Hello All! I have just joined RIBnet :cool:

[Andre]

My current demo rib is a Parker 750 Baltic with Mercury Diesel 4.2 (320HP) there is nothing wrong with diesel ribs. I keep the rib at Southampton Dry Stack. . the guys there are great and provide an excellent service

here is a video clip taken last Saturday in the Solent. She may be sold soon but first come first served

enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va5tzG8GKwU

[Xk59D]

Andre, the budget was 10k! I'll give you 11 then.

[Andre]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

Andre, the budget was 10k! I'll give you 11 then.

I know but like I said I believe she will be sold after my demo on Saturday but not for 11. for 10/11K you can forget about diesel power and anything else for serious ribbing. You will have to increase your budget.

[ShinyShoe]

TwinsAs Poly said twins is not the sensible option. 2 x70HP would give you power something like 100HP would so you might as well put a 100 on it. The advantages are redundancy - i.e. if an engine fails you don't die. You aren't planning on doing that kind of adventure where if an engine fails you die. If an engine fails you either have a 6HP spare to deploy or you chuck out the anchor and hope some nice passing boat gives you a tow.

DryStack
Yes you are planning to be able to go out in any weather etc etc etc. Trust me when its blowing 90MPH in the Solent and you are dry stacked there you will regret not having it on a trailer and being able to tow it to Norfolk where its blowing a gentle 25MPH ;-)

I think Poly commented on another thread recently that he kept his boat 2 hours from home for a year or two. It wasn't dry stack but that concept - he turned up and put it in the water. No towing... Perfect. Until he needed to repair things. He'd turn up on Saturday expecting a 5 minute job to discover the fitting he brought was wrong size, spend 3 hours bodging a solution to loose best part of a day on the water and not get the fix actually done. Added to that if his mate called him up and said dya fancy a quick spin on your boat this afternoon - weather looks perfect he couldn't just dunk it locally coz it wasn't local.

DryRun runs a dry stack and trust me if I lived near a DryStack it may well be the option I'd choose. But you don't live near one and the thing that you see as a negative (distance to sea) is for your wish of making passages and photos a god send because it gives you lots of choices.

Look up this Saturday coming's weather --> you would presumably not head W/NW ish from your home town that day. What if thats where your stack was (there probably isn't one) - the other options all look OK.

My final reason for not thinking stack is right for you is you said your into photos. Photos mean scenery and wild life. You'll find that better away from Solent IMHO and the Solent is the hotbed of stacks...

[jepho]

Originally Posted by Last Tango

The "ideal rib" with the "ideal engines" would cost around £150K....so lets get real.
Your £10k will get you the boat you're looking for. 100hp will do fine on the back of a 6mtr boat...... probably top around 40mph and cruise 25-30mph without any bother. My 6.5mtr does 43mph (4 up) with 130hp. tows two skiers and has covered the best part of 1000 mls coastal and offshore this year. HOWEVER....Fuel bills, two years dry stack, servicing ???
My fuel bill for this year will be over £1000. I trailer and keep at home but I'm guessing dry-stack will be £1000+ per year. I do my own servicing/maintenance and that will have cost me best part of £1000 this year. It's been a bad year! (includes trailer maintenance).
Generalisations always invite controversy and varying opinions but if you give a couple of examples of what you're considering buying, chances are someone here will have something the same or very similar and give you the benefit of their experiences.
Welcome aboard.

Thanks for your input which was very helpful and your welcome.
I was looking at this type of RIB for my first purchase.

JMD 6m with yamaha 150hp outboard engine

Ribtec 585 and Yamaha 130hp outboard

A bit over budget but a nice looking purchase is this one and I could stretch to 15k for the right boat:

Ribeye 7.5 with Yamaha 200hp outboard

Not sure about the advantages and disadvantages of two stroke engines. On the road I know them to be lacking torque and quite smelly.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by Poly

Changing from single to twins isn't trivial and the benefits may be less than you expect. Not all transoms would take the weight or power of two big engines either.

OK. Thank you for the information. I have taken it on board... so to speak.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by Poly

A bit like the diesel situation most people who opt for twins do so for very specific advantages. Essentially because the consequences of failure are worse for them than normal, or they are trying to get more power than is otherwise possible. Neither of those applies to you. I'm sure there will be people who start with one engine then add a partner as an upgrade simply to get more power but I have never heard of anyone buying a boat with that plan in mind.

