New Member going from SIB to RIB

[hinckley_steve]

Hi all,

Just introducing myself as a new member. I’m not a complete ‘newbie’ to this forum, having been reading many highly informative posts for 12+ months. Around the same time as I rediscovered boating/bought first SIB… but only recently registered as I may be making use of the classified section shortly.

I live close to the Leics/Warks border - not much boating happens here, unfortunately - but we frequent South-Devon, notably Salcombe, as often as possible for boating/beach/laid-back holidays. We’re actually planning to move there and retire… just waiting for those Lotto numbers to make that a realistic possibility

There’s myself plus Mrs B and 2 kids of 9 & 12, and for the past year we’ve been using a Volante SD360 from Excel with a 20hp EFI Mercury which we bought new in 2020. The most recent holiday gave us our best taste for boating yet (I did a lot of boating 25yrs ago, but the family are pretty inexperienced), and we are already looking to upgrade to a slightly more substantial craft.

Not sure whether this is a good/bad time to sell my setup? I like to look after things, so it’s all in superb virtually mint condition and properly maintained etc., with a few extra bits & pieces. Anyone interested can message me for more details or await a more detailed post in the Ribs for Sale section and/or eBay.

For the next boat I’ve been advised to either go for:
a) <4.2m with 40/50hp which will give easier/lighter handling, option of free harbour mooring (although I don’t really like the thought of attaching my pride and joy to a bumping flotilla tbh), and might just squeeze into my small garage…
Or b) 5.5m for better sea-keeping and capability to venture further, and take longer for us to outgrow… but with all the hassles and expense of mooring/storage, and might just be too big for us until the kids are more able to help.

We will use it in calm/moderate seas only, for beach-hopping, a bit of fishing, towing donuts, etc.. Currently steering towards option ‘a’, and perhaps a Brig Falcon which has comfortable seating for 4-5. I assume the medium-vee is good for beaching and fast-planing, but how capable will this be if conditions worsen?

I’d also consider Excel Virago as quality is good plus Terry is local to me and has provided decent service. I’d have to deflate to fit in my garage width-wise, but also these have Alu hull - any views on these vs fibreglass?

Sorry for such a long first post, and/or boring the pants off everyone... I hope one day to be able to contribute more usefully to this forum, but for now I bow to the superior knowledge of established members.

Bye for now,

Steve

[Fenlander]

Hi Steve and welcome to the forum. Great that you've enjoyed the return to the water after a 25yr break. In a similar way I was boating all the time as a kid, teen and young adult but despite getting away with others from time to time in the middle years it was only 15yrs ago when we as a family started to get to sea on smallcraft... when our two girls were about the age of yours... and that has continues ever since.

We are 100% committed sibbers though and there is no drive to upgrade beyond our current easy to use 3.8m outfit.

So at this point I will cast you adrift briefly until you get picked up by the RIB guys with their advice.

BTW yes still a good time to sell your outfit as the post pandemic high demand/short supply is still there.

David

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by hinckley_steve

Hi all,



Just introducing myself as a new member. I’m not a complete ‘newbie’ to this forum, having been reading many highly informative posts for 12+ months. Around the same time as I rediscovered boating/bought first SIB… but only recently registered as I may be making use of the classified section shortly.



I live close to the Leics/Warks border - not much boating happens here, unfortunately - but we frequent South-Devon, notably Salcombe, as often as possible for boating/beach/laid-back holidays. We’re actually planning to move there and retire… just waiting for those Lotto numbers to make that a realistic possibility



There’s myself plus Mrs B and 2 kids of 9 & 12, and for the past year we’ve been using a Volante SD360 from Excel with a 20hp EFI Mercury which we bought new in 2020. The most recent holiday gave us our best taste for boating yet (I did a lot of boating 25yrs ago, but the family are pretty inexperienced), and we are already looking to upgrade to a slightly more substantial craft.



Not sure whether this is a good/bad time to sell my setup? I like to look after things, so it’s all in superb virtually mint condition and properly maintained etc., with a few extra bits & pieces. Anyone interested can message me for more details or await a more detailed post in the Ribs for Sale section and/or eBay.



