2004 Avon 400 SeaSport      When folks think about dinghy's, many think about a basic, small inflatable. Something that will get them from their boat to shore and back again. But manufacturers are developing products that are bigger, safer and more sophisticated than ever before and this week on Power Profiles we take a look at the Avon Seasport 400 Deluxe.  It's the second largest rigid hull inflatable that Avon makes in their Seasport line.      It is a large dingy with an overall length of 13 feet four inches and a beam of six foot on, and has a capacity for carrying five people with a maximum rating for a 50 horsepower engine. Aboard I found tons of storage, under the bow seat, the forward facing seat, the helm itself and even under the stern seat. It's the little touches like the disappearing flush mounted cleats and cup holders

placed right where you'd want them that make it clear that the designers at Avon spent some time in thinking it all out. There is even a little folding seat off the helm.
     Now everybody has navigational lights but on this boat the red and green lights are moulded right into the hull and the anchor white light appears and disappears at the touch of a button. The starboard side helm is clean and uncluttered with white on white gauges and toggle switches centered around a sport-styled steering wheel. On this test boat there were a few other add-on goodies like a GPS and fish finder.
     The throttle control is mounted above the gunwale giving this boat a real sporty feel, and as expected it comes complete with thumb operated electric trim that should make beaching a breeze.
     Cruising our test boat around the marina I found the wake pattern virtually non-existent for a boat weighing in at just over 1,000 pounds.
     Out on a perfectly calm Georgian bay it was time for our tests. We recorded a hole shot time to plane of 2.3 seconds. Now that's fast!
     Avon has been hand building inflatable boats for over 40 years, from their head offices in South Wales over 200,000 boats have gone out to customers that range from the world's great navies and cruise companies to everyday boaters like you and I.
     It is the add-on accessories that really round out this Avon Seasport 400 Deluxe package. The Mercury Smart Craft provided us with plenty of information that included speed, a digital read out of engine rpm, amount of fuel being used in gallons per hour, oil pressure, temperature, voltage and the total amount of fuel used. Underway, I found the Seasport cruised at a comfortable and economical speed of just over 14 miles per hour at 3,000 rpm.
     This is the kind of dignified pace that can get you easily from your boat to shore or just going from boat to boat. Pushing the throttle down a little further I hit 24 miles an hour at 4,000 rpm. Over 32mph at 5,000 and saw a top speed of just a smidge under 40 at wide open throttle delivering an rpm of 5800. From the smile that appeared on my face it should have been evident that this was a fun little boat to drive.
      It's quick to plane and very responsive in the turns. The steering is tight and despite being low to the water, even throwing the boat around at faster speed, my ride was a dry one. With calm water conditions we didn't have a chance to test the sea-keeping capabilities of this little boat but the Seasport 400 easily handled what wake we could create from our camera boat. And even at top speed it always gave me a feeling of being in complete control.
      When Avon named their Seasport line of inflatable boats deluxe, they certainly weren't kidding. The basic boat is quite complete but when you add on all the additional accessories it truly makes getting from your boat to shore a deluxe experience.

* taken from a transcript of our Power Profile on PowerBoat TV 2004 Episode 3 - Order a Copy of the Show