Transoms have lengths, and the length, is different in the centre from the sides. They are also rated for weight and power. Most people would want separate fuel and electrics for each engine, and you need another set of controls (which depending on the first set might mean replacing them both). I don't think it's a newbie's upgrade path! Just buy the right boat the first time!

More sound advice. Thanks

[Xk59D]

None of those strike me as a good buy tbh.

You have given 3 quite different boats there so I don't know what you are really thinking of.

However, if you have 15k then some options, note I know nothing about their availability-

Ribcraft - 6.5 Motor Boats , Rock Marine Services | Boats and Outboards

If this 6.4 had more stuff on it with a 175-200 motor it would be a 20k boat easy, but if the layout suits you won't buy a better hull at this age IMO. The engine is certainly under powered for what the hull can handle but that is why it is this cheap. Addition of an A frame would man it up nicely, maybe a bigger engine in a couple of years too. I would think it will cruise in the mid 20s though and maybe Max out circa 32 knots or so. It is almost a crime to have that good a RIB fitted out like that.
Ribcraft - 6.4 RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Edinburgh, Scotland | Boats and Outboards

Redbay - Stormforce 6.1 Diesel RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Argyll, Scotland | Boats and Outboards

Cheaper options -

Ribcraft - 5.85 RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Isle of Wight, South East | Boats and Outboards

Ribcraft - 585 RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Isle of Wight, South East | Boats and Outboards

Rib Boat Ribcraft 5.85m Mariner 150hp Optimax Dive Boat and Trailer | eBay

[jepho]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

Post up some links to what has caught your eye and how many will be with you, type of weather you expect to go out in etc

I have already posted a few links (repeated below) and I expect only one or two people with me. Weather wise, I would expect to go out in fine weather and anything up to say... force 5 until I had gained a lot more experience with planning trips, meteorology and navigation.

JMD 6m with yamaha 150hp outboard engine

Ribtec 585 and Yamaha 130hp outboard

Ribeye 7.5 with Yamaha 200hp

[jepho]

Originally Posted by Andre

My current demo rib is a Parker 750 Baltic with Mercury Diesel 4.2 (320HP) there is nothing wrong with diesel ribs. I keep the rib at Southampton Dry Stack. . the guys there are great and provide an excellent service

here is a video clip taken last Saturday in the Solent. She may be sold soon but first come first served

enjoy

Nice! What a beauty. Thank you Andre, it could encourage me to save a few more squid.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

TwinsAs Poly said twins is not the sensible option. 2 x70HP would give you power something like 100HP would so you might as well put a 100 on it. The advantages are redundancy - i.e. if an engine fails you don't die. You aren't planning on doing that kind of adventure where if an engine fails you die. If an engine fails you either have a 6HP spare to deploy or you chuck out the anchor and hope some nice passing boat gives you a tow.

DryStack
Yes you are planning to be able to go out in any weather etc etc etc. Trust me when its blowing 90MPH in the Solent and you are dry stacked there you will regret not having it on a trailer and being able to tow it to Norfolk where its blowing a gentle 25MPH ;-)

I think Poly commented on another thread recently that he kept his boat 2 hours from home for a year or two. It wasn't dry stack but that concept - he turned up and put it in the water. No towing... Perfect. Until he needed to repair things. He'd turn up on Saturday expecting a 5 minute job to discover the fitting he brought was wrong size, spend 3 hours bodging a solution to loose best part of a day on the water and not get the fix actually done. Added to that if his mate called him up and said dya fancy a quick spin on your boat this afternoon - weather looks perfect he couldn't just dunk it locally coz it wasn't local.

DryRun runs a dry stack and trust me if I lived near a DryStack it may well be the option I'd choose. But you don't live near one and the thing that you see as a negative (distance to sea) is for your wish of making passages and photos a god send because it gives you lots of choices.

Look up this Saturday coming's weather --> you would presumably not head W/NW ish from your home town that day. What if thats where your stack was (there probably isn't one) - the other options all look OK.

My final reason for not thinking stack is right for you is you said your into photos. Photos mean scenery and wild life. You'll find that better away from Solent IMHO and the Solent is the hotbed of stacks...

