General rib knowledge required!

[yachtie762]

Good Afternoon fellow rib fans!

I am relatively new to the world of ribs in terms of looking to own/use one. I have been a sailor (probably a dirty word here!) for many years but looking to get in to rib driving for pleasure/work. I have recently done my PB L2 and looking to do level 3 once I have a bit of experience.

Initial questions really are what are the best boats for the solent, ideally in the 5m upwards range, price up to about £10k initially but lower the better ideally.

Also along side looking for a boat for personal use, I also have a potential business idea that I am looking in to so wondering what boats/engines are best for fuel economy? Is there any real advantage in looking at one of the new breed of diesel or electric outboards or is petrol the way forward still?

[paulbrown22]

Welcome!

For PB L3, presumably you mean Intermediate or Advanced? In the RYA Powerboat scheme at least, there is no L3.

Have a search on the forum, but "what boat for the Solent" (or indeed other locations) is a very common question, so loads of information already here. There is no correct answer either, so very much depends on what exactly you want to do with the boat, where you will keep it, how many passengers, budget, what seats you want, what overall style you like, what age you want, what engine, etc. Also for some reason the RIB market at the moment is a bit overpriced, but £10k for a 5m should be possible, depending on your exact criteria.

You aren't going to find any electric RIB's 5m+ for £10k given the current cost of the technology. Diesel is also pretty rare in the 5-6m range given the size limitations, and with the removal of red diesel advantages, additional costs of servicing the inboard/outdrive, unless you are doing massive hours, generally not worth it from a cost perspective. So you will most likely end up with a petrol outboard, where modern 4 strokes (or an Evinrude Etec if you like) are far more fuel efficient than the older 2 strokes.

[yachtie762]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for your response. Sorry, school boy errors in terms of not searching the forums first!

Yes, intermediate PB or tender operator as next step qualification wise. Without giving too much away about the business idea, main requirement would be deck space with seating for 2-4 people. Speed is also reasonably important so guessing deep v hull would be preferable, especially given the sea state in the solent.

I did seen that there is a possible move away from red diesel and the prices are high so good ol petrol may be best.

Probably looking to keep the boat in the water for the summer season and kept on a trailer over winter on private property so no storage costs. Not in a rush to purchase so may take advantage of advice on here and of the lower prices in the low season.

[paulbrown22]

Yes a deep vee will generally give a much better ride in rough waters, and length is a massive advantage as well.

Depending on your business idea and area of operations, the boat might also need to be coded? If so, that adds a lot of expense to the project, and requires a certain amount of space for all the kit, making it tough in a 5m boat.

On a 5m RIB, you could get decent seating for 4 with back rests, which presumably you'd want for commercial operations, but won't have much deck space left, depending on what you want to carry!

[yachtie762]

Not sure on coding requirements, I would only be carrying myself and a crew member so no members of the public so not sure if it would be required. Cargo would be light but occasionally a little bulky so at a guess maybe a side by side seating arrangement for for skipper and crew with deck space forward of the helm. No real need for excess lockers. provided I could stow the essentials like flares, anchor, boat hook etc. Its a bit of a standing start from a rib knowledge perspective, so many boat designs and configurations its hard to know where to start!

[HDAV]

Check with those more in the know (And your insurer) but sounds like work boat territory much cheaper to buy a coded or previously coded boat than try and code a leisure boat 5m is small for a coded vessel but not unheard of Look at older Humber models for good value ex dive boats may suit as often a small console and large deck space


https://assets.publishing.service.go...-06-09-sgs.pdf

[yachtie762]

Thanks for the reply, apologies but not been on line for a few weeks. I will take a look at coding requirements and Humber boats as an option, I have seen a few ads and they look ideal from first glance

[Iankristy]

Originally Posted by yachtie762

Not sure on coding requirements, I would only be carrying myself and a crew member so no members of the public so not sure if it would be required. Cargo would be light but occasionally a little bulky so at a guess maybe a side by side seating arrangement for for skipper and crew with deck space forward of the helm. No real need for excess lockers. provided I could stow the essentials like flares, anchor, boat hook etc. Its a bit of a standing start from a rib knowledge perspective, so many boat designs and configurations its hard to know where to start!

