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Old 26 April 2023, 22:20   #1
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Largest, Fastest Airdeck SIB?

I'm looking for the largest, fastest, most capable airdeck SIB.

Raptor 330 – Airdeck, width inside 86cm, 20hp, €1.279

Saturn TRSD415, 30hp, $1748+tax shipped

LodeStar TriMAX 3D-V 430, 50hp, CE class B but not available in US?

And apparently Gemini 470 and 530 are available with inflatable floors? But I can't find info.
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Old 26 April 2023, 22:39   #2
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See if you can shoot me a PM with your contact info. I tried to PM you with mine but I think your account may be too new for this.

Anyhow, I’m in CA and may be able to help or steer you in the right direction.
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Old 26 April 2023, 22:49   #3
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It would be helpful as a future resource for others to reply here
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Old 27 April 2023, 02:07   #4
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The zodiac MILPRO FC-470 and FC-530 are by far the best SIB’s on the market. That being said, they are also the most expensive. However, the FC-470 is more capable than the 530 in terms of agility. The 530 is a great boat but it lacks in agility with an air-floor and a single outboard. You can run twin outboards on either hull, but I’d keep to a maximum of 50-60hp on either. The 530 will feel underpowered if it’s loaded up, which is easy to do. The 470 tends to do better even when fully loaded. The 530 is a better option for a small console, but if you’re looking for a SIB with an air floor, I’d assume it’s for ease of transport, deploying and launching.

The options that you linked in the thread here are all relatively inexpensive options. You can buy a dozen of each for what a Zodiac MILPRO boat will cost brand new. My two cents on these are to watch out for cheap Chinese SIB’s that will fall apart after a few months.

Check out Inmar boats for a slightly better option than a Chinese built SIB. Their website is www.inmarboats.com
They are in San Diego and I know them well. They have a WIDE range of boats and quite frankly, you get what you pay for.

If you’re looking for a quality Zodiac MILPRO SIB with an air-floor, please reach out for me with a PM and we can exchange contact info.

Hope this was somewhat helpful. Welcome to RIBnet!
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Old 27 April 2023, 06:00   #5
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Inmar Air Floor only goes up to 320 (1100 decitex, 10hp, 3 year warranty) and does not compare favorably to the Raptor 330, 2000 decitex, 20hp, 5 year warranty.


A military special forces boat costing $27,950 is not relevant.

A $12,434 ERB400 is a bit less unrealistic.
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Old 27 April 2023, 07:22   #6
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As far as price is concerned, I completely agree that most military versions are overpriced.

When you are asking for the largest and fastest air deck SIB, I would still stick with the MILPRO boats. I’m sure the takacat would qualify as a SIB, but I’m not so sure they are an apples to apples comparison.

At the end of the day, largest and fastest only matters if coupled with agility and lifespan unless they are only intended for a short amount of time. Now you’ve got me wanting to ask my friends at Wing inflatables what their thoughts are on this. Right off the bat I worry about something too long that will catch air and under the bow. Without enough surface tension, it would flip right over. It’s the one thing that zodiac has over wing with the speed tubes.

The zodiac FC-580 or MKV variant, as well as the MK6 are SIB’s. No air floors, but these things are slow and require a lot of power behind them.

Perhaps I’m wasting your time here with this, but out of curiosity, what are you looking to achieve here? You had me at fastest, so I’m intrigued for sure.
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Old 27 April 2023, 09:23   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCal Hurricane View Post
When you are asking for the largest and fastest air deck SIB, I would still stick with the MILPRO boats. I’m sure the takacat would qualify as a SIB, but I’m not so sure they are an apples to apples comparison.

Takacat, Truekit, AirCat, are broadly comparable to the Raptor and Saturn as CE design category C, but practically limited/disadvantaged by open bow design.

Military special forces boats are not comparable. It's like comparing a Humvee to a family car because they both have 4 wheels.



Quote:
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Right off the bat I worry about something too long that will catch air and under the bow. Without enough surface tension, it would flip right over. It’s the one thing that zodiac has over wing with the speed tubes.

This is backwards. Aerodynamic pitch stability increases with length due to opposing pitching moment.



Quote:
Originally Posted by SoCal Hurricane View Post
Perhaps I’m wasting your time here with this, but out of curiosity, what are you looking to achieve here? You had me at fastest, so I’m intrigued for sure.

