First time user and RIB buyer

Gavin F · 18 May 2007, 12:20

Hi all, been looking at buying a rib for a while and think i've finally found the one i'm going to buy. All you guys and girls seem quite up on everything and wondered if i could have an opinion on this before i purchase....thanks, gavin.

Kernow Buoy · 18 May 2007, 12:45

Hi Gavin
Firstly welcome to Ribnet!

I believe thats a Ribtec 5.35 ? I've had one for the past couple of years and overall am very pleased. The hull design is good, handles sea conditions very well for a boat of its size and is also fast ( mine touches 40kts with a 90 hp) Overall build quality is fairly impressive all original fixtures and fittings remain intact (I don't think thats an original Ribtec A frame on the one your looking at) and although mine is a 1997 it still looks in very good condition but has had 2 very careful previous owners.
Disadvantages I've found are the seating being too wide and low putting a lot of force through the crews backs on landing, this I've offset by including backrests for everyone. Having mentioned the hulls speed this seems to have been achieved by keeping its beam down and doesn't leave much room either side of the jockey console, mine had a 4 seat version fitted which made the situation slightly worse but at least 4 people can sit somewhere! Storage is also an issue, there's very little but with the extra deck space that one has should be fairly easy to overcome. I see there are several patches on that one and she does look a little tired generally but I assume the price will reflect that.
Regards
Jeff

Gavin F · 18 May 2007, 13:03

Jeff, thanks for that, and thanks to a warm welcome, i love this site, getting addicted since been looking for my first purchase. You're right indeed, it does have a few patched but these apparently were added to give more protection of the tubes and after closer inspection they seem to be on well so should be ok. The general condition of the boat is good but obviously being 7 years old it does reflect. The price - i'm looking to pick it up from the current owner for £4-£4,500 which i think seems to be well priced?? Looking to have something safe to learn the ways of the seas and have a good play thing to escape from the stresses of work, hopefully this is it?

Kernow Buoy · 18 May 2007, 13:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gavin F

Jeff, thanks for that, and thanks to a warm welcome, i love this site, getting addicted since been looking for my first purchase. You're right indeed, it does have a few patched but these apparently were added to give more protection of the tubes and after closer inspection they seem to be on well so should be ok. The general condition of the boat is good but obviously being 7 years old it does reflect. The price - i'm looking to pick it up from the current owner for £4-£4,500 which i think seems to be well priced?? Looking to have something safe to learn the ways of the seas and have a good play thing to escape from the stresses of work, hopefully this is it?

Gavin,
looks good for the price, the black patches on top the tube are original, if the others have been well done they shouldn't cause a problem. I'd put a couple of more years on its age though its a UK built one (which is good) someone here will know when they moved production to S.Africa but I think it was 98/99 ?
Your right about the stress thing, you'll have a hard job remembering where you work once your out on the Rib in a bit of weather!

Gavin F · 18 May 2007, 13:38

Overall then looks like to be a good purchase which I'm really pleased about. The chap I'm buying it from bought it for his wife to take pics at sea for her business but then she didnt like going out on her own so they used it for a few pub runs, etc. Before that someone had it as there tender....looking forward to hitting the water on this. Obviously there's more i need than the RIB such as clothing, life jackets, etc so have it all to look forward to. Thanks for the feedback on this one, I knew someone would be able to help. Gavin

Nos4r2 · 18 May 2007, 13:52

If they are giving up boating I'd haggle hard about what you get with the boat as well as the price (price is good anyway). You may find yourself saving paying out a small fortune on gear. It's easy to go through £600-700 kitting yourself out.

Tim M · 18 May 2007, 13:57

I had a 585 and it was a very solid, well built boat. This one is a 1992 model and really didn't look that old. Looks like a good deal

Gavin F · 18 May 2007, 13:59

That's a few quid isn't it, might ask him what else he can throw in to the deal then. I know he's got a 40ft yacht so he's not giving up completely, just the RIB! Need to get myself a GPS and VHF etc so if you know of any good places to buy kit then please let me know. Thanks, Gavin.

