Best of the Best?

[Loose Moose]

Taking the premiss that Ribing is the finest (well almost!!!) activity know to man or woman,
and also that a Rolls Royce is perceived as a superior form of transport to a Kia,
I am curious as to the many members of the Fourum's views as to the relationship of all the Rib Manufacturers to each other. Revenger better than Scorpion. Humber to Halmatic, that sort of thing.

The reason for my question is that I take delivery of my new Zodiac Pro-3 6mtr with E-Tec 90 next week and have been curious to see where Zodiac stand in the eyes of the people who know RIB's best.... You lot.

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Loose Moose

...also that a Rolls Royce is perceived as a superior form of transport to a Kia,

I love my KIA!! Cheaper to run than a Rolls, Cheaper to Insure, easier to park, and way better off road!

[xpertski]

i have just sold my zodiac 9 man, and i have much good to say bout zodiac, in btheir section of the rib market they are very competitively priced, and have a very good finnish to the product, however their hulls design although are very good and efficient, are not suited to what british seas mostly demand of a rib, but i would choose them over say a valiant, for aesthetic reasons, i like them better than bombard, basically for the money you pay, you get a great boat! humber over halmatic, bu im biased, ive just bought one, erm scorpion over revenger...

[Loose Moose]

Well, that got a lot of response. Thanks!! So glad I asked.

[qcamel]

Think the problem is that there are so many answers and opinions. Whats the best motorbike or whats the best car? The list and argument would go on forever. The best Rib is the one you own that leaves you smiling at the end of the day.. imho

Ollie

[Bittentobuggery]

I think they're a bit like wives; the best one is the one you can't quite afford.

[Tims Osprey]

zodiac are ok but i don't think that they are up to the quality of some British built Ribs i think that the pro range make good family inshore liesure craft but are not really suited to offshore seas because there hulls are a bit shallow, But it all depends on what one want's to use it for, So for skiing and haveing fun with the family and friends you could do alot worse than buying a zodiac. I like there pro open range they have deeper and stronger hulls more suited to ventureing further out to sea.

[Hightower]

Nothing wrong with Kia's here either pal.....

[Andy Stevens]

Originally Posted by Jimbo

and way better off road!

Really Jim, we both know thats BULLS***

Still, the 101 winch pulled it out eh.................


Andy

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Andy Stevens

Really Jim, we both know thats BULLS***

Still, the 101 winch pulled it out eh.................


Andy

Yeah, ok, fair cop, I posted that before visiting your good self!

Will post photo as soon as I've downloaded the 84meg file containing the car saga...

(P.S., Cheers for a great day andy!)

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by Andy Stevens

Really Jim, we both know thats BULLS***

Still, the 101 winch pulled it out eh.................


Andy

Yeah, ok, fair cop, I posted that before visiting your good self!

Will post photo as soon as I've downloaded the 84meg file containing the car saga...

(P.S., Cheers for a great day andy!)

[MeMe]

.....in the response so far however, I suppose listing rib manufacturers is not as easy as listing cars.
If one were to use the same formula as with cars, one would say that the most expensive are therefore the best and that thus, all others follow in price banding. Would anyone argue with that generalisation ?

Therefore - and this is just off the top of my head.....

Scanner
Mark Pascoe
Scorpion

and so the list continues.........

As for Zodiac, as mentioned everyone thinks their make is the best however, one must also appreciate the pros and cons associated with mass production, financial resources which, aids R&D and perhaps most inportantly Quality Control.

Therefore, Zodiac (IMHO) fall into the BMW bracket.

Again, IMHO Mark Pascow = Ferarri/Porsche. Scanner = RR Bently. Scorpion = Mercedes with a touch of Brabus.

Come on - shot me down !

[Louise]

Scanner the RR of RIBs! What about Fabio Buzzi?

[Rogue Wave]

Originally Posted by Whiteshoes

I think they're a bit like wives; the best one is the one you can't quite afford.

or the one you had before the one you got now

to be honest Zodiac's arent that prevalent of this forum so a lot of people don't have an opinion of em including me!

I second Ollie's comments!

we lok after a few boats some are sleek and beautiful and some are old dogs, but everybody comes back just as happy and safely!

[MeMe]

......with Ollies commetns as well.

Lou' took a look at http://fbdesign.it/websitemap.php but to be honest, not my cup of tea however, very nice.

I think, this year I'll have to attend RIBEX in order to bolster my own knowledge of other makes.

When is it - June ? I'm sure there'll be a thread at some point rallying interest.

[xpertski]

.....as i think zodiac, yeah fantastic, good value boats, and i wud say they fall into peugeot bracket more than BMW!!! BUT i wud say that the medline is a nice piece of kit, but the pro open is deceiving in the sense it makes out to be a rib for big seas, in reality its like the pro 3 range, mroe suited to inshore activities, and coast hugging activities! btu the finnish on these boats is ecellent, no doubts there! it depends if appearance is wanted mroe than ability, as a zodiac, or more obvious a revenger were wanted for sea use, although they are totally different, they are both not suited to big seas, but if you look at less aesthetically pleasing ribs like humber, delta and tornado, they are much better offshore, but the finnish is not the same as the production line models......but i quite like their look, so each to his own!

[MeMe]

[QUOTE=jon123] .... zodiac, yeah fantastic, good value boats, and i wud say they fall into peugeot bracket YOU MUST BE SPOILING FOR A FIGHT [QUOTE=jon123]

[QUOTE=jon123]BUT i wud say that the medline is a nice piece of kit[QUOTE=jon123] THANK YOU

Originally Posted by jon123

the finnish on these boats is ecellent, no doubts there! it depends if appearance is wanted mroe than ability, as a zodiac, or more obvious a revenger were wanted for sea use, although they are totally different, they are both not suited to big seas, but if you look at less aesthetically pleasing ribs like humber, delta and tornado, they are much better offshore, but the finnish is not the same as the production line models......but i quite like their look, so each to his own!

TOTALLY AGREE

[Phil Davies]

Originally Posted by MeMe

Therefore, Zodiac (IMHO) fall into the BMW bracket.

Nonsense, Graeme. As Rogue correctly points out, Zodiacs are not that prevalent and to compare it to a BMW would suggest that it was the c**toris of the RIB world i.e. every c**t's got one.

Again, IMHO Mark Pascow = Ferarri/Porsche. Scanner = RR Bently. Scorpion = Mercedes with a touch of Brabus.

I would perhaps class Pascoe as the equivalent of Lamborghini, whilst I see the Scorpion as more of a Ferrari. The former has that tad more exclusivity and is out of reach of 99.9% of us, while the Scorpion is expensive and desirable but you see more of them around these days. As with Lamborghini and Ferrari, both are ludicrously overpriced but command a certain cachet for the same reason. Which makes Avon the equivalent of TVR

[tcwozere]

Originally Posted by MeMe

...Therefore, Zodiac (IMHO) fall into the BMW bracket..

I always thought Zodiac's were named for their predecessor..



Neither could corner very well..

[xpertski]

tcwozere .....actually zodiacs corner very well, i loved the cornering ability of my pro 9 man! their hulls are excellent, just somtimes a deeper vee would be greatly received, and if they had a deeper vee, theres no doubt i would stay with zodiac!!! i would only now go for pro open 650, medline 2 or 3, both a bit of luxury