Coding isn’t about carrying passengers, it’s about using the vessel for hire or reward. If it’s coastal and any payment is involved the vessel will need to be coded. Re your qualifications bear in mind that pb2 can be commercially endorsed but only entitles you to go 3 miles from your point of departure and return there. You can’t go from port A to port B. You also can’t helm a workboat(sounds like what your doing?). You’d need advanced power certificate as a minimum. As long as you can get the hours logged that you need to do it it’s a great course.
That said if it’s a good idea go for it. Buy a boat that is already coded 100 times easier. Budget £1k min for coding.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Iankristy

Re your qualifications bear in mind that pb2 can be commercially endorsed but only entitles you to go 3 miles from your point of departure and return there. You can’t go from port A to port B.

You sure about that last part? I thought there were small ferries operating A-B, just so long as they are within 3 miles of each other.

The OP also mentioned the solent. It may be worth him knowing that for Coding purposed not everyhting that is salty counts as "going to sea". There are "categorised waters" (including the solent) where coding may not be essential but local authority licenses may be required (or coding is usually a way round the LA license). Where you actually launch in categorised waters the Nominated Departure Point for coding is the boundary of the categorised waters, so in some areas like the Solent and the Clyde you have quite an area to play in.

[Iankristy]

Originally Posted by Poly

You sure about that last part? I thought there were small ferries operating A-B, just so long as they are within 3 miles of each other.



The OP also mentioned the solent. It may be worth him knowing that for Coding purposed not everyhting that is salty counts as "going to sea". There are "categorised waters" (including the solent) where coding may not be essential but local authority licenses may be required (or coding is usually a way round the LA license). Where you actually launch in categorised waters the Nominated Departure Point for coding is the boundary of the categorised waters, so in some areas like the Solent and the Clyde you have quite an area to play in.

Pretty sure lol but would need to dig for it, because people do things doesn’t always make it correct [emoji848]Im also fairly sure that the Clyde port authority requires all commercial vessels to be coded although I know of at least one that is not. Won’t matter till it matters !
In general the pb2 for commercial operations is likely going to be a dead duck soon enough anyhoo. Rightfully so in most cases I’d say. It just doesn’t prepare someone for the responsibilities involved.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Iankristy

Pretty sure lol but would need to dig for it, because people do things doesn’t always make it correct [emoji848]

mmm... but I was thinking of some fairly professionally run operations, not chancers.

Im also fairly sure that the Clyde port authority requires all commercial vessels to be coded although I know of at least one that is not. Won’t matter till it matters !

I have a feeling that is a "request" rather than a "require" but anyone who thinks they've found loopholes wants to be absolutely sure because its things like that that seem to have people standing in the dock when its all gone wrong rather than the day to day operations.

In general the pb2 for commercial operations is likely going to be a dead duck soon enough anyhoo. Rightfully so in most cases I’d say. It just doesn’t prepare someone for the responsibilities involved.

I'm sceptical, people have been saying this for the last 10 years. A commercially endorsed advance powerboat certificate is overkill for someone doing safety boat work in daylight on bridge/harbour maintenance; and there will be people who only have a PB2 but decades of experience operating short, safe, ferry or wildlife trips in sheltered waters who have more awareness of the responsibilities than a freshly qualified APB just finished a zero-to-hero intensive course. The PPR course was meant to help close that gap - I suspect as a paper based theory exercise it can't really. What it needs is for vessel operators to realise that qualification are the absolute minimum entry level - and they still need to assess the competence of their staff. You wouldn't (shouldn't) get an outdoor centre just saying "you've got a driving license, there's the keys the minibus take that group of kids". But now we are going a bit off topic - except that yachtie might need to have a think about how as a newly qualified skipper he'll show anyone that might need to know that he's more than the bit of paper.

[Iankristy]

Lot of sense in what you say. No doubt about it you can have all the papers you want but when the tide turns and swell jumps up and you’ve got 12 folks lives in your hands you’d better know your shit [emoji23]