Are "project ribs" generally a viable endeavour

[Matt]

Nope! It’d be more unusual if you were the guy whose costs didn’t get out of hand

[fastasfox]

Originally Posted by A1an

Is it just my projects that the costs run away on?

Console yourself with the fact that your ribcraft new STARTS at £32,000.

[A1an]

Originally Posted by fastasfox

Console yourself with the fact that your ribcraft new STARTS at £32,000.

Scary!

[fastasfox]

Originally Posted by A1an

Scary!

Scary because the new one's are expensive or scary because your project getting up there with the price of a new one :-)

[nugent]

I have personaly tefurbed in excess of 60 vessels get on with it. Money is saved trust me

https://photos.app.goo.gl/jaAjVaMzmQz1gait5

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Matt

Nope! It’d be more unusual if you were the guy whose costs didn’t get out of hand

I think if you need to obfuscate the true costs of a boat from a loved one - doing it in bits and pieces over the course of a year or two might be easier than buying the right boat in the first place.

[beerbelly]

Originally Posted by Dankoozy

As in buying a rib with knackered tubes, having it retubed by some fella, buying engine and doing all the other wiring and installing yourself?


New RIBs from the factory usually cost a lot more than the price of the tubes and the engine so I am wondering what the disadvantages are? There are some cheap hulls up on Donedeal at the moment

i paid less than £7k for a brand new humber destroyer 5.5 bare hull with new double console and new stainless tank fitted .i allready had everything needed to build it up and get it water ready the idea was a cheap way into a newish boat . as with all good intentions my idea soon went by the wayside .i kept going to fit parts i had and thinking thats a bit worn so bought a new one instead . even my 20 hour mercury 100 went when i came across a brand new in the box mariner 115 for £6.5k and the guy offered me £4k px for my 100.anyway point is you can save cash if you do the work yourself my boat is now 100% a year 2020 and it stands me at about £16500

[Barrel Rider]

I got into ribs during the first lockdown, bought a 1970's Avon sr4 and it kept me busy for many hours refurbishing it. I really enjoyed using it once completed but did feel a little empty not having a project to work on so I bought another one the next winter and that gave me many hours of fun working on it too. I'm on the look out now for another one, maybe a 4.7 or 5.4
A before and after of my current sr4

[GuyC]

Originally Posted by beerbelly

i paid less than £7k for a brand new humber destroyer 5.5 bare hull with new double console and new stainless tank fitted .i allready had everything needed to build it up and get it water ready the idea was a cheap way into a newish boat . as with all good intentions my idea soon went by the wayside .i kept going to fit parts i had and thinking thats a bit worn so bought a new one instead . even my 20 hour mercury 100 went when i came across a brand new in the box mariner 115 for £6.5k and the guy offered me £4k px for my 100.anyway point is you can save cash if you do the work yourself my boat is now 100% a year 2020 and it stands me at about £16500

This is stage 2 of obfuscating the other half. Stage 1 - buy an old RIB, kit it out with new bits. Stage 2 - buy a kit comprising of everything you didn't buy new in Stage 1 and swap over upgrading as required.

I think this is probably a good route for DIY'ers.

[lakelandterrier]

I think it all depends whether you enjoy the sort of work involved in a project, or want to learn the skills in the building / electrics / engineering to do this.

I think boat projects are as much about creating something and being a hobby / labour of love as much as it is having a working boat to own.

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by fastasfox

Console yourself with the fact that your ribcraft new STARTS at £32,000.

And if you really needing a lift then i can tell you i had Southampton Boat show ,face to face quotation for bog standard 585 from the ribcraft sales guy (who did give me a pen and baseball cap ) and confirmed on email that the 585 with suzuki 140 was .................£50k plus VAT ..............and i am even not sure he wasnt suggesting it was made in Dubai and ass in uk

[A1an]

Originally Posted by fastasfox

Scary because the new one's are expensive or scary because your project getting up there with the price of a new one :-)

I was doing the maths on my project the other night and if I’m brutally honest I could’ve bought a very nice secondhand 585 for the same price but it wouldn’t be to the spec of my one.

Pretty much everything is brand new. I also know the boat inside out so should there be an issue I know where to look.

That knowledge and peace of mind is worth a lot to me in the areas I cruise.

[RickW]

Originally Posted by A1an

I was doing the maths on my project the other night and if I’m brutally honest I could’ve bought a very nice secondhand 585 for the same price but it wouldn’t be to the spec of my one.

Pretty much everything is brand new. I also know the boat inside out so should there be an issue I know where to look.

That knowledge and peace of mind is worth a lot to me in the areas I cruise.

Your rebuild looks sweet - yes there are some cheap and tumbling rib prices out there even for Ribcraft’s these days

As you say though yours looks immaculate and its what you want which is the point after all

[fastasfox]

Originally Posted by Orwell boy

And if you really needing a lift then i can tell you i had Southampton Boat show ,face to face quotation for bog standard 585 from the ribcraft sales guy (who did give me a pen and baseball cap ) and confirmed on email that the 585 with suzuki 140 was .................£50k plus VAT ..............and i am even not sure he wasnt suggesting it was made in Dubai and ass in uk

Wow....that was some commission lol

[fastasfox]

Originally Posted by A1an

I was doing the maths on my project the other night and if I’m brutally honest I could’ve bought a very nice secondhand 585 for the same price but it wouldn’t be to the spec of my one.

Pretty much everything is brand new. I also know the boat inside out so should there be an issue I know where to look.

That knowledge and peace of mind is worth a lot to me in the areas I cruise.

And there is the fact that unless your buying from a dealer you never know what your really getting.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by fastasfox

And there is the fact that unless your buying from a dealer you never know what your really getting.

What makes you think buying from a dealer you know what your getting? There are possibly as many unscrupulous dealers as there are honest ones. The problem with unscrupulous dealers is they know how to disguise or cover up potential faults long enough to get past any warranty period. I'm with A1an in that I'd rather have a boat I've done myself than one from a dealer which is a totaly unknown prospect. Doing a boat yourself and knowing it inside out is worth far more than a dealers warranty even if the costs are the same.

Sent from my SM-G950F using RIB Net mobile app

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by beamishken

What makes you think buying from a dealer you know what your getting? There are possibly as many unscrupulous dealers as there are honest ones. The problem with unscrupulous dealers is they know how to disguise or cover up potential faults long enough to get past any warranty period. I'm with A1an in that I'd rather have a boat I've done myself than one from a dealer which is a totaly unknown prospect. Doing a boat yourself and knowing it inside out is worth far more than a dealers warranty even if the costs are the same.

Sent from my SM-G950F using RIB Net mobile app

^^^^^wot he said [emoji106]

[kevinsc]

I've bought a second hand 7.4m ribtec rib needing work done to it new tubes,deck, engine and upgrading electronics. It will cost me about 25k, I looked at ribs about that price and all had bits needing done tubes looking ok. So I went done the refurb route because it rib will be like new when finished with the equipment I want.
Cheers Kevin