F-rib 275 with 9.9 4 stroke?

[Rocna]

Hi Everyone,
Great site loads of info but I need clarification before I pull trigger on a 275 frib.

Gurnard (thanks for all thee great posts!) states frib 275 is a 1 man boat with 6hp. Will it be a two man boat with 9.9 4 stroke?

Also will 9.9 4s be to heavy for transom? I know it's rated to 15hp but that is really heavy for 36kg boat!

Also bilge water... does it drain astern? If hung on yacht davits with plug out will it self drain? The drain holes seem awful small and a seagull could block that up!

My reason for purchasing is yachts tender. I have a 2.5 highfield air floor with 3.5 merc (very temperamental) outboard and it is starting to restrict movement.

I look forward to any suggestions.

P.S. Plan B is a Honwave 30 AE.

[The Gurnard]

Hi Rocna .. I was passing and saw your query ..so though I would assist answer some of your questions on the 2.75 Frib.

I have had mine for two years now. My opinion has never changed on it. I will not sell it and I would buy another tomorrow if something happened to it.

The water does not drain to the stern .. the bulkheads where the boat folds do not have drain holes between compartments. Those little holes you may think go through to the next compartment don’t..they are breath holes for the folding bulkheads only. Im not sure what is in the bulkheads ..it could be a honeycomb maze or something like a sponge..but they can hold a little water in there at times as some can dribble out for around an hour after I hose the boat out after use. I presume it is the “patented folding mechanism” secret.

Therefore hung on davits without a cover .. it will hold rain or water in the forward compartments to the depth of the bulkheads.

I was hesitant about this being an issue before I bought mine .. but after two years ..hundreds of hours of use .. in conditions up to 2m waves.. I have never filled the middle compartment with enough water to bother me ..and I have never bailed the boat out when underway either.. which I had to often do with a similar sized traditional Seago Inflatable. It is a remarkable dry ride boat.. more so than any other 2.75 size boat I have owned or been in.

I weigh around 200lb and with my normal boating gear..fuel..anchor etc..it easily planes around 16mph with the 6HP outboard..add another full bucket of mackerel to the boat and it struggles to plane with the 6HP. When I load it with camping gear.. it planes at 11mph with a smaller prop I carry so the 6HP can reach max revs with the additional weight.

I consider it a one man boat only because I go long distances in mine and like my space. My brother was fair taken when he saw my boat so bought himself the 330 size as he has family. He too is delighted with it ..but recently upgraded from a 6HP to a Yamaha 15HP four stroke as he wanted to take his wife and two grandchildren out to sea. It easily handles that requirement.

I cant honesty answer about a 9.8HP Four stroke on the 275 size ..but the MAX is 15HP and the UK dealer has these figures on his website

F-Rib 275 .. 2 adults ..15HP .. 20 knots ..so cant see it being an issue ?

They do slam a bit in rough water.. not that I notice much in the big seas as I drop to displacement speeds .. to try to plane into 5 foot waves in most boats less than 3 meters would ..in my opinion ..be foolish...but that's perhaps only my thoughts

If I only wanted a tender for a yacht..ie a boat for yacht to shore transfer .. think I would consider a standard inflatable .. for no other reason than because I’m tight with my money.

However if I wanted something to use as a small boat as well as a yacht tender .. I stand by my opening paragraph. ..without adoubt the F Ribs suit me

Yaching World give it 5 stars ..so Im not the only delighted F-Rib owner

Is your tender up to it? We test the F-Rib foldable RIB - Yachting World

Hope that helps some.

[Rocna]

Many thanks for your reply, Gurnard! I have followed your great adventures on this forum. I think the frib dealers owe you a commission

That is interesting about bilge water not flowing astern. So when hung on davits in rain a nice slope will be required.

It would be nice to have a double floor but as a 11.5m yacht (at the moment without davits) compromises need to be made. I have a small dinghy and outboard but many anchorages require 5-10km trips to towns and places of interest and my setup is not up to it. But did a 9km trip the other day on one tank of gas!

So it seems the extra weight of a 9.9 4 stoke on the 275 transom will be okay.
Most of the really long trips I will be able to do with better kit are basically river trips. Rough seas like you play in are usually stay aboard time! But the other day coming back from the shops I got a right soaking in my little Highfield and 3.5. Definitely the last straw.

If I go for the 275 I will post some pics of it in action with the 9.9 Yam 4 stroke and a short review for others also thinking about the smallest frib but needing more power than a 6.

Happy Boating!

[rossymtb]

Hi I know my reply won't help as I've never owned a f-rib but I do own a 9.9 4t and it has enough power to plane my 3.8m honwave at max 18mph recorded

And to my understanding the f-rib is a better performing craft than any other sib.

[Rocna]

Well I suppose my main worry was that 9.9 4 stroke would be too heavy for 275 frib transom - or it would be unbalanced 1 up. But maybe with the extra power you would not need to sit so far forward for trim with an extender. Also frib is not that deep - tubes are quite small - but as Gurnard informs its still best short transport out there.

I mean for example a 57kg Highfield 2.90 Cl (heavier with Orca) with double floor is rated for only a 10hp. With recommended hp 8!! The shorter and lighter 36kg frib at 2.75 is rated for 15hp. The Highfield is a serious tender with massive tubes / very deep / alluminium hull - and would slam less in big stuff - and rated for 4 - I think and 21kg heavier than 275 frib. But max hp is only 10. This is what I find confusing.

This Highfield dinghy would be great but I could not stow it correctly on longer passages. Maybe the low hp rating for Highfields is an anomaly.