For the next boat I’ve been advised to either go for:

a) &lt;4.2m with 40/50hp which will give easier/lighter handling, option of free harbour mooring (although I don’t really like the thought of attaching my pride and joy to a bumping flotilla tbh), and might just squeeze into my small garage…

Or b) 5.5m for better sea-keeping and capability to venture further, and take longer for us to outgrow… but with all the hassles and expense of mooring/storage, and might just be too big for us until the kids are more able to help.



We will use it in calm/moderate seas only, for beach-hopping, a bit of fishing, towing donuts, etc.. Currently steering towards option ‘a’, and perhaps a Brig Falcon which has comfortable seating for 4-5. I assume the medium-vee is good for beaching and fast-planing, but how capable will this be if conditions worsen?



I’d also consider Excel Virago as quality is good plus Terry is local to me and has provided decent service. I’d have to deflate to fit in my garage width-wise, but also these have Alu hull - any views on these vs fibreglass?



Sorry for such a long first post, and/or boring the pants off everyone... I hope one day to be able to contribute more usefully to this forum, but for now I bow to the superior knowledge of established members.



Bye for now,



Steve

My thoughts are if you think you will need to upgrade later then go straight to the 5.5m now its still at a size where you can launch single handed & will open up areas that you might avoid in a 4m & will be far more comfortable for the kids to sit in. At 4m with 4 folk you'll probably find passengers sitting on tubes whereas a 5.5 will accommodate seating for everyone. A deeper vee will ride better but will require more hp to push it. Where you compromise is realy up to you & your needs.
Now is still a good time to sell but it may be a long while before its a good time to buy. The only advantage I could see for you in going for a 4m is if it will fit in your garage, a 5.5 will tow and launch pretty similar to a 4m & is easily doable single handed. Regarding the hull material I think anything bigger than tender size your better off sticking to hypalon & fibreglass for longevity. We have an aluminium hull tender which is great for its purpose but anything larger I'd avoid pvc & aluminium hull.

[hinckley_steve]

Thanks David/Fenlander,

Nice to hear that our stories are similar, and driven largely by family. I am essentially enjoying a new hobby that is able to displace some of the reducing demands of parenthood and at the same time hopefully provides some new experiences for the youngsters to take forward.

Tbh I am still a fan of SIBs, and remain torn about upgrading, given the ease of manoeuvring a boat with launching wheels vs the prospect of trailering. The passengers/crew sitting high level with the tubes - particularly the ones on the front seats - had some rough (and pretty wet) rides as we ventured further afield in choppier waters. Plus the time taken to assemble and re-pack after every trip has grown a little wearisome. Perhaps we have the wrong balance of a more powerful and unwieldy engine, but I also believe that this has enabled us to push a little further and discover aspects of boating that we might otherwise have overlooked, and consequently sparked the desire for a bigger vessel.

Either way, lovely to receive a note back from you, clearly one of the most well respected and knowledgable SIBbers on here. Thanks for taking the time.

[hinckley_steve]

Thanks Beamishken, for your insights. I generally try to ‘buy once, buy right’, and the straight path to larger boat is attractive. My reasons for sticking to the smaller 4.2m are more to avoid situations where the wind/surf is making a larger vessel too much for our small/young crew to manage during launching and retrieval, but if you don’t think there is a significant difference…
Garage would indeed be handy, but the space around the boat would be minimal and therefore make it tricky to work on anyway. A friend has a spare container pretty close that would accommodate it easily, and that could be available at mates rates.
I gather the preference for Hypalon is longevity, although I do not intend to keep it exposed to UV, or chemicals. What are your specific reasons for avoiding Aluminium hull?
Thanks!

