Looking to buy a Bombard DB 600 or Zodiac Pro 15 man

Rogan · 21 January 2006, 21:30

I've noticed that the Bombard is about 400 pounds lighter than the Zodiac 15 man yet they are almost the same size. Both are around 20 feet. What is the reason for this weight difference? The Bombard 600 can take up to 120hp engine weighing 416 pounds and the Zodiac can take a 150hp. The Zodiac is also about 5000 dollars more. Can the Zodiac take more of a beating than the Bombard or is the Bombard just a much simpler boat. Does anyone have any experience with the Bombard DB 600?

any advice would be great.

Rogan

xpertski · 21 January 2006, 21:55

hello, i personnally think that zodiacs are better than bombards, although i think they are owned by the same company, and have very similar features, the zodiacs are nicely built, and i assume the main reason for a weight difference is the heavier/sturdier build of the zodiac over the bombard. its the pro 16 man you are talking about? which is 6m long! i had a pro 3 9 man, nice boat, but whichever you go for, make sure you get the balance of the boat right, so place console further forward, and dont go for too heavy a motor, even if the hp is in the range, as i found with the 9 man that it had a tendancy to porpoise quite a bit before settling onto the plane! good boats though, but i would say definately leisure orientated, mediteranean style of hull. if you have anything else to ask shoot, ill try give my limited advice, jonathan

codprawn · 21 January 2006, 22:31

If my memory serves me right the Zodiacs use Hypalon tubes which tend to last longer/easier to repair.

Why are you looking at these in particular? I know RIBs are pretty rare in the US but there are others to choose from.

Have a look at Ribcraft

http://www.ribcraftusa.com/ribadvantage.htm

http://www.ribcraft.co.uk/index.html

They are originally a British company and have a pretty good name!!!

There are a few people on here with them - including some from your side of the pond!!!

http://www.rib.net/forum/showthread....light=ribcraft

xpertski · 21 January 2006, 22:56

im not sure, i think my tubes on the pro 9 man zodiac were pvc, not hypalon, i think bombard are the same, and the other company owned by the same, avon, uses the hypalon.........i would agree with codprawn though that other ribs may be better suited! the ones he suggested are good ones, although i appreciate the choice of ribs in the US may not be the same as over here! its a shame you dont have a humber outlet over there

Rogan · 21 January 2006, 22:57

I was looking at Ribcraft when I first started thinking about a new boat but they seem to be more expensive than Zodiac and Bombard in this size category. We really only have 20000 dollars to work with. We also want a very simple boat. A standing console and thats it. I was looking at that Ribcraft 5.85 for sale with a Yamaha 115 for about 27000. A great boat but too expensive for us. Last summer we took our current boat from Chicago to the Gulf of Mexico by river and throughly enjoyed it. Next summer we want to go from Chicago to New York through the Great Lakes. Hence we need something around 20ft with a medium sized 4 stroke. The Bombard DB 600 open is aroung 10000 leaving us 6 or seven thousnd for engine.

Rogan · 21 January 2006, 23:02

Responding to Xpertski:

It is a shame there isn't a Humber outlet over here!!! I sent some emails over to Humber asking about getting an Assault here in the States and they didn't even respond! You have no idea how hard it is to get information on RIB's here in Chicago. People think you are talking about food. I went to the Chicago Boat Show last weekend held in the biggest conference center in the country and you know how many RIB's they had. NONE

xpertski · 21 January 2006, 23:06

if its a direct choice between the bombard and the zodiac, it owuld be my choice to go for the zodiac, i prefer the looks, the heavier build, i think its much better than the bombard (although they are extremely similar) i guess the best thing would be to trial both boats if possible because the difference in performance may not warrant an extra 5000 dollars. either way you wont be dissappointed in the rib! as i said before, make sure you get the balance right with both boats as they havent got the best hulls around, so may be stuborn on speedily getting onto the plain, but should be ifne with the correct weight distribution!

xpertski · 21 January 2006, 23:09

thats not good at all, i guess they dont know what they are missing with ribs!!! i would try contact humber again, maybe by phone, because their boats are excellent, and cheaper than allot of other alternatives, and yet often have far superior qualities, seek a destroyer if you can, may fit the bill nicely, and then maybe the costs of shipping may not make so much of a difference in price between the humber from over here and buying the zodiac from the US

codprawn · 22 January 2006, 02:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by xpertski

thats not good at all, i guess they dont know what they are missing with ribs!!! i would try contact humber again, maybe by phone, because their boats are excellent, and cheaper than allot of other alternatives, and yet often have far superior qualities, seek a destroyer if you can, may fit the bill nicely, and then maybe the costs of shipping may not make so much of a difference in price between the humber from over here and buying the zodiac from the US

Problem is the $ is pretty weak against the £ these days!!!

Having said that worth a try - shipping costs are pretty reasonable for containers because of the sheer volume of traffic.

Rogan · 22 January 2006, 02:53

Got any idea how much those shipping costs might be?

David Lawn · 22 January 2006, 03:27

I went through the same selection process about a year and a half ago. Looked at both Ribcraft and Humber as an import. Settled on the Zodiac Pro 16 man mostly because of price and availability here in US. It is PVC not Hypalon, but one advantage is easily removable and replaceable tubes. I am very pleased with the boat. I run it out of the Cape Fear, Wilmington area of North Carolina. It has a pretty deep V and handles the open ocean and shallow inlet crossings wonderfully. I spent about 12k on the hull and by the time I fitted with 115 hp optimax, stand up console, leaning bolster, tank, instruments, seating for 6, I ended up at about 23K. I did all the fitting myself though. Couldnt figure out how to send pictures on post but if youd like a couple emailed would be happy. David.

