Hunt for a Redbay Stormforce 8.4 Canopy

[acs87]

Hi all!

I have started a new thread in the wanted section as I am on the hunt for a tidy example of a Redbay Stormforce 8.4 however I have a few questions so I am hoping there might be some owners of similar vessels on here that can offer some advice.

https://www.rib.net/forum/f9/redbay-stormforce-8-4m-canopy-wanted-90950.html

I am almost positive I would like a Yanmar/Yamaha ME432 with stern drive for reliability and efficiency, but open to owners opinions on this? Does this setup in this boat work as well as I am led to believe? These sized boats seem to come with c.300-400lt fuel tanks which should give reasonable range if c22lts/h is achievable at 22-25kns?

Do any owners regularly trailer their boat of this size? I imagine boat and trailer might come quite close to the weight limit for a car?

Any other useful advice/pointers to help me in my search and help me in choosing the right boat much appreciated!

Thanks

Alex

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by acs87

Do any owners regularly trailer their boat of this size? I imagine boat and trailer might come quite close to the weight limit for a car?

An 8.4+ inboard diesel + 300-400 litres of fuel + all the rest of the gubbins is going to be well outside the towing capacity of just about any vehicle apart from large 4x4s. You might just get it under 3500kg, but it will be a handful, notwithstanding the width on the road, which I'm guessing will be well over 2.4M

[paulbrown22]

I used to tow/launch/recover my 9m Ribtec with a Yanmar 6LP all the time (it lived on the trailer) with no particular issues, behind a Defender or Range Rover. To be fair the size/stability of the trailer meant it towed far better than my smaller trailers on open roads, you just had to plan ahead a bit to make sure you didn't end up down any tiny country tracks!

Mine had a ~400l tank and I reckoned on about 1l/NM at 25kn, so I budgeted on a 300NM range with reserve.

Parts for the Yamaha sterndrives are getting hard to find, personally I'd be going for a Yanmar 6LP with Bravo drive. They are reliable and efficient (and parts pretty easily available), but any stern drives takes a fair amount of maintenance if you want to look after it properly, and parts aren't cheap.

Very much depends how much you use it - modern outboards are much more efficient than they used to be and generally much easier/cheaper to maintain, so for a diesel/stern drive combo to make financial sense you really have to use it a huge amount. You see an awful lot of small commercial vessels these days using outboards for that reason... That being said I did love my diesel Ribtec and would happily have one again!

[acs87]

Thanks for the reply.

Sorry. I should have been clearer - by car i really just meant not a commercial vehicle (HGV etc). If towed it would be behind a Land Rover with 3,500kg towing capacity. This would just be for winter storage and any maintenance as the boat would likely spend most of the summer months on the west of Scotland, however would be winterised on the east coast ideally.

Your point about the with is very relevant though. I imagine it would be close to the limit width wise.

[acs87]

Originally Posted by paulbrown22

I used to tow/launch/recover my 9m Ribtec with a Yanmar 6LP all the time (it lived on the trailer) with no particular issues, behind a Defender or Range Rover. To be fair the size/stability of the trailer meant it towed far better than my smaller trailers on open roads, you just had to plan ahead a bit to make sure you didn't end up down any tiny country tracks!

Mine had a ~400l tank and I reckoned on about 1l/NM at 25kn, so I budgeted on a 300NM range with reserve.

Parts for the Yamaha sterndrives are getting hard to find, personally I'd be going for a Yanmar 6LP with Bravo drive. They are reliable and efficient (and parts pretty easily available), but any stern drives takes a fair amount of maintenance if you want to look after it properly, and parts aren't cheap.

Very much depends how much you use it - modern outboards are much more efficient than they used to be and generally much easier/cheaper to maintain, so for a diesel/stern drive combo to make financial sense you really have to use it a huge amount. You see an awful lot of small commercial vessels these days using outboards for that reason... That being said I did love my diesel Ribtec and would happily have one again!

Thanks Paul. The age of boat I am looking at most seem to have either Yamaha me422 or me432 and I am aware parts are getting trickier to find. If I can find an example that’s been well looked after without crazy hours I am hoping with proper routine servicing going forward I should be ok for a while at least. Try and keep the maintenance preventative rather than the other way around!! That would be the plan anyway!

In terms of diesel inboards, what engine did Redbay tend to fit in this size vessel after 2010 when the Yamaha stern drives ended? Did they switch to Yanmar, or something else? Or was it very much customer preference?

I know what I am looking for isn’t all that common as you don’t see many come up for sale - hence I am not too familiar with the different specs they made!

[beamishken]

I just collected my pals 8.4 from dave cowal at Chorley & towed it back to ayrshire with a vw amarok, I dont particularly like pickups for towing but it handled it easily not sure on the weight but didnt feel anywhere near 3.5t they are relatively narrow beam so well within the legal width limit with tubes still inflated
Regarding engines the 6lp & bravo would be the prefered option purely because of parts availability but in reality the yamaha when its working right is probably the superior drive, just beware of high hours drives or ones that have done lots of shifting as the gear selector shuttle wears & they loose drive. Both engines based on the same toyota 1hdft engine so many parts can be bought from toyota or any motor factor filters etc & many internal engine parts.
Beware of poorly maintained or ones that look neglected, I'm currently working on a 6lp powered 8.4m boat a guy bought cheap & hes up around 15k in repairs & parts already & hes not finished yet.

[willk]

Originally Posted by acs87

In terms of diesel inboards, what engine did Redbay tend to fit in this size vessel after 2010 when the Yamaha stern drives ended? Did they switch to Yanmar, or something else? Or was it very much customer preference?

Redbay were pretty much Yanmar after the Yamaha exit. They had used 6LP units previously with Bravos and when the LV8 came on the market, largely moved over to those coupled to Yanmar drives, with a couple of notable exceptions. That said, they're fitted various engines for clients over the years.

Trailed width shouldn't be a major issue. Certainly legal with the back tube sections deflated and strapped up.

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by willk

Redbay were pretty much Yanmar after the Yamaha exit. They had used 6LP units previously with Bravos and when the LV8 came on the market, largely moved over to those coupled to Yanmar drives, with a couple of notable exceptions. That said, they're fitted various engines for clients over the years.

Trailed width shouldn't be a major issue. Certainly legal with the back tube sections deflated and strapped up.

Even with the tubes fully inflated its only 9ft3" across the stern , maximum legal width in uk is 9ft6". Measured one last night

[acs87]

Originally Posted by beamishken

Even with the tubes fully inflated its only 9ft3" across the stern , maximum legal width in uk is 9ft6". Measured one last night

That’s good to know. Thanks