Zodiac pro open 850

fisheye · 04 June 2007, 18:48

Does anyone have any experience with this boat? I am interested in buying my first RIB and this one seems to fit my needs. I currently have a 30 foot center console (not a rib) and I am thinking about scaling down a little. My current boat uses a bunch of fuel (twin 250 2-strokes)! I would prefer to buy used but I not seen one of these Zodiacs used anywhere.

A good friend of mine had a Zodiac 1010 (military version) with the twin diesels and jet drives. Very cool boat! I have been interested in RIB since I first saw his!

Stoo · 05 June 2007, 00:52

Hello Fisheye...

Welcome... I am not overly familiar with the Pro 850, but just a word of caution... The 1010 your friend has would have been a Zodiac Hurricane. This is a very heavy duty, commercial/military boat. My boat is a MUCH smaller version, but most of the Hurricanes are similar in their design.

The Pro series is a "sport boat" for lack of a better term. Still a good boat, but it will perform much differently than the 1010. For one thing, it will be much faster, and more fuel efficient. On the other hand, it won't handle rough water the same way either. And it will be a fraction of the cost of a Hurricane.

I don't know for certain, but I believe the toobs on the Pro series are Strongon or PVC, rather than Hypalon. This makes them less durable, less repairable, but also less expensive and lighter.

I know people with a Pro 650, and others with a 550 and also a friend has an older Bombard which, looking at the pics of the Pro, may well be the Bombard re-branded, although that's a guess at best. If so, the hull is a very different shape than the Hurricane as well.

I don't say all this to dissuade you from shopping for a Pro since it's probably a terrific boat. I did want to point out that it isn't a Hurricane 1010 though, so make sure you test drive the Pro before you commit. It will be very different!

Good luck!

ribfan · 07 June 2007, 03:18

Hi Fisheye,

I looked at the boat on Zodiac's web site. My impression was lots of sizzle, questionable if there's much steak. I'm somewhat biased, I bought a small used zodiac years ago as a dingy to get back and forth to a mooring. The boat literaly fell apart, the seams, the transom everything. It was a piece of junk I ended up selling for $30.00, and was glad to get that. Now, I've gotten that off my chest. I have had a number of other inflatables, all with either hypalon or in the case of my ARC an industrial pvc material and have never had any tube problems. I would never consider a boat in that size and price range with pvc tubes. IMHO, hypalon or polyurothane tube such as Wing have a proven track record for long life and performance. The hurricane is a fine boat, comes only with hypalon tubes, so Zodiac knows which is the better material.

There are lots of good boats to look at, I don't think this is one of them.

Bill

codprawn · 07 June 2007, 23:59

Look for an old Avon - they last for ever!!!

Donnie144 · 12 June 2007, 20:57

it does cost more but i'm told you are able to order any of the Zodiac Line with Hypolan tubes. If your dealer can't do it give boaters world a call. Their west coast Zodiac rep is based near my home and I talk to him every so often.

fisheye · 06 September 2007, 19:47

I have decided to keep my Stamas for now... Thanks for the replies though!