Alternatives to RIBs?!

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Unless of course you were really lucky and managed to pick something up with a Vario or a Mercruiser 1.7 diesel.

Our Mercruiser 1.7 litre 120hp diesel uses around 10 - 12 litres per hour, and with red diesel still only around 50p a litre that is around £6.00 an hour. Even allowing for the fact that red diesel won't be here forever, it seems it will still be cheaper than road diesel. If you fill it up at a garage it will still only be £12.00 an hour, or if you never take your foot off the throttle and run it flat out from the moment it hits the water it would never go over 25 litres per hour - oh yes and get you a fine from the harbourmaster!

[9D280]

Originally Posted by Lordy

boats at around the £15k mark.

That's a LOT of secondhand boat...... I can't believe there isn't a secondhand diesel drinking cabin boat out there for under £15K!

But back to the O/B cabin cruisers I greabbed this as a quick example (no time to do a full web trawl)

http://www.shetlandboats.co.uk/dayboat.htm They have a 4.5m Takes a 50, and a bigger one takes 80. Remember 4.5m hard boat will give a LOT more space than a similar length RIB 'coz you don't have toobs... You wll ned to buy some fenders tho'!!

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Lordy

At last - a calculation I can put to fuel consumption. Thanks Nos4r2.

So, if I had a 90hp and petrol is about £4.85 a gallon, does that mean I'd be looking at (9 x 4.85) £43.65 an hour to run?

And does the same calculation apply to 2-stroke?

Helps to focus the mind...and the budget!!

It seems to apply to pretty much anything petrol at wide open throttle-which you won't use much at a guess. Incidentally, it's in US gallons per hour so work it out as 10% of HPx4=approx litres per hour.

Where you make your savings will be at cruising rpm.

[Lordy]

Originally Posted by 9D280

That's a LOT of secondhand boat...... I can't believe there isn't a secondhand diesel drinking cabin boat out there for under £15K!

Sorry - £15k was most definitely upper limit for a new boat, not second-hand. Maybe when the kids leave home...

[Lordy]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Where you make your savings will be at cruising rpm.

Any ideas what I should allow for cruising speed calculation, Nos4r2?

Personally I like a bit of WOT, but I suspect the family may not be quite as keen!!

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by 9D280

That's a LOT of secondhand boat...... I can't believe there isn't a secondhand diesel drinking cabin boat out there for under £15K!

I did a quick trawl on B&O and found nothing diesel and small enough to regularly trailer that wasn't horrendously underpowered-apart from this bowrider:- http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F168730 which may be worth a look!

Originally Posted by 9D280

But back to the O/B cabin cruisers I greabbed this as a quick example (no time to do a full web trawl)

http://www.shetlandboats.co.uk/dayboat.htm They have a 4.5m Takes a 50, and a bigger one takes 80. Remember 4.5m hard boat will give a LOT more space than a similar length RIB 'coz you don't have toobs... You wll ned to buy some fenders tho'!!

I think that may be the answer.

[Pete7]

Lordy, would you rather have a cabin sports boat over something like an Avon 5.6m or 6.2m? A cabin won't be useable when a boat is moving so would tend to be used to store lunch boxes and bags etc. The Avons are excellent quality and the blue/white looks quite smart to keep the Mrs happy. A good set of seats would give all the storeage your likely to need. When I drove Tonys 5.6m Adventurer I was impressed by the feeling of being in rather than on the rib so kids feel safe too. There are several on boats and Outboards so either modern injection 2 stroke or 4 stroke available which will be economical.

