From the photos looks to be that there isn’t much of any fibreglass damage and the failure has been the joins which wrap around the strip which secures the rope in place.
Either way, for previous use to have caused such a weakness in the pvc material would have required some serious stuffing of the bow. To be honest, I would expect that boat to have been able to withstand use through some fairly rough conditions for many years without the material failing. However, whilst 99% of ribs manufactured for any brand may be fine it’s possible for whatever reason that this particular rib had weaknesses in the pvc joins - a possibility in any production line.
If you were to buy the same boat and take it through exactly the same level of use, it may not happen for many many years more. Probably just one of those things.
Stuffing any boat with the perfect combination of angle, speed and the forces involved have the potential to rip tubes off - glued or using Zodiac’s system.
Hope either way it’s resolved soon to make the boat / or replacement operational! Best of luck!
Lots of people are trying to get away with 'consumer grade' products (Zodiac and bombard) on (commercial) whale-watching tours here in Nova Scotia Canada - all OK ... until the shit hits the fan, I suppose. I have (too) ... but our MAIN RIB is 'professional' and the consumer grade ones we use(d)- like Avon 620 was mostly in pretty good weather (only)
Mate who helms a coded ribeye stuffed the RIB a few years ago with just him on the boat, peeled the front tubes off - funny thing was the water rushed to back of the boat and filled the transom locker up, which was full of gas lifejackets for clients....................................... pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop lol
