Sib Size

[tabz89]

Hi All

I have been trolling youtube/ forums for a month or so now trying to work out the best SIB option for me.

I am a keen shore fisherman and now ready to buy an inflatable boat to fish from. We have a caravan on Anglesey and the fishing is great so it's an ideal place to start.

My question is I need a SIB that will comfortably take 2 adults fishing and then potentially very occasionally 2 adults and child just pottering around the shoreline not fishing. I would also like the option to go out on my own so the smaller the better ideally to start with for ease of setting up and packing away etc.

I think I have settled on a Honwave T32 air deck, could anyone advise if this would be a good starting block or do you think I could get a way with using a T27?

Also any other recommendations apart from the honwave I should be looking at for similar size etc

Thanks in Advance 👍

[Fenlander]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I don't fish but plenty on here do. My SIB ownership has been 3.0, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6 and 3.8m. What I would say is as soon as you want to move about and have kit with you rather than just sit going somewhere then space is at a premium. I'd say a 3.2m at a minimum and the Honwave is a good boat.

You might also care to look at the Boatworld website and see if you fancy anything they have, they're a well regarded company on here.

If you are going to do a daily setup out of the car then you're correct in looking at air floor models.

[Steve509926]

Hi and welcome

IMO a T27 will be far too small. OK for one, uncomfortable for two and very tight with 3.
Even your T32 will be a bit tight once your child becomes a teenager.

What outboard are you thinking of pairing it with?

[smallribber]

Hello

A T27 will be far to small and a T32 will be ok but still a bit small. I would go with the T38 IE3 with a 15hp 2 stroke Yamaha on is I think the perfect combo for you. Several videos of this set up and other sibs on my You Tube Channel link below

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR7...sh_FwM_q5gOg6Q

[User name]

Originally Posted by tabz89

Hi All

I have been trolling youtube/ forums for a month or so now trying to work out the best SIB option for me.

I am a keen shore fisherman and now ready to buy an inflatable boat to fish from. We have a caravan on Anglesey and the fishing is great so it's an ideal place to start.

My question is I need a SIB that will comfortably take 2 adults fishing and then potentially very occasionally 2 adults and child just pottering around the shoreline not fishing. I would also like the option to go out on my own so the smaller the better ideally to start with for ease of setting up and packing away etc.

I think I have settled on a Honwave T32 air deck, could anyone advise if this would be a good starting block or do you think I could get a way with using a T27?

Also any other recommendations apart from the honwave I should be looking at for similar size etc

Thanks in Advance 👍

Hey. Fellow angler here.
I would say 3.2M is minimum for use with 2 people fishing, so I'd ignore the T27. The T32 will take 3 people without too much gear also. If you had the space, a 3.6 or 3.8 would be more suitable, while still being manageable as a packable boat.

On the floors though, airdecks aren't ideal for use when fishing and the T32 airdeck is V-shaped so you don't have a flat floor to stand on or to place your gear etc. They're a great boat, but the aluminium floor version is far better as a fishing platform.

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by User name

On the floors though, airdecks aren't ideal for use when fishing and the T32 airdeck is V-shaped so you don't have a flat floor to stand on or to place your gear etc. They're a great boat, but the aluminium floor version is far better as a fishing platform.

Whilst I'd agree that V decks aren't the most stable platform, there are many flat airdecks decks which are perfectly suitable, Excel SD360 - Boatworld 360. IMO ally decks are great unless you are inflating/deflating every day, then they are a pita.

[tabz89]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Hi and welcome

IMO a T27 will be far too small. OK for one, uncomfortable for two and very tight with 3.
Even your T32 will be a bit tight once your child becomes a teenager.

What outboard are you thinking of pairing it with?

I was thinking of going with a 9.9 tohatsu with a view to upgrade to a 15hp

[tabz89]

Originally Posted by Steve509926

Whilst I'd agree that V decks aren't the most stable platform, there are many flat airdecks decks which are perfectly suitable, Excel SD360 - Boatworld 360. IMO ally decks are great unless you are inflating/deflating every day, then they are a pita.

That's what I was thinking, I would be looking to inflate / deflate after each use so I thought the airdeck would be the best option. I will also check out the Excel SD360 & Boatworld 360. Are they both relatively easy to set up

[Fenlander]

>>>going with a 9.9 tohatsu with a view to upgrade to a 15hp

Is that you thinking the 9.9 can be made a 15 or swapping the outboard for a 15 at a later date?

