We took the old Zodiac Futura mk2c on a trip at sea this summer. We went to an island only 10 km out. This distance would take 15 minutes in flat conditions, but conditions were a bit harsh and we had four adults onboard. The trip there ended up taking 45 minutes and the return trip 20 minutes. After this and a couple small outings the old Futura needed reglueing in four spots. One side of the transom was almost coming loose. This made me ponder if it was time to retire the old Futura for good, even though we use it a lot and like it a lot. A professional reglue would cost over 1000 EUR, about the same as many newish SIBs. Perhaps it would be better to buy a newer SIB? Since the Futura is the only SIB I've ever tried, I didn't really have enough information to make a proper decision.
Then this package deal came up at good price point. I bought it figuring that it would be interesting to try a new SIB and if I didn't like it I could sell it without loosing money.
The new SIB is a Great White VIB400 and it came with a Suzuki DF25a. Neither had been used more than a few times, only in fresh water and then garage kept for 6 years. The VIB400 looked pretty sharp sitting on the trailer. Great White is a Swedish brand but they sell Chinese made boats. A new VIB400 is about 1400 EUR. The VIB400 is a little longer than the Futura at 4m compared to 3.8m. After the first trip with the new SIB I had already made up my mind to sell it. But just to be thorough I took another trip and spent about 4 hours total with this boat.
FLEX
The main difference between the VIB400 and the Futura is flex. Everything flexes more in the new SIB. The alu floor flexes, the tubes flex more even at the correct pressure, the seats flex some and the seat fastening point flexes a lot. The transom flex is worrisome. Sure the motor is a bit overweight at 60 kg rather than the max rating of 55 kg but still... It has more flex than the Futura has when the glue has failed! But flex isn't always bad. Perhaps the transom is designed to flex thereby reducing stress? I don't know. The seats are actually usable (until they may break) on the VIB400. The seats on the Futura don't flex at all and they are attached to the floor that doesn't flex. So they’re basically unusable in stock form. To hard to sit on. Also the VIB400 sort of rolled with the waves, going up and down staying attached to the water instead of launching straight into the sky like the Futura does when hitting the odd larger wave. And the landing is guaranteed to be harsh. The VIB400 yielded a "softer" experience in many ways. Good and bad.
The strangest thing with the VIB400 is that in most conditions the bow would spray a little water over the boat. Very annoying. I would even call it a design flaw. Being used to transom spray I happily noted that the VIB400 had no transom spray at all even though the motor was mounted 40 mm to low. The VIB400 had a few things going for it: good looks, oars and very comfortable grip handles. So much better and more comfortable than the rope on top of the Futura tubes. The VIB400 also has better valves and the same valve for the keel and tubes. I know that shouldn't even be a thing, but old Zodiac valves are bad and there is one type for the speed tubes and keel and another for the tubes. Not good. Performance-wise the Futura had it hands down. Better top speed by 3 knots, better turning, handling - everything. It's just a more sporty SIB. Although the VIB400 is probably more relaxing to drive.
All in all, my first experience with a more modern Chinese SIB didn't impress and it was sold in less than a week. There wasn't anything really wrong with the boat, it just didn't have the same solid feel as the old Zodiac. I didn't expect it to either, but I didn't know how much of a difference there would be. I'm still curious about how well a Honwave, Suzumar or other new quality boat would stack up to a Zodiac Futura or Classic. But I guess I’ll keep reglueing for now...
