Hello All! I have just joined RIBnet :cool:

[jepho]

Hello All!

I have just joined RIBnet.

I am hoping to purchase a RIB quite soon. I have recently completed the RYA Powerboat 2 course although I have yet to complete the RYA radio and navigation one day courses. I like photography as a hobby and I intend to buy my first RIB around February 2016.

I joined RIBnet so that I can get a feel for technical matters and to ask questions before I buy a RIB. I thought a RIB of around the 6 metre length mark would be about right for a little coastal/offshore boating... and a new boat driver. I hope that this is not going to be too ambitious with a modest power output engine (say... 90 - 150hp).

I live about as far away from the water as it is possible to get... I reside in the centre of the country about 40 miles north of London. This means I am about 200 miles away from the sea whichever direction I choose to travel. I was considering something like a DryStack as the best solution to boat storage.

RIBs I have seen and liked a lot include Ribeye, Ribcraft, Humber and Avon. Engines which I drooled over included offerings from Mercury, Honda & Yamaha. I was also curious about a Mercruiser 4.2 inboard diesel but I know nothing about the advantages v the disadvantages.

Nice to be here.

[Dry Run]

Welcome to RIBnet

Good luck with the rib hunting - do you have a budget worked out yet?

Good idea about dry stacking by the way!

Steve

[ShinyShoe]

Welcome to Rib.Net

Originally Posted by jepho

Hello All!
I joined RIBnet so that I can get a feel for technical matters and to ask questions before I buy a RIB. I thought a RIB of around the 6 metre length mark would be about right for a little coastal/offshore boating... and a new boat driver. I hope that this is not going to be too ambitious with a modest power output engine (say... 90 - 150hp).

Some experts will be along shortly. Im certainly no expert but I duspect they will say a 90 on a 6m is usually underpowered and if you want to use it at sea in rough stuff they will recommend more power.

If you are into photograph check out The Gurnard's threads on here. (Oh and he does it all on a 'rubber dinghy' half the size you are proposing with 1/6th of the power!)

I live about as far away from the water as it is possible to get... I reside in the centre of the country about 40 miles north of London. This means I am about 200 miles away from the sea whichever direction I choose to travel. I was considering something like a DryStack as the best solution to boat storage.

You might want to drop Ordnance Survey a line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coton_...nce_from_coast

But actually is a DryStack the best option. Being as far from the sea as possible also presumably means you are nearerer another sea to the East or West or North or South than would be possible if you were on a coast...

For photo op's that sounds perfect as it means you can go anywhere. For weather it means if its crappy down souf you can go East or West and grab a decent Wx Window. If your boat is on a stack you need to go get it and take it from there which is twice the pain.

RIBs I have seen and liked a lot include Ribeye, Ribcraft, Humber and Avon. Engines which I drooled over included offerings from Mercury, Honda & Yamaha. I was also curious about a Mercruiser 4.2 inboard diesel but I know nothing about the advantages v the disadvantages.

Those ribs are very different. Are you wanting a leisure boat (soft furnishings, moulded trims etc) or a working boat (less of the fluffy cushions and more able to handle rough stuff)?

An outboard is an outboard as long as its not a Parsun in my opinion. Diesel is a different entity... Dockside fuel is worth considering. Inboards take up boat space so you may need bigger boat.

You looking new or 2nd hand?

[jeffstevens763@g]

Some experts will be along shortly. Im certainly no expert but I duspect they will say a 90 on a 6m is usually underpowered and if you want to use it at sea in rough stuff they will recommend more power.

if 40 mph 4 adults up 6 m boat is underpowerd then you need a 150

[Trimix]

Hi, I bought my first boat a couple of years ago and I'm near Oxford.

I trailered it down to the south coast quite a few times as well as down to Cornwall. The Cornish coast was the best, IOW was good as well. But if I kept my boat in the UK Id drystack it.

Towing, launching, keeping your trailer in good nick, having a tow vehicle - all add time and money and need thinking about.

As for engine - I would get the biggest the boat can take safely, its up to you to use it responsibly. At least that way you wont be left wanting when you need more power, or left wondering if your missing out.

I now keep my boat in the Med, which was always the plan so I put up with a trailer for a couple of years. If I didn't have it in the Med Id probably keep it down somewhere like Poole - its a balance between where you live and where you like to take your boat.

Outboard gives you more space on the boat. Go out and test a few before spending money. I tested a few and went to the boat show to get a good idea of what I wanted.

[uncle al]

welcome to the site. Trmix is right, go to a boat show. The Southampton one is best, lots of R.I.Bs etc on the water waiting to be tried. All the best for the future.

[pow2gran]

Well. It a shame you have just missed the boat show and I guess you want to be up and running next year. I think for a 6m you need something larger than 100hp. You also need to think what weight it will be to tow and what car you have. The layout is also important. Side by side jockeys is definitely more sociable. Tank size. Budget etc are all factors. RMS has a Ribquest for sale which is a great boat that is worth checking out. There are also some RC585s on a boat and outboards.

[Poly]

Diesels are a specialist need. There's loads of threads here on the pros and cons, but a brief summary would be: you'll know if one of the pro's outweighs all the con's in which case you won't really have to ask - If outboards would do what you want/need you can probably ignore diesels!

[jepho]

Originally Posted by Dry Run

Welcome to RIBnet

Good luck with the rib hunting - do you have a budget worked out yet?

Good idea about dry stacking by the way!

