Northstar Boats from Turkey

[tiverton_tom]

"designed by Franco Donno (Italy)"

anyone have any experience - reviews etc. ?? ... made in Turkey, they are now for sale in Canada.

my experience is: ... the hulls appear to be injection molded plastic (?) and probably not strong enough for any kind of seas (particularly with a load).

Your comments and leads would be greatly appreciated.

tom


Tom Goodwin
Ocean Explorations Zodiac Whale Cruises
Tiverton, Long Island, Nova Scotia
902.839.2417, winter/home:834-2830
toll free reservations 1.877.654.2341
http://www.oceanexplorations.ca

[Poly]

Originally Posted by tiverton_tom

... the hulls appear to be injection molded plastic (?)

What makes you think that? I don't think it is possible to injection mould plastic at that scale. AFAIK topper dinghies are the largest injection moulded parts is the world - and it is pretty much impossible to go significantly bigger. It IS possible to rotomould plastic at this sort of scale.

Rotomolded components are different from injection molded ones, in a number of ways - from a boat building perspective however the main factor is that rotomolded parts generally have much lower intrinsic stresses than injection molded ones.

I had a quick look on the Northstar website - and I couldn't see any RIBS which were obviously rotomolded or injection molded. From the photos I would have guessed that they were all standard fibreglass hulls - and all with inflatable tubes (there are other manufacturers producing rib style boats which have solid rotomolded hulls and tubes).

[le_forban29]

Hello there, I happen to know the French importer of those boats, they've got fibreglass hulls and hypalon tubes, just like many Italian or English ribs do. The low price comes from the usual low-cost manpower and a few misses or shortcuts in the finishing touches. Cheap albeit durable it seems.
I know somebody that's bought one, he's actually quite pleased with it.
In France they're sold at a price close to those of the PVC-tubed ribs.

[tiverton_tom]

Thanks folks!

I looked at one a few years ago and the transoms looked kinda thin to what I was used to seeing. ... Maybe it was just the top splash plate area.

hmmmm, maybe I should consider giving one a try. ... I DO use them kinda hard, why I've avoided "consumer quality" RIBs. ...We put lots of weight in the bow (customers), lots of weight on the transom (4-strokes) and pound her into the waves in an "offshore seas" scenario. ... those people want to see the whales, where ever we have to go!!

tom



Tom Goodwin
Ocean Explorations Zodiac Whale Cruises
Tiverton, Long Island, Nova Scotia
902.839.2417, winter/home:834-2830
toll free reservations 1.877.654.2341
http://www.oceanexplorations.ca