OK. All understood. I have no great taste for towing a boat right now. Where I live barely has room for a car and storing a boat near me would be a bit of a mission. A dry stack would limit my choices in the way that you describe but I would also be able to get on the water with ease.

Maybe later in my boating career, I would be able to find a place to store the boat and launch it easily. For now, getting in the water sometimes is going to be a better option than not getting a boat in the water because of a variety of reasons such as the example you gave me of Poly's situation. Photographic images can be created anywhere and handling rough weather is going to be a part of my boating experience so learning to do it well is a challenge I am happy to face.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

None of those strike me as a good buy tbh.

You have given 3 quite different boats there so I don't know what you are really thinking of.

However, if you have 15k then some options, note I know nothing about their availability-

Ribcraft - 6.5 Motor Boats , Rock Marine Services | Boats and Outboards

If this 6.4 had more stuff on it with a 175-200 motor it would be a 20k boat easy, but if the layout suits you won't buy a better hull at this age IMO. The engine is certainly under powered for what the hull can handle but that is why it is this cheap. Addition of an A frame would man it up nicely, maybe a bigger engine in a couple of years too. I would think it will cruise in the mid 20s though and maybe Max out circa 32 knots or so. It is almost a crime to have that good a RIB fitted out like that.
Ribcraft - 6.4 RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Edinburgh, Scotland | Boats and Outboards

Redbay - Stormforce 6.1 Diesel RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Argyll, Scotland | Boats and Outboards

Cheaper options -

Ribcraft - 5.85 RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Isle of Wight, South East | Boats and Outboards

Ribcraft - 585 RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Isle of Wight, South East | Boats and Outboards

Rib Boat Ribcraft 5.85m Mariner 150hp Optimax Dive Boat and Trailer | eBay

Thank you for taking the time to dig up those links. I like both of the Ribcraft vessels. I see your point about the modern 6.4 and the 6.5 looks attractive to my eyes too. The Stormforce looked interesting. I am going to have a to view a few boats and trial them if possible. The pictures do not tell me very much.

[Xk59D]

Given the price of stacking (about 400-450 quid per metre for the year via google) I would seriously consider what you really need size wise as costs will mount up quickly.

Sea trial is always a good idea, but unless it is a bit choppy they will all seem largely fine.

I had possibly the worst RIB you can buy according to some on the forum, an Avon adventure 5.6 (great boat IMO for what it was), I now have one of the best and probably 50% of the time I use it you would not feel the difference as an example. I.e in calm conditions you won't tell a whole lot perhaps

Build quality is a different ball game though, cheaper boats may not have glassed down seats and consoles for example, bildge wells vary a lot, a lot of ribeyes don't have hypalon tubes as another example, wiring could be poorly done, cheap A frames etc etc.

The best suggestion is post up a lot of pics here before buying ANYTHING, someone will give you advice prior to purchase.

[69cmw]

[QUOTE=Xk59D;698110]


If this 6.4 had more stuff on it with a 175-200 motor it would be a 20k boat easy, but if the layout suits you won't buy a better hull at this age IMO. The engine is certainly under powered for what the hull can handle but that is why it is this cheap. Addition of an A frame would man it up nicely, maybe a bigger engine in a couple of years too. I would think it will cruise in the mid 20s though and maybe Max out circa 32 knots or so. It is almost a crime to have that good a RIB fitted out like that.
Ribcraft - 6.4 RIBs and Inflatable Boats for sale in Edinburgh, Scotland | Boats and Outboards

I looked at this rib a few days ago, I'm not convinced it's actually a Ribcraft.

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by jepho

Hi Jeff.

A fair point, well made. I will see what other views there are too.