Steve

Thank you for the welcome Steve. I was thinking to spend around 10k upfront and hope that will leave me with enough cash for fuel bills, servicing and drystack for the first year or two. I have seen a lot of RIBs and provided I don't want too much in the way of luxury fittings, I was guessing that around the 10k mark would get me a very serviceable RIB with which to explore the coastal waters around the south coast.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

Welcome to Rib.Net

Some experts will be along shortly. Im certainly no expert but I duspect they will say a 90 on a 6m is usually underpowered and if you want to use it at sea in rough stuff they will recommend more power.

If you are into photograph check out The Gurnard's threads on here. (Oh and he does it all on a 'rubber dinghy' half the size you are proposing with 1/6th of the power!)


You might want to drop Ordnance Survey a line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coton_...nce_from_coast

But actually is a DryStack the best option. Being as far from the sea as possible also presumably means you are nearerer another sea to the East or West or North or South than would be possible if you were on a coast...

For photo op's that sounds perfect as it means you can go anywhere. For weather it means if its crappy down souf you can go East or West and grab a decent Wx Window. If your boat is on a stack you need to go get it and take it from there which is twice the pain.


Those ribs are very different. Are you wanting a leisure boat (soft furnishings, moulded trims etc) or a working boat (less of the fluffy cushions and more able to handle rough stuff)?

An outboard is an outboard as long as its not a Parsun in my opinion. Diesel is a different entity... Dockside fuel is worth considering. Inboards take up boat space so you may need bigger boat.

You looking new or 2nd hand?

Thank you for the informative reply.
OK, I get that the power may be a little under what is desirable but I understand that two engines could live side by side on the transom. Adding another engine may be an option at a later date. I have noticed that as the horses increase so does the price. I suspect that two outboards would make a boat far more manouverable at low speed (turning in its own length perhaps) and that may be a good game plan... to find an engine to match whatever the boat is sold with.

Thanks for the tip... I will check The Gurnard's thread to see some pix.

OK... OS map aside, you got me. I felt that a little artistic licence was in order to make the point. I am 100 miles from Brighton, 121 miles from Portsmouth, 161 miles from Weymouth, 109 miles to Bristol, 200 miles from Aberystwyth (see no lie there) and 109 miles from Hunstanton so I am sure that the point sort of stands. A lot of towing miles means that, for me, a drystack offers a good way of storing a RIB and getting maximum use from it.

I take your point about the weather and being able to find a better spot. What is the point of learning how to drive a boat and then not using your newly learned skills to take on the challenge of trip planning, navigation and weather? I hope to learn the necessary skills that will prevent me from making foolish journeys which involve RNLI or the coastguard because of some oversight.

I think my preference is going to be for a working boat. The fluffy stuff ias not essential to learning how to plan trips and visit places of interest. A good point about dockside fuel and diesel inboard powered boats. A lot for me to consider...
thank you once again.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by jeffstevens763@g

Some experts will be along shortly. Im certainly no expert but I duspect they will say a 90 on a 6m is usually underpowered and if you want to use it at sea in rough stuff they will recommend more power.

if 40 mph 4 adults up 6 m boat is underpowerd then you need a 150

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.

[Fenlander]

Is that Abington Jeff??

http://www.rib.net/forum/attachment....8&d=1445940277

[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.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by Trimix

Hi, I bought my first boat a couple of years ago and I'm near Oxford.

I trailered it down to the south coast quite a few times as well as down to Cornwall. The Cornish coast was the best, IOW was good as well. But if I kept my boat in the UK Id drystack it.

Towing, launching, keeping your trailer in good nick, having a tow vehicle - all add time and money and need thinking about.

As for engine - I would get the biggest the boat can take safely, its up to you to use it responsibly. At least that way you wont be left wanting when you need more power, or left wondering if your missing out.

I now keep my boat in the Med, which was always the plan so I put up with a trailer for a couple of years. If I didn't have it in the Med Id probably keep it down somewhere like Poole - its a balance between where you live and where you like to take your boat.

Outboard gives you more space on the boat. Go out and test a few before spending money. I tested a few and went to the boat show to get a good idea of what I wanted.

Thank you Trimix.
Useful information and helpful to me at this stage.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by uncle al

welcome to the site. Trmix is right, go to a boat show. The Southampton one is best, lots of R.I.Bs etc on the water waiting to be tried. All the best for the future.

Many thanks uncle al. I will try to get to a boat show when I have some time free.
thank you for the good wishes.

[jepho]

Originally Posted by pow2gran

Well. It a shame you have just missed the boat show and I guess you want to be up and running next year. I think for a 6m you need something larger than 100hp. You also need to think what weight it will be to tow and what car you have. The layout is also important. Side by side jockeys is definitely more sociable. Tank size. Budget etc are all factors. RMS has a Ribquest for sale which is a great boat that is worth checking out. There are also some RC585s on a boat and outboards.

Thank you for your helpful response pow2gran. Towing would require me to adjust my car by putting a hitch on it (Audi A6... one of VAG group's hookey ones ) and I drive it far too many miles in a year to want to tow boats and loads anywhere. I am now considering two 70s on a 6m RIB. What makes a Ribquest a great boat? I have looked at a few boards advertising boats of all descriptions and I do not know enough to know whether what is advertised is good or not. I need to start visiting boat vendors and having a few sea trials in boats which I feel I might buy.

[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.

Thanks Poly. Is there a particular type of transom I would need to ensure was in the specification? I have no idea what to ask for. Will it be obvious which hulls would permit two engines?

Please forgive the dumb questions.

[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.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by jepho

Thanks Poly. Is there a particular type of transom I would need to ensure was in the specification? I have no idea what to ask for. Will it be obvious which hulls would permit two engines?

Please forgive the dumb questions.

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!

[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