Gavin F · 18 May 2007, 14:02

Hi Tim,

Awesome, glad you share the love. I think this is the one for me, positive feedback so far which is what I was looking for. Is that a 115 on yours, the one i'm looking to purchase only has a 50, should be ok to start off with i guess?

Nos4r2 · 18 May 2007, 14:06

? I thought it was bigger than a 50. It looks new enough that you could sell it and pay for an upgrade without adding too much cash anyway though.

Talk to Jimbo on here about electronics-he'll do you a pretty good deal and he's in Pompey.

He can probably help you with VHF training too and anything else you need to learn.

Tim M · 18 May 2007, 14:07

Yes thats a 115. It topped out at 36.5knots. The boat had a Yamaha 115 on the back before that engine and it did somewhere in the 40s.

50 sounds a bit underpowered to me; you may well find your self ragging the engine at full-pelt the whole time which isn't great for the engine or the fuel consumption. That said you could easily change the engine at the end of the seaon when you've got used to the boat and used engine prices are at their lowest.

Kernow Buoy · 18 May 2007, 14:24

Gavin the 5.35's maximum engine size given by Ribtec is a 90, I think a 50 will be OK, especially if your lightly loaded with only 1 or 2 people on board, but as Tim and Nos say a bigger engine may follow!

Nice action shot of a 5.35 (Mine!)

Gavin F · 18 May 2007, 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

I had a 585 and it was a very solid, well built boat. This one is a 1992 model and really didn't look that old. Looks like a good deal

Tim I notice you're in Portsmouth (good man) and was wondering where you keep your RIB?

Gavin F · 18 May 2007, 14:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernow

Gavin the 5.35's maximum engine size given by Ribtec is a 90, I think a 50 will be OK, especially if your lightly loaded with only 1 or 2 people on board, but as Tim and Nos say a bigger engine may follow!

Nice action shot of a 5.35 (Mine!)

Thats what the guy said, he said he had one on the boat but then went to a 50 so i'll give it a crack and go from there i think - nice pic by the way!

Tim M · 18 May 2007, 15:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gavin F

Tim I notice you're in Portsmouth (good man) and was wondering where you keep your RIB?

I have a 7m Solent now which I keep in Haslar Marina.

I used to have an "arragement" with the guys that ran the Sparkling Car wash on Albert road. That was very handy until they closed down.

The Ribtec was kept in Portsmouth Sailing Club's yard which is down near the camber. Very handy for the slip! You could try and get your boat in there; all you need to do is join the sailing club and then pay for storage. It's very cheap. Just don't leave anything loose on your boat as it will disapear. Another great advantage of that is that you can go across the road ror a pint after your day out in the sailing club bar (pint of cider £1.30

)

Marina berthing is worth considering though; its not as expensive as you might think and its dead handy.

Gavin F · 18 May 2007, 15:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tim M

I have a 7m Solent now which I keep in Haslar Marina.

I used to have an "arragement" with the guys that ran the Sparkling Car wash on Albert road. That was very handy until they closed down.

The Ribtec was kept in Portsmouth Sailing Club's yard which is down near the camber. Very handy for the slip! You could try and get your boat in there; all you need to do is join the sailing club and then pay for storage. It's very cheap. Just don't leave anything loose on your boat as it will disapear. Another great advantage of that is that you can go across the road ror a pint after your day out in the sailing club bar (pint of cider £1.30

)

Marina berthing is worth considering though; its not as expensive as you might think and its dead handy.

Yeah i'm trying to find one of those "arrangements" but looking in to options as we speak, would like to stay in this area if possible so covering all bases. I've emailed Portsmouth Sailing Centre so we'll see what they say. Re the mooring side of things, think when i was chatting to someone re this they mentioned that Port Solent was approx £3k a year, that was as expensive as i thought!!

Andy Moore · 18 May 2007, 17:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gavin F

Looking to have something safe to learn the ways of the seas and have a good play thing to escape from the stresses of work, hopefully this is it?

Good idea!

Andy Moore · 18 May 2007, 17:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gavin F

Looking to have something safe to learn the ways of the seas and have a good play thing to escape from the stresses of work, hopefully this is it?

Good idea!