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F160865

The alternative is to have Cookee build a rib for you so you choose the colours, now that would be really special and superb quality

http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22443

Pete

[Trickdog]

Lateral thinking a little here... But have you considered an Italian RIB Lordy? That way, you could achieve the sea keeping benefits that a RIB provides with some of the 'style' that appeals to Mrs Lordy. Many Italian RIB's have quite shallow V's (intended for the Italian lakes) but there are those with a deep V. The popular Predator RIB's are very capable, well made, beautifully finished, and ideal as a family cruiser (Hypalon tubes, large fuel tanks, loads of storage space, swim platform, huge sundeck etc.). See http://www.mrl-uk.com/home.htm

However... Selva have recently updated their RIB range (because their old models were awful) and their Evolution line are exactly the same boat as the Predator (i.e. same model, built by the same company - Ital Boats in Italy - but badged Selva). And because Yamaha have a big stake in Selva, the Selva 4 stroke outboards are actually Yamaha outboards (about as good as you can get!) badged as Selva. See http://www.selvamarine.co.uk/infopage.asp?infoid=175 . The Selva packages are VERY competitive. I was looking at the D600 last summer: 6m boat, 100hp outboard, Bramber trailer, all for £18.5k from Lymington Marine Sales. The smaller models must be well within your budget.

...Well, just an idea!

[Lordy]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Lordy, would you rather have a cabin sports boat over something like an Avon 5.6m or 6.2m? A cabin won't be useable when a boat is moving so would tend to be used to store lunch boxes and bags etc. The Avons are excellent quality and the blue/white looks quite smart to keep the Mrs happy. A good set of seats would give all the storeage your likely to need. When I drove Tonys 5.6m Adventurer I was impressed by the feeling of being in rather than on the rib so kids feel safe too. There are several on boats and Outboards so either modern injection 2 stroke or 4 stroke available which will be economical.

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F160865

The alternative is to have Cookee build a rib for you so you choose the colours, now that would be really special and superb quality

http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=22443

Pete

Ha - LOL - have you been talking to Cookee then?! I have, and he has shown me a fantastic boat, though sadly not really a family outing type boat. Now, if it was just me and the lads!!!

Don't necessarily need a cabin but Ian (Parkes) has pointed me at an excellent fibreglass dayboat that does have a little cuddy for storage and even a little portaloo. Very popular with the ladies in the family. That Avon also looks nice though, but have you seen the Zodiac Medline range - great seating arrangement for a family. Saw one at Excel - very nice!

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by Lordy

Any ideas what I should allow for cruising speed calculation, Nos4r2?

Personally I like a bit of WOT, but I suspect the family may not be quite as keen!!

Nope! Less than WOT

There's no hard and fast rule for fuel consumption at cruising speed (though it seems a lot of ribs will do a 1 mile/litre at cruising speed). Best to fill up then just fill up every time and work it out. It's normally less than the WOT figure

[Poly]

Cookee - is your boat within the desired budget?

[Poly]

Lordy -- don't know if this is possibility in your part of the world (its not in mine) but can you hire/charter a few different options for a season so you and Mrs Lordy can see the pro's/con's of differnet designs. Then once you know what you want/need/like and how you will actually use the boat you can go and buy it. The other option is to stick to the few thousand pound end of the market and you will probably not loose much. If you buy new at £15k and sell it after 1 season because its not what you really wanted that will be an expensive learning curve.

[Lordy]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Lordy -- don't know if this is possibility in your part of the world (its not in mine) but can you hire/charter a few different options for a season so you and Mrs Lordy can see the pro's/con's of differnet designs. Then once you know what you want/need/like and how you will actually use the boat you can go and buy it. The other option is to stick to the few thousand pound end of the market and you will probably not loose much. If you buy new at £15k and sell it after 1 season because its not what you really wanted that will be an expensive learning curve.

I wish it were that easy Polwart - I'd feel much safer!

No, we live in London, but I haven't seen anywhere you can hire/charter these boats for a 'test drive'. I wish there was a sort of boat supermarket on sea where you could go and try a few out - it would make this whole process so much simpler!

And you're right - for this very reason I'm veering towards second-hand to try and minimalize any losses. Not very Positive Thinking, I know - even though I work at a company called Positive Thinking! - but I suspect I'm not going to find the perfect solution first time. can't fault the advice I've been getting though.

Ah well....

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by Lordy

I wish there was a sort of boat supermarket on sea where you could go and try a few out - it would make this whole process so much simpler!

How about a trip to Ribex soon.