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by hinckley_steve

Thanks Beamishken, for your insights. I generally try to ‘buy once, buy right’, and the straight path to larger boat is attractive. My reasons for sticking to the smaller 4.2m are more to avoid situations where the wind/surf is making a larger vessel too much for our small/young crew to manage during launching and retrieval, but if you don’t think there is a significant difference…
Garage would indeed be handy, but the space around the boat would be minimal and therefore make it tricky to work on anyway. A friend has a spare container pretty close that would accommodate it easily, and that could be available at mates rates.
I gather the preference for Hypalon is longevity, although I do not intend to keep it exposed to UV, or chemicals. What are your specific reasons for avoiding Aluminium hull?
Thanks!

My preference for fibreglass is because imho it lends itself to boat construction better than aluminium & the end result is usually aesthetically better. Once you start fitting consoles & seats etc to aluminium if there made of ally again imho they look rather agricultural, many builders use fibreglass but then you have the attachment issue of joining two dissimilar materials whereas fibreglass your bonding like for like & the result is more seamless. Ally ribs are also relatively new to the uk scene & how they survive over time would also be a concern to me, most if not all seem to be built in China which would also be a concern for me . I also think the residuals from a uk built hypalon/fibreglass boat will remain stronger.
Obviously folk who have invested good money into ally/pvc boats will dissagree but there not for me.
I have an ally rib as a tender & if I wanted a cheap commercial work boat that I wouldn't mind bashing about & would be replacing it regularly then the price of ally might be tempting but for personal leisure use id rather buy a used British built glass & hypalon boat than a new Chinese ally boat.

[Steve509926]

Hi Steve and welcome

[Steve509926]

Hi Steve and welcome.

I can fully understand why you are thinking of going bigger. Two adults, 2 children and any kit you are carrying is at the maximum limit that I would want to be in an SD360.
Two adults and a dog is just about comfortable in my opinion.

As already said by Beamish Ken, it's still a good time to sell but probably not a good time to buy!

You may get a better price for your SD360 and 20hp EFI if you split them and sell them separately.
and..............
I just may be the man who is interested in your 20hp EFI

[hinckley_steve]

Thanks Beamish Ken for the extra info.

Thanks also to Steve509926 - I have sent you a pm re the 20hp EFI

[Georges]

Hi guys,
After owning a 5m 50 HP Bombardier for 10 years, I bought a secondhand 8m Ring Rib with 250HP. It's so much greater, you really can use it with havy weather . I registered it in the Netherlands because that was almost no paperwork but now, with some new regulations, I need to register my boat in Belgium ( where I live) in order to be able to navigate the open sea.
And here 's a problem, the Belgian authorithies ask my all kind of paperwork, concerning the EN ISO numbers. Can anyone help me out ? Where can I find these data? I need the numbers about the steering, the lights, the stability... allmost anything. As long as I don't have that paperwork, I can't go out at sea.
Are there any Ring Rib Owners here? Thanks Georges

[whiskylee]

Originally Posted by Georges

Hi guys,

After owning a 5m 50 HP Bombardier for 10 years, I bought a secondhand 8m Ring Rib with 250HP. It's so much greater, you really can use it with havy weather . I registered it in the Netherlands because that was almost no paperwork but now, with some new regulations, I need to register my boat in Belgium ( where I live) in order to be able to navigate the open sea.

And here 's a problem, the Belgian authorithies ask my all kind of paperwork, concerning the EN ISO numbers. Can anyone help me out ? Where can I find these data? I need the numbers about the steering, the lights, the stability... allmost anything. As long as I don't have that paperwork, I can't go out at sea.

Are there any Ring Rib Owners here? Thanks Georges

https://www.ringpowercraft.co.uk/

[Georges]

Hi whiskylee, I allready tried that. Sent them a mail but they can't help, it's a new compagnie since 2019 and they don't have the records off the old boats.. :-(

[Steve509926]

Originally Posted by Georges

Hi whiskylee, I allready tried that. Sent them a mail but they can't help, it's a new compagnie since 2019 and they don't have the records off the old boats.. :-(

Hi George's and welcome to the forum.

Can I suggest you start your own thread asking for the information you need with a subject title Ringpower Craft. That way members who may have the information will see it.

[Georges]

Thnx will do