Dave, In your search for the UD you have already realized the basic fact it's all going to boil down to compromise. The only issue I have with your process is I haven't see a priority value assigned to the requirements. For me it was very, very simple: a. Light, less than 200lbs if possible b. Stable c. Reliable For me an AB 10.5' RIB with 15HP Yamaha 2 stroke was the solution. A. Boat and Motor are less than 200lbs, gets close to 200 when it's loaded with fuel and spare parts B. Very hard to flip a RIB, can stand on the tubes with minimal submerging of the side. I'm heavy and this was a big concern. C. Yamaha is the defacto world wide leader in OB motors. Every fishing village and resort in Mexico and C.A. has a plethora of Yamaha 2 stroke motors running around. A 2 stroke also has the advantage of ease of repair. You can get parts anywhere. There are still dealers with brand new 15hp units on shelves, or you can do like me and find a used one in tip top shape. 4 stroke motors are heavy, complex, can be hard to start and you will likely have one heck of a time finding parts in remote locations. Finally, I haven't seen you discuss cost much. Given an unlimited budget you could have a composite dingy built that met all your needs, but I suspect it would cost a fortune. At the end of the day if you stay in the mainstream box your going to have a solution that meets 90% of your want to haves but 100% of your MUST haves. Some hints on things I did that were based on advice from this list: a. I equipped the boat with two sources of fuel, a 6 gallon main tank and a 3 gallon reserve. This way I was certain I had a known good backup source of fuel. b. I waited till I got to San Diego to put wheels on the tender, because I figured I'd find the best solutions there. Sure enough I found the Dingy Dr. on Shelter Island and he had the best wheels I've ever seen. They are simple, robust, and easy to deploy and remove from the boat. c. I used Weaver Chocks and stored the boat as low down on the boat deck as I could. I've seen installations where the tender is a foot or two up in the air and that seems like trouble to me. The loads and moments of those stands working on the boat deck, not to mention raising the weight up higher seem to be a questionable value for the convenience of being able to clean under the tender. And really finally, the best single idea I came across in my trip was hearing about a guy that modified the air chamber in the bottom of the AB RIB to turn it from a floatation chamber to a fuel tank. He drilled a fill hole, mounted a deck plate, installed a vent and fuel pick up tube and ended up with a fantastic solution. I forget how many gallons of fuel he could get in there, but it was substantial. Good luck making your way through all these choices, my advice, Keep it Simple! Scott E. Bulger, Alanui, N40II, Seattle WA