Nasher

[ian parkes]

Originally Posted by Lordy

I wish it were that easy Polwart - I'd feel much safer!

No, we live in London, but I haven't seen anywhere you can hire/charter these boats for a 'test drive'. I wish there was a sort of boat supermarket on sea where you could go and try a few out - it would make this whole process so much simpler!

And you're right - for this very reason I'm veering towards second-hand to try and minimalize any losses. Not very Positive Thinking, I know - even though I work at a company called Positive Thinking! - but I suspect I'm not going to find the perfect solution first time. can't fault the advice I've been getting though.

Ah well....

You are right it can be an expensive learning curve .
We started with a sib after selling a small yatch because that was inpractical . After a few trips into short chop it got sold for a valiant 4.9 rib which was ok but cramped and with the family in line sat behind me it wasn't much fun cruising very far .
With the same budget of 15k ish and a max size of 5.5m for storage at home etc there simply wasn't a rib out there that offered what we wanted , and I didn't want an older boat with a thirsty engine as we use it quite a bit.
I thought the bigger futura mk 3 Sib would do us as space wasn't taken up by seating and consoles but I was wrong there as it was still bad in a chop.
Hence the hard boat we now have.
I was lucky I lost very little on the ist sib and the rib for 3 seaons use and made money on the futura after a lucky buy. If you buy the right boats re sale is good and easy unlike cars . That may not be the case with the new boat we have now , but for now its right or us .

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Polwart

Cookee - is your boat within the desired budget?

Good question - What's the budget! The one pictured comes in 3 sizes 5, 5.5 and 6 metres, the smallest one without the rear deck arrangement and of course it also depends on the console / seating arrangements!

The boat I sent a picture of to Lordy was the one below, it is our "concept" or "prototype" hull from last year with a waterjet coupled to a Mercruiser 120hp 1.7 litre diesel, and with a new console fitted I am prepared to do a deal as it needs to go to make way for other projects!

It's amazingly economical and will come with a warranty, trailer and everything.

[codprawn]

I have seen teak decks but never on the console...........

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by codprawn

I have seen teak decks but never on the console...........

Nice to see a manufacturer testing a design at sea before using it in production rather than just build something and hope it works. Guess its the difference between mass produced and custom built.

Pete

[9D280]

Originally Posted by Lordy

I wish there was a sort of boat supermarket on sea where you could go and try a few out - it would make this whole process so much simpler!

Agreed! Granted I'm not much help up this end of the country, but could you & Mrs Lordy go on a couple of trips with some of the "Ribnet South" bods - there seem to be plenty of trips round the solent - that would at least let her know if she likes RIBs or not!

Originally Posted by Lordy

- for this very reason I'm veering towards second-hand to try and minimalize any losses. Not very Positive Thinking, I know

I would disagree. My first RIB cost less than a grand - a 1980 SR4 with a floppy floor - and once I get round to selling the engine It'll have cost me the fuel & insurance for a season's use! (PS anyone looking for a 25/30 Suz with remotes?) Bought it to see if Mrs 9D liked it or not (having already bought & sold a Wayfarer dinghy for £150 - she didn't like that swingy boom thing that attacked her every 5 mins on the upwind leg and the hassle of changing sides every 5 mins also wasn't her idea of fun!) She liked the RIB so I bought ... an equally old but bigger RIB for a more comfortable cruise. I suspected that if the RIb wasn't to her liking an O/B cabin thing would be because although as someone above pointed out you can't really use the cabin whilst on the move, it does make a nice wind break. I didn't need to go that way, but if I had I'd have been on the lookout for one with a RIB-esque hull.


In summary- buy a low budget thing to see if it's the sort of boating she's after. If you get approval then you either spend some time & money tarting it up or trade it in for a shiny new(er) one. I think that theory works for any type of boat that you could tow.

PS other good reason for outboard - more space inboard for you & the family!

[Cookee]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Nice to see a manufacturer testing a design at sea before using it in production rather than just build something and hope it works. Guess its the difference between mass produced and custom built.

Pete

That was our plan, and someone will get a bargain when its sold!