[Steve509926]

There are benefits to having a < 10hp outboard on Anglesey in that you don't have to pay to use any council owned slipway or beach, anything over 10hp and it's £22 per day or it's £180 per annum. You will still have to register >10hp £70, < 10hp £40.
I also think it would pair well with a T32, providing you can live with the slightly sloping deck.
The Excel SD360 is a great sib (I've got one) but it's big and heavy, IMO it wouldn't be a good pairing with a 9.9hp with 2 seafishing or 2 adults and a child on the sea it needs 15hp +
I have a 9.8hp and find it ok with 2 adults + dog on Windermere.
The Boatworld 360 is lighter and not as wide as the Excel so it may (never tried it) perform ok with a < 10hp.
Both Boatworld and Excel do a 320-330, which would go well with a 9.9hp.
I've seen plenty of V deck sibs fishing off Trearddur and Penmon Point, I don't fish so I can't comment as to there suitability.

A few videos of us out from Trearddur, this was in my SD360 and a 15hp.

https://www.rib.net/forum/f16/rednec...ure-88593.html

https://www.rib.net/forum/f16/rednec...ack-88667.html

https://www.rib.net/forum/f16/rednec...ack-88667.html

[User name]

Originally Posted by tabz89

That's what I was thinking, I would be looking to inflate / deflate after each use so I thought the airdeck would be the best option. I will also check out the Excel SD360 & Boatworld 360. Are they both relatively easy to set up

The airdeck is certainly more convenient but with that said, I use a 3.8 alu floor and assemble the boat within 10-15mins now that I'm practiced at it. The floor doesn't add a whole lot of time to the job.

Both the boats you mention there are smaller and heavier than the Honwave T38 Air V-Floor for example, especially that Excel. You won't enjoy packing that thing up.

If you do go airfloor, maybe look into some sort of protection to put down on the floor when fishing. You'll have lots of sharps onboard, as well as spikey fish.

[Steve509926]

When I pack away my SD360, it goes into two separate bags. One for the sib @ 43kg (less than a T38) and one for the airdeck, keel boards, two bench seats and oars @ 15kg. It's still a heavy, broad beam sib and IMO not suited to a 9.9hp on the sea, however it's great with a 15hp +

Although the T38 is a longer sib, deck area is the same as the SD360 at 2 sq mtrs.

The T32 is much smaller with a deck area of only 1.5 sq mtrs. For comparison, the Excel SD330 has a deck area of 1.8 sq mtrs.

You must also remember that the bow of the T38 & the T32 curves upward and is very pointy as compared to an airdeck, so the front deck space is not as usable.

[Fenlander]

>>I use a 3.8 alu floor and assemble the boat within 10-15mins now that I'm practiced at it.

That may be the case for your boat, with your significant experience and the right assembly location. However I would be very wary advising someone new to sibbing that an alloy floor was the right way to go for a daily inflate. If you are unlucky with a boat that's tight on its floor, ground is very uneven or its cold and wet then an alloy floor setup and strip down at either end of the day can put folks off boating.

That is supported by the many daily setup folks on here who bought an alloy floor model then either realised they needed a trailer or swap to an air floor to save the faff. I'm one of them.

[Steve509926]

To put some perspective on set up time. From arriving to being on the water, setting up my SD360 probably takes me 35 - 40 minutes, I can do it in less time but I will have to rush and no doubt will have forgotten something and have to go back for it.

[smallribber]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

>>I use a 3.8 alu floor and assemble the boat within 10-15mins now that I'm practiced at it.

That may be the case for your boat, with your significant experience and the right assembly location. However I would be very wary advising someone new to sibbing that an alloy floor was the right way to go for a daily inflate. If you are unlucky with a boat that's tight on its floor, ground is very uneven or its cold and wet then an alloy floor setup and strip down at either end of the day can put folks off boating.

That is supported by the many daily setup folks on here who bought an alloy floor model then either realised they needed a trailer or swap to an air floor to save the faff. I'm one of them.

Spot on

[User name]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

However I would be very wary advising someone new to sibbing that an alloy floor was the right way to go for a daily inflate

Unless I'm missing something, there was no mention of daily inflate from the OP. I wouldn't want to daily inflate any SIB.

As I said, I'm practiced at it.
After doing it a few times, there's not a lot of extra time spent vs an air floor and then you won't have the negatives of an air floor.

[Fenlander]

OP in post 8... "That's what I was thinking, I would be looking to inflate / deflate after each use"

Daily setting up a SIB from the boot of the car is no problem should it be a person's choice... as it is ours.

I will qualify that to say on single days out or differing location launches in one trip away then happy to daily set up. Clearly if we stay two weeks in one place it just gets done once.

[User name]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

OP in post 8... "That's what I was thinking, I would be looking to inflate / deflate after each use"

The OP can clarify, but I take that to mean that they don't want to store the boat assembled, not that they want to want to inflate it every day.