Why haven't the Americans gone RIB mad? - Page 4

pathalla · 23 October 2006, 14:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

You are SO right - along with our Commonwealth allies of course!!!

You are correct Sir! I did not mean to neglect the contributions or sacrifices made by our allies, no less important, and certainly not forgotten, Canada, Australia, Russia, China and others, In fact, if I start to expound on it, this could turn into a quite long post...

prairie tuber · 23 October 2006, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

along with our Commonwealth allies of course!!!

Damn straight.

Stoo · 25 October 2006, 04:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by pathalla

And that does not consider the multitude of smaller inland lakes Canada abounds with, you guys definitely win the prize for the most, no doubt!

These are our mosquito-breeding areas. We're going to start to export them to solve the problem of world hunger. Some of them are the size of cormorants!

laner · 29 October 2006, 03:43

At least in the Chesapeake region, the real reason everyone isn't mad for ribs has a lot to do with the number of used, cheap glass boats available. It seems like there's a fiberglass boat in everyone's back yard. Ribs are tougher to find, and generally much more expensive. Most ribs in Annapolis are on the stern of a sailboat or a sportfishing boat. As long as Brunswick keeps pumping out cheap chop-hull boats, I'm not sure Ribs will catch on. Wiith that said however, I'm looking forward to running my Ambar diesel/jet across the flats on the eastern bay next spring. That's providing I can get the turbo rebuilt in my Yanmar. ARGHHH!!! Cheers

Lane

603doug · 28 November 2006, 01:42

I have been diving for 25 years and always drool when I see a rib. Bought my 18 footer this fall off Pat Dempsey (grey's anatomy, he is from ME) The only large ribs I have seen is the coast guard and our marine patrol in the waters here.

Jklingel · 28 November 2006, 07:25

Informative thread. I think RHIBS have not caught on in the US for a variety of reasons, all of which have been mentioned. Not yet, anyway, but they are appearing more and more, and when more people see what they can do (allegedly) the fire will start. BTW: A place on the West Coast is negotiating w/ Ribcraft USA (Marblehead, Mass) about being a dealer for them. That puts Ribcraft, Polaris, Safeboats, and NW Marine all in that general area. (Others?) Good start. BTW: I am in Fairbanks, far from anything, yet near nothing. Can't wait for it to thaw out again.... in the meantime, I'll have to read about y'alls adventures. later. j

Stoo · 28 November 2006, 21:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jklingel

That puts Ribcraft, Polaris, Safeboats, and NW Marine all in that general area. (Others?)

Hurricane is right there as well. They don't really seem to be interested in the consumer market though. There are off-the-shelf RIBs available from Zodiac already.

I toured their plant about 10 years ago and the boats really are pretty much made by hand which is tremendously expensive I suppose... As I recall, the hulls are manufactured elsewhere and shipped in.

prairie tuber · 29 November 2006, 00:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stoo

There are off-the-shelf RIBs available from Zodiac already.

Zodiac categorizes their RIBS into a 'recreational' line (yacht tenders, Pro, Pro open, CZ7) and a 'professional' line (Hurricane, SRO, SRMN & Ribster). With the notable exception of the CZ7, (which is basically a fully loaded Hurricane), the rest of their RIBs within the recreational line are built for economy (eg. thermobonded PVC tubes) to a lower quality standard than their professional line.

jyasaki · 29 November 2006, 17:14

Aren't all hypalon boats "built by hand"? At least the tubes are... No automation, as far as I'm aware.

Are there any automated glass operations going? I always thought the laying up of hulls was primarily a hands-on job, but that was just a guess.

jky

codprawn · 29 November 2006, 22:36

Yup correct. Maybe Rotomoulded boats and suchlike are mass produced but anything else is hand built. Some people use chopper guns and spray layup etc but the best boats are always handbuilt. Remember volumes are much lower than in the car industry.

prairie tuber · 30 November 2006, 01:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Aren't all hypalon boats "built by hand"? At least the tubes are... No automation, as far as I'm aware.

jky

Yes, all hypalon tubes are hand glued. PVC tubes can be hand glued or thermobonded, but are most often thermobonded because it is a much cheaper process (which is the primary reason for using PVC in the first place).
The problem with thermobonding is that it makes the PVC less pliable at the seams, creating a stress concentrator resulting in the area just beside those seams being prone to cracking.

With a PVC boat that has hand glued seams (which I believe zapcats are) if there is a leak in the seams it can be repaired, whereas thermobonded seams cannot be repaired.

pathalla · 30 November 2006, 01:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Aren't all hypalon boats "built by hand"? At least the tubes are... No automation, as far as I'm aware.

Are there any automated glass operations going? I always thought the laying up of hulls was primarily a hands-on job, but that was just a guess.

jky

Nautica uses automated hypalon cutting machines for the tube patterns, as far as I know tubes are still glued up by hand overall, seems the industry has not progressed much beyond that.