When inflatable dinghies came along 40 years ago cruising powerboats quickly adopted them – then discovered that there was no good place to carry them. Unless you had a large motoryacht or convertible, you had to stick them on the stern somehow, somewhere, as in the photos above. But none of those solutions are ideal because they are all in the way of boarding, ugly, and unhandy. Med mooring with them is nearly impossible.

Note the 5260 is sans dinghy…or is it? Note how clean, easy to access and attractive this stern appears.

We should hasten to point out that Regal was far from the first builder to solve the problem of the unsightly, in-your-face dinghy. No, boats with garages in their transom or stern were first introduced in recreational boats in Europe 15 years ago or more. And it is fitting that the Italians should solve this problem first, because when med mooring, one needs unobstructed access to the stern platform.

Tucked away under those two beautiful bodies is the 5260’s garage…made for a dinghy.

While American builders started adopting “Euro” lines in the mid 1980s, they didn’t incorporate the concept of a garage because, we guess, they didn’t have to, nor did they have much room. Large motoryachts and convertibles simply installed davits aboard and put them on the aft section of the flying bridge or on the foredeck. But now that a dozen or more U.S. companies are building large express cruisers, and finding eager customers in Europe, it is little wonder that Regal has been the first American express boat builder to utilize the concept.

To find out how well the Regal system works, we sent BoatTEST.com’s Christopher Hughes, to take a video look…

An electric lift raises the garage, out slips the tracks and in no time flat you can launch your 9’ inflatable.

Watch our video demo of the “Regal Solution to Stern Pollution”…

See test and videos of Regal boats...