Looking at an Avon Searider SR4 1986 with Honda Four 45HP Engine. Looks in good condition, engine starts etc and I’ve read these are a solid boat. Looking at it to try out RIB’s as a taster before any larger investment. Main concern is age, is this boat past it’s useful life?
There are plenty of 1970's Seariders still going strong with original tubes etc. They are probably some of the best built RIBs ever made. If it appears solid then it probably is. Loads of info on here about them. Tap the transom and deck to make sure it doesn't sound hollow or spongy - rot here is the most common issue.
They're great boats. You need to check the wood as advised and take a good look at all the seams etc to attempt to see what state the glue is in. I have a small Avon from that era and the hyperlon still has a good sheen to it due to good storage.
With a boat that old I might not think going too far offshore, taking on heavy seas or travelling unequipped etc would be immensely prudent. But if solid then for learning craft and establishing whether this is something you want to do it would be a good platform.
However, you're indicating that this is not a keeper. That you plan to use it to establish whether you want to buy something more expensive. So you need to consider how you are going to sell it on.
We are at peak market where you could arguably sell a bin bag as a boat. In a year or two supply will be up and demand down so we will likely have a phase of being a buyers market. If you're wondering, in this sellers market, how risky a 1986 boat would be then you can be pretty sure that in a buyers market no one is even going to bother looking at it regardless of how good it is.
If you were very likely to keep it for quite some years then you could view it differently but as you appear to have short term ambitions for JE boat then it might be worth considering whether buying very old now could be a false economic decision over buying used but within the sort of time frame that buyers don't really worry about?
Thanks for the advice, I guess in terms of timescales I’m looking at 2-3 years, I want to see how much use I get with Family and also practice servicing/winterising on and also do equipment upgrades. The boat looks well looked after and in working order and only plan to do inshore trips and a bit of rubber ring towing for the kids. Ex diver so like RIBs just really wanted to make sure I didn’t get major negatives on a boat of that age.