I'm looking to navigate offshore waters (200 miles) and survive force 8 wind and 4m significant wave height.
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Old 27 April 2023, 12:51   #8
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I'm not nearly competent to give good advice about buying SIBs. But when I looked at the Raptor you linked to, out of interest, I notice the blurb reads:

A powerful boat requires a powerful engine. Buying an (electric) motorcycle can be a significant investment. Team Raptor likes to think along with you, so that you can make a careful decision about purchasing an (electric) outboard motor. When choosing the perfect motorcycle, consider the following points;

There's nothing there that seems to make much sense and would encourage me to buy that particular one .
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Old 27 April 2023, 13:03   #9
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>>>looking to navigate offshore waters (200 miles) and survive force 8 wind and 4m significant wave height

Here you go, either model would suit.

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Old 27 April 2023, 13:07   #10
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>>>looking to navigate offshore waters (200 miles) and survive force 8 wind and 4m significant wave height

Here you go, either model would suit.

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Old 27 April 2023, 14:12   #11
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I'm looking to navigate offshore waters (200 miles) and survive force 8 wind and 4m significant wave height.
I have to ask, why would you want to do that in a SIB?
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Old 27 April 2023, 14:21   #12
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Was thinking the same.... Why would you!!!
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Old 27 April 2023, 18:27   #13
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I wouldn't want to, but a boat that's designed to class B is more capable/comfortable in class C conditions.
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Old 27 April 2023, 18:40   #14
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Maybe I'm being a nasty cynical person, but I'm wondering if this thread is a hustle to get some affiliate links to boats for sale on a respectable forum coming up on a Google search, if you were a newbie typing in something like, say, "biggest, powerful boat" , IYSWIM.
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Old 27 April 2023, 18:49   #15
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None of my links are affiliate links -- they're all direct to manufacturer (or major dealer for pricing), and I have no affiliation with any manufacturer or dealer.


I expect it's not an uncommon question and would serve as a future reference for searches, which is why repeated private solicitations from SoCal Hurricane are not helpful and I posted public links to the mentioned Zodiac.
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Old 27 April 2023, 18:54   #16
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Quote:
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I'm not nearly competent to give good advice about buying SIBs. But when I looked at the Raptor you linked to, out of interest, I notice the blurb reads:

A powerful boat requires a powerful engine. Buying an (electric) motorcycle can be a significant investment. Team Raptor likes to think along with you, so that you can make a careful decision about purchasing an (electric) outboard motor. When choosing the perfect motorcycle, consider the following points;

There's nothing there that seems to make much sense and would encourage me to buy that particular one .

Agreed, but Raptor is in The Netherlands, so language, engine emissions restrictions, and the sale of their sale of electric motors and batteries may play a role. I think their point is that if pairing an electric motor with such a heavy and wide boat, it better be a high thrust motor with large capacity battery.
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Old 27 April 2023, 22:15   #17
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I wouldn't want to, but a boat that's designed to class B is more capable/comfortable in class C conditions.
I can't argue with your logic. However, a SIB around 4.2 metres of that build quality (class B, heavy) and a 50hp OB would need to be trailered, so why not go for a RIB?
Unless you have a need for a SIB such as storage, transportation, access needed to shallow waters, surely a RIB would suit your needs better and maybe even slightly cheaper.
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Old 27 April 2023, 22:56   #18
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@ Croolis… I wondered the same thing, especially being a member for less than 12 hours. But, he’s got some good points and feedback. It’s an interesting topic for sure.

@ grad… from where I sit, and we can agree to disagree, the feedback that you’re looking for probably doesn’t exist. You’ll need something rugged that was designed to take a beating. There really isn’t much out there aside from MILPRO that truly matches the requirement. You’re posting on an online forum and with that comes both personal and professional opinions of like minded people. You may not like the feedback, but it’s certainly not unsolicited when you began the thread to begin with.

Best of luck to you in your search. I’d be very interested to learn what else is out there that can top a MILPRO sib in the operating environment that you’ve highlighted.
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Old 28 April 2023, 05:49   #19
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I'm looking to navigate offshore waters (200 miles) and survive force 8 wind and 4m significant wave height.
I found one that can handle those conditions
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Old 01 May 2023, 15:45   #20
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I can't argue with your logic. However, a SIB around 4.2 metres of that build quality (class B, heavy) and a 50hp OB would need to be trailered, so why not go for a RIB?
Unless you have a need for a SIB such as storage, transportation, access needed to shallow waters, surely a RIB would suit your needs better and maybe even slightly cheaper.

Precisely because I have a need for a SIB such as storage, transportation, & access needed to shallow waters.
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