avon 560 adventure as 1st rib?

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Why aren't you replying to my pm?

You know,
He ain't no plans with a man,
This is the 80s and he's down the ladies,

Break it down,

[cjj216]

I agree with matt h. Cracks appeared in exactly the same place on mine.
Such a shame, for the sake of a bit more grp and a few hours labour they ruined a reasonable rib performance wise and a great rib looks wise.

Hope you get what you want Xk59D. Keep us posted on what you buy (pics)
Thought:- Never judge a book by it`s cover!

[BogMonster]

Playing devils advocate here for a moment, how did we get from this in 2007:

Originally Posted by matt h

good in the rough stuff, does need more pitch down to get a really good ride through the breakers!!

to this in 2010:

Originally Posted by matt h

the first thing i really noticed was how bad it was in the rough, I mean 2 foot waves threw it all over the place, the hull was very thin, coupled with the outhill fixtures and fitting which in my opinion were also made of paper, the seats i chose were so soft, you could (scuse the pun) bottom out. it was an awfull boat, very noisy, slappy, and not at all a capable rough water rib, you could almost hear every droplet of water to hit the hull, it was terrible.

I am not trying to wind anybody up here just curious as the comments on the original 07 thread and this one seem to be miles apart. Have you had a lot of better boats since that made you decide the Avon was rubbish, or was it the inevitable "love is blind" when getting a new toy? (we all do it whether or not we admit it...)

As I say I'm just curious, I have first hand experience of how having your boat fall to bits in the first year of ownership can somewhat cloud your glowing view of a new toy ...

[matt h]

Have you had a lot of better boats since that made you decide the Avon was rubbish

many

good in the rough stuff, does need more pitch down to get a really good ride through the breakers!!

Surely a new or older boat has to be exceptional in the rough and should achieve a brilliant ride.after I had a go on a newish ribcraft 585 on the same afternoon I also realised the difference between a ok ish rib and a fantastic rib!! but it was only a few days later when i was giving it a wax n shine that i noticed
(with only a few hours on the boat) long spray rail cracks on it.it wa alsmost like the boat had been dropped on its side on concrete!!

I have first hand experience of how having your boat fall to bits in the first year of ownership can somewhat cloud your glowing view of a new toy.

with reference to yours. how did you solve your problem, or have you got it sorted now?

[jimbobaggins]

Hi Xk59D,
i was in the same boat(ha ha) as you. Ive had a number of boats the last one being a Bayliner 175 135 hp, very nice boat but no good when the water got a bit rough so i started looking for a rib. I did,nt want to go to france and back and i did,nt want to go wave jumping, i just wanted to put my two kids on the boat and enjoy the water. £10K to spend. I read that some people didnt rate the avon 560 so had a look around for something else, i drove miles to look at a number or Ribs that were rough, ugly or just not what i wanted. I saw some good looking ribs with one jocky seat or nice ribs with two stroke engines which are fine but i wanted a four stroke. I went to look at a Avon 560 with the yamaha f100 engine two jocky seats up front bench to the rear and suicide seat up front, looked right, right price so i bought it.
I have been out on it a number of times now and i can tell you it,s 100% better than my previous boats. Im sure like lots of the people on here say it,s probably, as far as ribs go not the best for rough water and maybe not as well made as others but there are worse out there and for my first rib im very happy. It has got me on a rib and maybe next year i will know what i like and dont like about the avon and my next rib will have everything i do like.
Great site people.
Regards,
jim

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by matt h

after I had a go on a newish ribcraft 585 on the same afternoon I also realised the difference between a ok ish rib and a fantastic rib!!

with reference to yours. how did you solve your problem, or have you got it sorted now?

Fair enough just wondered

Mine were tube issues rather than hull issues, well documented on here a few years back, no significant problems with the hull (I had one hole appear in the gelcoat at one point, which I reckoned must have been an air bubble in it from new which got a bash on the trailer, filled it easily and had no other problems). The hull did have some small stress cracks inside near the bow but I found out how those got there (definitely operator-related...) and they never got any worse in the four years I owned it.

It's now gone to a new home and I am eagerly hopping up and down in anticipation of the arrival of a new Vipermax which now isn't going to be here till the end of October

[Xk59D]

glad you had no problems jim, thanks for the post.

i spoke to the owner last night and he said there is only 2 small very light scrapes in the gel thanks to scraping the mudguard and not the rollers once-DOH!. i don't mind fixing those as not a huge job to have a mint hull again.

other than this no cracks anywhere he said, guy is a nice guy so see how it goes shortly.

cheers

[matt h]

new Vipermax which now isn't going to be here till the end of October

well tell them to hurry up!! lovely boat!!

[jpn]

Xk59D,

if you do get the avon560, do let us know how you like it...I presume this will be your first RIB coming from a cuddy cruiser/bowrider type speedboat so it would really be interesting how does the 560 which doesn't have so good feedback compare your previous boat?
From a Ribcraft or similar to an 560 would not make you happy, but I wonder if from your previous to the 560 will put a smile on your face....