Rogan · 22 January 2006, 03:54

Pictures would be great. How long is the 16 man? Also who fitted the engine for you?

Good to hear of someone else in the States having gone through the same selection ordeal.

CAH · 22 January 2006, 04:22

PVC, has the glueing technique changed for this material. I have owned a few Zodiacs and the only one that gave trouble was the PVC boat. After 10 years the seams separated on both sides of the boat. I fixed one side and the next month the other side separated. I was lucky for the seams blew apart on the trailer and not on the water. The PVC boat was kept indoors and cleaned after every use and still fell apart. My opinion - I would never again own a PVC boat.

David Lawn · 22 January 2006, 13:12

I will try to post a cople images if they don't work send me your email address and ill send them that way, sorry. the boat is 19' 8" and I had Eds Marine in Virgina mount the engine (they had good prices and large selection and they are priced on the web).

xpertski · 22 January 2006, 13:23

nice pictures! i would say you would be very happy with a zodiac 16 man, build qualty is very good, and as mentioned you can send just the tubes away for replacement or repairs instead of whole boat if they need it! that said however the reason i suggested humber is that they are very good value and have offshore in mind with their hulls so would have all the capability should you require it, that said the zodiac is a good boat and will handle a fair amount of chop! im not sure where to get details of import prices, maybe someone else knows...

Rogan · 22 January 2006, 13:43

David your boat looks fantastic. You got all of that for 23K? All we need is a stand up console. I wonder if we could make it work for 20K. My brother and I are knowen to be very rough on our boats. We take care of them but push it as far as we can in bad weather. We cracked the transon on our current boat. Zodiac said in 30 years they haven't seen that happen on thier Mark2 line if boats. For this boat I wonder if getting a smaller lighter engine will increase the life span of the transom? Also we have the intention of boating through all the great lakes to New York and won't have the choice of ducking out of bad weather at will. I am pretty sure the Zodiac could handle that though. I hope.

Rogan · 22 January 2006, 15:10

David, how has that Mercury been running for you? We ran into problems with our Nissan on the way to the Gulf of Mexico. After calling every marina in our Quimbys river guide no one would even look at it. We finally had to fix it ourselves. I would not like to repeat that again. Also, I've been looking online and can only find Pro 12 man, 15, and 20. Was the Pro 16 man a previous model?

codprawn · 22 January 2006, 16:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogan

David your boat looks fantastic. You got all of that for 23K? All we need is a stand up console. I wonder if we could make it work for 20K. My brother and I are knowen to be very rough on our boats. We take care of them but push it as far as we can in bad weather. We cracked the transon on our current boat. Zodiac said in 30 years they haven't seen that happen on thier Mark2 line if boats. For this boat I wonder if getting a smaller lighter engine will increase the life span of the transom? Also we have the intention of boating through all the great lakes to New York and won't have the choice of ducking out of bad weather at will. I am pretty sure the Zodiac could handle that though. I hope.

If you drive like that you would LOVE a British boat - they are built to take anything you throw at them!!! Flights are cheap enough these days - pop over here - get a used bargain and then ship it back!!!

Having said that a NEW boat without an engine could be the best bet - outboards are FAR cheaper in the US!!!

Try emailing some of the smaller British builders.

David Lawn · 23 January 2006, 00:53

Rogan, Tell me more about coffee as your occupation? Just curious, my wife and I have a coffee shop, hotspot/business center here in Carolina Beach. I got on the zodiac web site and your right, the 16 man is not there any more. It was last year but their USA web site had not been changed in forever. Looks like the 15 man is even longer than mine, and is rated for more hp. Mine was rated for 120 hp. I paid under 12k for my hull new from a supplier in Oriental NC. It was shipped in a big box, biggest they had ever ordered. The engine was around 7 or 8k as I recall. console locally made about 400, 800 for a custom fab of the leaning post, a couple hundred a pop for the seats, then all the misc. bits like steering, throttles, cables, tank (I put an aluminum 30 gal under the front of the console.) I guess it may be very tight to come in under 20k if the hull has gone up much. Regarding the merc. It is an 2004 Optimax Saltwater model. It has run fine for me. I did have it serviced at the year aniversary and I only have a few hundred hours on it. The transom on the zodiac seems tough enough, and I actually have my leaning post braced off the transom so I can tow off the arangement. I love the stand up config as I run mine reasonably hard and like the shock absorber effect of the legs. If you decide on the zodiac I can fill you in on console dimensions, routing below deck of cables, etc. David.

Rogan · 23 January 2006, 02:12

Hey David, thanks for the response. As for the Coffee I work for this company Vicious Circle on the Southside of Chicago. We are opening stores along the Metra train tracks that run through Hyde Park where the University of Chicago is. We have opened our first store named Istria under the tracks on 57th street. We offer very high quality coffee, bar drinks, Panini, gelato, and organic sandwiches. We push the handcrafted beverage. Using manual Italian espresso machines and intense training. Every latte is required to have "latte art" as a part of the beverage. If you can make rosettas you have made a proper beverage. The water is really important though! We remove everything and then basically add what we need for proper espresso and drip coffee. Reverse osmosis is expensive but a few days ago the system went down and it was blatantly obvious that the espresso started tasting slightly bitter(to me anyways). Our coffee roaster is Intelligensia who is local and you won't ever find beans more than a few days old in our store. Check em out at http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/
Thanks for the info on your boat. I am looking into various options right now but it looks like we'll be going with Zodiac. Though I am sure I'll have many more questions to ask you soon.