I had wondered if there was some sort of formula for working out engine power to load carried or length of RIB. I suspect that RIB length may impose some absolute practical limit on engine power but as with so much at this stage of my boating career... it is just a guess.

hi jepho

there are loads of factors that determine the speed of your boat i spent a lot of time sorting mine out the best i got was 45 mph two adults one dog 130 lts of fuel oban bay little wind flat calm 14 x 19 ali prop.
add a bit of wind, tide, chop and you can loose 10 mph off that then your getting into a rougher ride i always throtted back to 25 mph then to look after the boat and its occupants installing shock mitigation seats in was a god send. fuel consumption was brilliant 36 ltrs to go round the isle of jura around 100 miles in contrast i have done 80 mph on the river humber in a 10 m ribquest with two 300 hp mercury verado's on £140 worth of fuel lasted 20 mins great ride but the cost wow!.
budget will limit you and you need to make a list of what you need from the boat in terms of how you will use it and for how long per year, as said the boat show is a good place to start even if buying secondhand you will get a feel for whats out there ,the big companies are good to talk to like humber inflatables been in business 50 years if they don't know nobody does they have a large range for all pocket sizes also deal in secondhand last time i looked they had some avon's in, good boat solid and around the 10k mark.
lots of good advice on here there are guy's with the all singing all dancing big ribs down to the 3 m and below sib owner's the one thing in common is they get immense pleasure from their craft and where they cruse.
best of luck with your choice

cheers

[Dry Run]

Hi Jepho,

Just a thought, but I have a boat coming on the market shortly, that may suit your needs/budget and comes with a trailer and a dry stack space (paid up until May 2016).

Details at KB Boats

Regards

Steve

[jeffstevens763@g]

Originally Posted by Dry Run

Hi Jepho,

Just a thought, but I have a boat coming on the market shortly, that may suit your needs/budget and comes with a trailer and a dry stack space (paid up until May 2016).

Details at KB Boats

Regards

Steve

now that's a nice boat at a good price plenty of seating and room to walk round.

[Poly]

There are calculators on the Web no idea how accurate they are especially as they all involve hull shape fudge factor. This thread might be useful http://www.rib.net/forum/f8/5m-to-6-...vey-14600.html although I'd make two warning 1. People intermix knots and mph 2. the Internet is full of misleading information. No reason Fib.net would be any different. With a 3 knot following tide on a glassy calm day I go about faster than in normal conditions so top speed isn't everything!

[phoenixpete]

Originally Posted by Dry Run

Hi Jepho,

Just a thought, but I have a boat coming on the market shortly, that may suit your needs/budget and comes with a trailer and a dry stack space (paid up until May 2016).

Details at KB Boats

Regards

Steve

That is a very nice looking boat. I would definately be looking at that if i was in the market. Very happy with my Searider 5.4mtr, but side by side jockeys are what i would want if i was upgrading.
Apart from the Leeway i would be going for a Ribcraft 6.4/5 with side by side jockeys.

[Trimix]

I would not worry too much about top speed, sure its fun but so long as your boat is comfy and capable you will be fine. You spend most of your time cruising about, not thrashing about.

I've got twin 175's on mine and I'm still not sure how fast it goes. Every time I've opened it up in calm conditions I've not actually looked at the speed. I've just looked at the view and grinned like an idiot. If you don't race anyone you wont know if your boat fast on not.

As for fuel costs I wouldn't worry too much about that either. Its not like your commuting to work on the boat. You use it for pleasure / adventure, so just enjoy it. If the cost of the fuel for a weekends fun is going to be a concern then Id suggest you reconsider the whole thing. There are lots of other costs to consider. Insurance for example, you pay that even if your not out having fun on your boat.

(I plan for 1.65 litres of fuel per Nautical mile)

Make sure when you use it all the little details are sorted out before hand, so your just left to enjoy the boating experience. Not the faff of trailering it there, or finding the weather pants, or the slipway crap, or the radio fails, or some other unrelated detail ruins the whole experience.

I trailered mine from home for a year - which allowed me to sort all the small things like wiring/radio/trailer etc. Then when I did tow it to the sea id also researched the slipway / weather etc. That meant every time I used it the whole experience was great.

Now I've got the boat sorted I keep it in storage and just ring up to get it lowered into the water ready for me to use for the week / fortnight. So for that time sits in the marina all ready to use day or night on a whim - any maintenance jobs having been done while in storage.

Maximise your time in enjoying it, not worrying about it.

As for twins / single, I would recommend a single for general use in the UK. You wont be far from help should it fail. If your planning on crossing the Med where the radio wont help or doing some extreme adventure in challenging weather, then twins would be better. Even in the middle of winter in the Solent the radio is alive with other boats / coast guard, in the Med even in the summer its pretty silent. In the winter I don't even turn it on, its that silent.