[farmer1]

About a 2 months ago i purchased a 2006 560 with a 100hp yam 4 stroke also 2006 with 110 hrs on the clock it is in mint condition ( boat and engine) it's got the twin cowl console with the suicide seat and 2 jockey seats but no bench seat in the back.
Since purchasing it i have fitted A-farme, Nav lights, stainless rod holders, sh 1500 vhf, and a garmin 750s ( which is the most awesome bit of kit). so quite a lay out as my first rib having graduated from a futura mk2.
I have just returned from just over 2 weeks in the falmouth - St mawes area with it having kept it moored for the 2 weeks. The hunt for a rib took some time and as it was my first rib alot of factors were taken into consideration.
Having returned from cornwall i can report that it has proved to be a huge sucess giving me an enormous amount of pleasure from a fishing and family point of view. you must understand that the suprise my wife had when i came down the drive with it was nearly as great as the suprise i was to recieve from the solicitors if the rib was a failure!
I had it out in all conditions that i was comfortable with and she was brilliant, i completed my PB1 and 2 when i was down there and the instructor said after thrashing it what a good boat it was. Had 5 peaople 2 kids 3 adults on it mackrel fishing and cruising with great comfort and 2 of us went off shore wreck and bass fishing easily and with no bench seat in the back i had room for cool boxes and lifting sorting and moving my lobster pots.

As i say this is my first rib and so i have no comparison but what i do know is it has given the family and myself a huge amount of pleasure in a short space of time is easy to transport ( suffolk-Stmawes 6 hrs 20) which is no slower without a boat.

The only question i ask my self is why didn't i buy a rib earlier in life?

sorry to cut short but combines rolling!!

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by jpn

if you do get the avon560, do let us know how you like it...I presume this will be your first RIB coming from a cuddy cruiser/bowrider type speedboat so it would really be interesting how does the 560 which doesn't have so good feedback compare your previous boat?

I have not owned one but I have been out a handful of times in familiar slightly choppy conditions here in both a small (maybe 5.5m not sure) cabin boat and in a similar sized speedboat, and in both of them I thought the ride was harsh and very noisy - continual slapslapslap of even small waves on the hull and they seemed to get chucked about in small waves that I know I would not even have noticed in the Destroyer. I would be truly scared to take either of them out in the sort of open sea rolling swell conditions that are entertaining in the rib, maybe a false sense of security by being surrounded by unsinkable blow up bits but the Destroyer just felt it could handle that sort of stuff and the little hardboats just didn't.

So on the basis of my limited experience I think going from a flat bottomed cabin cruiser to a 560 will seem like a hell of an upgrade, though not as big an upgrade as going to a deep V offshore style of rib.

[Xk59D]

if people want a serious offshore rib it's become clear as day that this avon isn't gonna be the best choice. maybe their other range or a diff make of rib will be better for that application.

i'm still actively looking but most i see ATM fall straight into the ugly as hell category.

cheers

[searover]

Well, i have never had a problem with my 560 in any weather . Yes you have to adjust to diff weather conditions, all the time, differant boat handle diff. yes but that is where your experiance a seamanship comes in, the avon 560 will get you home, go ahead and buy it youll have plenty of fun in it and gain exp in diff weather conds. we get just as much bad weather up here in the nw irish sea .ive been out in d class and atlantic many times in nasty seas, The avon will follow trust me. regards

[Xk59D]

thanks searover, ever had any hull problems like mentioned before?

will find out for myself tomorrow how it handles.

cheers

[chewy]

Originally Posted by searover

ive been out in d class and atlantic many times in nasty seas, The avon will follow trust me. regards

Best give Poole a ring and tell them to buy some Avon Adventures rather than spending £120,000 on Atlantics, or was the Adventure on a length of rope so didn't have any choice?

[searover]

Hi. no , but i dont drive it on ,trailer either, and have two side bunks for it to sit comfy as well as rollers. regards.

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

will find out for myself tomorrow how it handles.

Did you buy it?

[Xk59D]

yup-went out for an hour on saturday and it's bloody magic! first go on a rib so can't comment versus others.

it was kind of choppy and i would have needed to slow down from 30mph to maybe 10mph in my old hull at times-didn't bother this at all so for ME it's an excellent upgrade. went over a few wakes from the calmac ferries to see what it done and no surprises.

i had a VERY close look at the hull and i gave it a good tap with my fist and looked for movement but there wasn't anything i wouldn't expect.

given some are lightly built and we know some are not- i can only assume mines is in the "heavier" built category.

cheers

[BogMonster]

Glad you enjoyed it - so you bought it then??

[Xk59D]

yes i bought it :-)

will take ownership of it for this coming weekend.

just been buying corrosion X for the engine/ancills and some tube protector from 3M. also read that car wax is good for the gelcoat so that will do nicely for the rest of it.

TBH it's already very very clean but i'll try to keep it this way.

cheers