inflatable tender

I'm also looking at suggestions for an inflatable to fit on the foredeck of a Contessa 26. My experience with inflatables has been that the airdeck style are lighter than a boat with floor boards. I found about 75 lbs was about all I wanted to deal with. I've had good luck with Mercury inflatables. I bought new boats that were 3 years old for a large discount off the list.
The problem I found is water collects under the inflated floor and it becomes very heavy. The only way to empty it is to go ashore and roll it upside down.
I'll watch this thread !
good luck, Bob

This probably depends on your jib as well.

We have an 7' inflatable, and, well, it's a pain in the arse.  We almost never tow it because it costs us 1+ knots of speed.  We deflate on every trip, fold it, put it in its PVC carry case and then it has a spot on the cabin floor where it is terribly in the way.

We probably could lash it to the fore deck, but the visibility obstruction is annoying and it would foul our larger genoa's as we tack.  I prefer to have a clean fore deck on the boat mostly for the ability to tack cleanly.  I can't imagine how much worse it would be if you had an inflated one up there... yikes.

If you do, like we did, and deflate it every time you haul anchor, then also be prepared for the circus shenanigans of inflating a 7' dinghy in a 6' cockpit.  If you do it poorly, it's entertainment for the onlookers, if you do it well you'll get some amazed nods and thumbs up... practice first or have some fun.

Always remember (I tell myself thisall the time!) that the Contessa is a scale model of a real boat -- she is easy to overload and gear like a heavy boat on davits rarely fits properly.

Here is a question -- were you planning to carry an outboard for the inflatable?  If so, it might have more power than the 6.5hp diesel in my boat!

If not planning on a separate motor then what about an inflatable canoe?  Relatively inexpensive, easier to propel and takes up less space on deck.

I would not attempt to put it outboard, high and aft... that has a number of problems to it.  Keeping the weight central and low is much better.

By the time you have davits, tackle and the boat suspending, you are really leveraging a lot of weight back there.  Think of it like a teeter-totter...
(Also, if you have a few adults in the cockpit, I'd be curious to see how far out of the water your cockpit drains are once you add that weight back there.)