokes are secured with cotter pins and not a bolt or clevis pin, but I do like the idea of being able to easily remove their yoke from the dinghy pad. The Yokes on the Forespar also insert upward into the dinghy pad instead of downward like the Weaver Yokes. They claim their adequate for 175 ibs. in weight and 11 ft. of boat length. Weaver states a limitation of 150 lbs.
The force of the carrying weight on to the Forespar yokes just doesn't seem to make sense to me as the Weaver assembly appears stronger.

Forespar includes the adhesive in their kit and Weaver it's additional.

Here are some pictures that I grabbed from their respective websites:

Forespar Quik Davit.png

Weaver Pads . Yoke.jpg

Quik Davit Installed.jpg

Weaver Davits . Boat.Platform.jpg

[DesertAlbin736]

We had Weaver snap davits on our swim platform along with a hard shell dink inherited from previous owners. I liked them, but in my case the Albin 25 has a very narrow stern, so the 8 ft dinghy overhung the stern by about a foot on each end and rode down low to the water. To make a long story short we were up on the Sunshine Coast of BC in 2016 & got out in some rough water when a wave caught the dinghy and ripped it loose, tearing out the aft latch and a chunk of the gunnels. You would obviously not have that problem with the wide stern on a 28 TE. Being able to drop the dinghy down while still having it attached is very handy for boarding. I've since switched to Garhauer lift davits. We lost that previous dinghy during the accident and replaced it with a Gig Harbor Boatworks Nisqually 8. Can't pass any judgement about Forespar vs Weaver, but we liked the weaver davits except for the obvious problem of overhang down close to the water line.

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[kenyoung]

Thanks for your replies. I hadn't noticed as Kevin pointed out that the yokes on Forespar and Weaver differ in the way that the snap davit yokes are attached. Two things stand out to me. One is the relative complexity of the Froespar pad with what appears to be a built in handle and the up from the bottom versus down from the top orientation. While no engineer, the Weaver down from the top orientation does seem to make more sense. At Defender, Weaver is about $35 more not including tax and shipping.

I also noticed the individual Weaver parts on Ebay at considerable savings while attuned to the various origins and mainly used condition. I might go that route and buy the glue from Defender.

[DesertAlbin736]

With Weaver davits there is a difference between the way ones are designed for hard shell dinghies vs the ones for inflatable. For hard shell dinks the hook (the part you pull to release) is attached to the dinghy, and the loop bar (for want of a better term) is attached to the swim platform. For inflatables it's just the opposite.