IRB to rib

shedsmith · 07 August 2021, 23:30

Can anyone please direct me to a link or advise.
I have a Gemini IRB, catamaran, cross between a thunder cat and a surf rescue. Had some dodgy professional do some maintenance, everything he reglued failed after a few months. One hyjacker leaks, tried fixing latex. They annoy me, anyway spoke to a couple of people in the in industry , they advised to convert it to rib.
I am contemplating epoxy deck and hyjackers, I run a 25 , these experts said a 40 be better. Being a solid hull, I thought I would get better performance. I'm not out to punch 6 m surf.
I love cats but you need a bit more power, hoping rigidity will help,

RickW · 08 August 2021, 09:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by shedsmith

Can anyone please direct me to a link or advise.

I have a Gemini IRB, catamaran, cross between a thunder cat and a surf rescue. Had some dodgy professional do some maintenance, everything he reglued failed after a few months. One hyjacker leaks, tried fixing latex. They annoy me, anyway spoke to a couple of people in the in industry , they advised to convert it to rib.

I am contemplating epoxy deck and hyjackers, I run a 25 , these experts said a 40 be better. Being a solid hull, I thought I would get better performance. I'm not out to punch 6 m surf.

I love cats but you need a bit more power, hoping rigidity will help,

Is it a grx 420? Like a surfcat?

Roflhat · 08 August 2021, 14:20

Maybe possible to convert to a solid hull but seems like a lot of work to me. Would be heavier than the original which won’t compliment the boats performance.
Personally I’d look at getting another hull, a new one is circa £3k delivered here in the uk, can’t imagine it’s much more in Aus.
For power, if it’s a 4m ish you definitely want at least 40hp on it. I had a surfcat with a 30hp which worked fine and was good fun but it’s a different boat with a 50, better balanced too as they’re designed for that size motor.

shedsmith · 09 August 2021, 03:45

Yeah I know it's a lot of work, it's a small boat, but the safety of a deck that holds floatation, and the fact I can run up the beach, mudflats guilt free. I'll speak to some other professionals, there's a bloke here who has a PVC welder, a quote to build 2 new hyjackers is feasible.
This boat was built for surf lifesaving, spoke to a shipwright who is a big name in the organisation and IRB racing scene who said the cats never hit off, due to bias, in his opinion they were possibly better design than the mono. No one new how to drive them. I just want it to be a reliable, by introducing a solid hull I can put up a sun shade, spear gun rack etc. Maybe I'm bias also, keeping pressure up to these hyjackers is taking the joy out of it, the rest of it is hypalon, so they need replacing, it's a 2004 model. It's been absolutely awesome. Maybe it's time to move on, I prepared to spend around $500 AUD. Epoxy is available here for $330 for 24litres, it keeps, I have a large fibreglass boat that needs some love also, it costs a fortune to run. I miss my duck.

shedsmith · 09 August 2021, 04:12

No, it's an IRB, known as cat 2, about 3.2 meters. These were built to survey, approved for surf lifesaving , everything is overdone

shedsmith · 09 August 2021, 04:16

I apologize, it is a grx420, I thought meant it was 4.2meters , thankyou, you have solved a mystery.
LoL, closer inspection it ain't, mine measures 3.3 meters approx, but yes it basically a smaller version.