Martek Davits

The Martek davits

The dinghy is very convenient. You still have to find a way to carry it on the stern of the sailboat without turning the stern rail into a headache.

For Éolo, we first looked into having a custom davit made. That was probably the ideal solution, but the manufacturing lead times were far too long for our project.

We then looked at standard systems. The problem: you had to provide the boat’s precise measurements so the system could be made to our dimensions. Even if the specifications seemed to fit, we weren’t very comfortable with the idea of having to be certain of all our measurements and cross our fingers at installation time.

We finally chose a Martek system with two independent arms. Rather than having a fixed davit, each arm can be positioned independently, which allows us to adapt it to our stern rail and to our dinghy.

On paper it was simple. In practice, the installation involved a few rather creative contortion sessions. We also had to reinforce the stern rail so it could adequately bear the load. In short, it’s not the “five minutes and you’re done” installation.

But once installed, it works perfectly.

The two arms let us position the dinghy exactly where we want it and, above all, at a height that suits us. The system is sturdy, practical and, for our configuration, it does exactly what we were looking for.

After spending so much time installing it, we’re especially happy not to have to think about it every time we raise or lower the dinghy!

*This article is not sponsored. It simply reflects our experience and opinion after installing and using the Martek davits aboard Éolo.