Welcome to Nestaway Boats. We make sectional nesting dinghies and boats that are designed to stow away conveniently, assemble quickly, and row beautifully - with the option to motor or sail. A "nesting dinghy" is just like a normal boat, but made in two or more detachable sections that fit inside each other for easier storage and transport. This means they will fit where other boats don't: on the deck of your yacht; in the corner of your garage, shed or beach hut; or even (some models) in the back of a large estate car. Once assembled and in the water they feel much more solid, responsive, and generally "boat-like" than our obvious rivals: folding and inflatable dinghies. We have four designs, with prices starting from £950.

This is our popular two-part nesting pram dinghy, most often sold as a yacht tender, available with a wood (above), glassfibre (right), or lightweight carbon fibre/Kevlar hull.  Assembly is simple: hook the bow section onto the stern, and twist the three connecting bolts into threaded plates. (It takes less than a minute and can be done singlehanded.) The Pram Dinghy is stable, dry, easy to row, and takes up to three adults. There are two sailing rig options, both boomless (nothing to hit your head on!). She can of course be fitted with a small petrol or electric outboard - the bracket is offset to port so you can keep the rudder on. Click here (Pram Dinghy) for more info.

Shown above is our 14ft TRIO multi-purpose-boat, which splits into three nesting sections that will fit in the back of many estate cars from the Ford Focus and VW Golf upwards - no trailer or roofrack required. She can be sailed, rowed or motored and takes up to three adults, or two and two kids for a day out on the river. The high length to beam ratio makes her an efficient rowing boat - especially with optional outriggers and longer oars - and fast under power, achieving speeds of 11-12knots with a 3.5hp motor. The hull can built in carbon fibre, weighing just 44kg. Click here (14ft Trio) for more information.

And shown above is our 7'10" stem dinghy (nested). This one has a stowed footprint of just 4ft square. She has a very elegant shape and rows superbly, going along at hull speed with surprisingly little effort. If you haven't tried rowing this sort of dinghy it will be a revelation; in fact you'll start wondering why you'd need an outboard at all - for most journeys you'd probably find the row ashore would take less time than fitting the engine! The two sections can be hooked together and the bolts done up in less than a minute. Everyone who sees it loves the look of this boat: it's not as stable or capacious as the Pram or Trio but as a 1-2 person dinghy for a small yacht it's perfect... and on larger yachts it would make a brilliant second tender for when the crew have different shoregoing requirements. It can stand upright too: in the back of a camper van perhaps, or even on the bathing platform of a motor cruiser. Click here (Stem Dinghy) for more information.

What's wrong with inflatables?
The most obvious problem is that they are the shape you can make from blowing air into a rubber tube. This is very different from the shape that is most suitable (and energy efficient) for rowing and sailing. Added to that, the tubes flex as you row, absorbing half your effort - like soft suspension in a car - so you virtually have to use them with an outboard. And of course they take ages to blow up, are vulnerable to damage (some people call them "deflatables"!) and theft (particularly because they usually have expensive motors on the back), and not very pretty. The smaller, lighter ones (ie those that are easier to handle and roll up) are not as stable as you might think either - and the "round tail" versions are not what we'd call brilliant with an engine. Click here (What's Wrong With Inflatables?) for more pictures and information.

In contrast, a Nestaway nesting, sectional or takeapart dinghy:
- ROWS WITH SUCH EASE that most of the time you just won't bother with an outboard. Rowing is good for you, and the environment... but if you do put a small engine on the transom, for longer journeys perhaps, the easily driven hull will go faster and further on the same amount of fuel.
- ASSEMBLES QUICKLY & EASILY, with the only loose components being the (easy to replace) bolts. Contrast this with blowing up an inflatable or assembling a folding boat...
- TOWS LIKE A DREAM when you can't be bothered to bring it up on deck
- SAILS with the optional rig... perfect for exploring that idyllic anchorage
- LOOKS STUNNING, far more "boaty" than a floppy inflatable or a boxy folding boat. You will feel proud at the dinghy dock, and probably be inundated with questions about your beautiful tender (please tell them where you got it!)
- STOWS IN A SMALLER SPACE than any same-size hard dinghy, and not much more than a deflated inflatable with a hard floor.

How did it all start?
We lived on board our yacht in the Caribbean for two years - the dinghy was equivalent to a car. It was used, hard, every day: carrying water, going to the shops, going to the bar, visiting other yachts, setting anchors, going snorkelling... and during that time we got through three inflatables. The first simply wore out and disintegrated in the sun. The second was stolen when it was very new (in many parts of the world an inflatable is like hard currency). And the third survived but is heavily patched. At one point we drowned our outboard and had to row our inflatable until we could find a replacement. It was hard work and far from pleasant, especially as we watched half our rowing energy being absorbed by the flexing of the rubber tubes.

"There must be a better solution", we thought - and that's when we started considering sectional nesting dinghies. We saw the odd one, and found plans for DIY building, but that nobody actually made them to buy. That's why we do!

There's lots more information on the other pages of this site, or contact us now:

By email - mail@nestawayboats.com or if you get a "bounceback" (we are boat builders not IT consultants!) nestawayboats@yahoo.com

By phone - 01202 423094 (sometimes on answerphone) or 07768 600595 (direct to Ian Thomson, our managing director)

Nestaway Boats is a limited company, established 2007.