Northcraft Boats?

[JSP]

Originally Posted by malthouse

Just an empty grid to me.

Yeah, it's that cheap

[Mr Flibble]

Here are a couple of the prices taken from the site (all come with steering,console etc either Hypalon or Polyurethane tubes, I guess you pick your preference).

5.5m Wide Bodied Rib £4299
5.5m Commercial Rib £4899
6.2m Wide Bodied Rib £4899
6.2m Commercial Rib £5999
7.3m Wide Bodied Rib £6799
7.3m Commercial Rib £7599

All prices exc VAT

If this is a true, current price then these are cheap, not sure of upgrades etc (dual cruise consoles, hydraulic steering, tube top patches etc etc etc).

Website is a bit vague as to what you get and no pics or info on models, optional extras etc.

[JSP]

Originally Posted by Mr Flibble

Here are a couple of the prices taken from the site (all come with steering,console etc either Hypalon or Polyurethane tubes, I guess you pick your preference).

5.5m Wide Bodied Rib £4299
5.5m Commercial Rib £4899
6.2m Wide Bodied Rib £4899
6.2m Commercial Rib £5999
7.3m Wide Bodied Rib £6799
7.3m Commercial Rib £7599

All prices exc VAT

If this is a true, current price then these are cheap, not sure of upgrades etc (dual cruise consoles, hydraulic steering, tube top patches etc etc etc).

Website is a bit vague as to what you get and no pics or info on models, optional extras etc.

That is cheap!

[spartacus]

Originally Posted by Mr Flibble

Here are a couple of the prices taken from the site (all come with steering,console etc either Hypalon or Polyurethane tubes, I guess you pick your preference).

5.5m Wide Bodied Rib £4299
5.5m Commercial Rib £4899
6.2m Wide Bodied Rib £4899
6.2m Commercial Rib £5999
7.3m Wide Bodied Rib £6799
7.3m Commercial Rib £7599

All prices exc VAT

If this is a true, current price then these are cheap, not sure of upgrades etc (dual cruise consoles, hydraulic steering, tube top patches etc etc etc).

Website is a bit vague as to what you get and no pics or info on models, optional extras etc.

They are relatlively cheap, however that's a bare boat, no console, fuel tank, steering, trailer, electronics or engine. It all adds up. Compared to Ribcraft...

4.2m, £4,343
4.8m, £5,126
5.3m, £6,517
5.8m, £7,483
6.4m, £8,691
6.8m, £10,400
7.8m, £12,100
9.0m, £18,995
10.5m, £24,995
12.0m, £29,995

All excluding VAT.

[Bigmuz7]

I wouldnt get too exited chaps .. I've had three of em .. and I wont be having a fourth. Never had any, that held air in the toobs from new, any longer than a week and the last one was a disaster, covered elsewhere in this forum. Northcrafts support is also legendary ..... in its absence .... although some have had better experience of them than I. Shame too .. cos which ever hulls they copied to make the boats up, ride pretty well

[JSP]

Originally Posted by Bigmuz7

I wouldnt get too exited chaps .. I've had three of em .. and I wont be having a fourth. Never had any, that held air in the toobs from new, any longer than a week and the last one was a disaster, covered elsewhere in this forum. Northcrafts support is also legendary ..... in its absence .... although some have had better experience of them than I. Shame too .. cos which ever hulls they copied to make the boats up, ride pretty well

I've read one of your threads on the transom. Looked like a bad experience although I did like the look of DHD's before he sold it.

[jremy]

Hi
I just bought a Northcraft 2008 widebody 6.3 two months ago.
I just had time to test it for 15 minutes because I haven't all the papers in order yet.
It seems to be a good boat for it's price! Transom looks good too.
I had J. Hewitt on the phone last week because I need a certificate of conformity and the information about the CE approval in order to use my boat in Belgium.. Crazy customs here !
I hope to have all the papers that I need, I sent a letter to them too and I'm waiting for an answer now..

[GaryC]

Originally Posted by malthouse

Just an empty grid to me.

Chrome does not like it. IE seems ok.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by jremy

Hi
I just bought a Northcraft 2008 widebody 6.3 two months ago.
I just had time to test it for 15 minutes because I haven't all the papers in order yet.
It seems to be a good boat for it's price! Transom looks good too.
I had J. Hewitt on the phone last week because I need a certificate of conformity and the information about the CE approval in order to use my boat in Belgium.. Crazy customs here !
I hope to have all the papers that I need, I sent a letter to them too and I'm waiting for an answer now..

The 6.3 was the best of the ones I had does it have a planing pad on the bottom ? ..

[jremy]

Yes it's that one Is there a real difference with that planing pad? I haven't had time to test it on sea!! And now it's too cold here!
Still waiting for papers :'( hope to have an answer next week!

[ALANT]

I had a 7.3 widebody which had a big planning pad coded for 12, went on the plane very quickly. Only problem was going astern with no pax needed about a 7.3 metre wide space as it just turned broadside very little v in the water due to coding equipment making it stern heavy. When I coded the boat John was very helpful sending all the info I needed.
Should go well with a 175hp on the back, mate has one with a 200 opti.

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by jremy

Yes it's that one Is there a real difference with that planing pad?

Not much .. there is little difference IMHO to a normal hull when powered properly ..thats just what I found .. other may see differently .. but what I did notice is .. that boats of that age had decent tube quality which is unusual for Northcrafts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the hull.. it just didnt do anything special .. despite the way it looked at the stern

[Trickdog]

I have the 6.3 metre Northcraft and it handles really well, gets on the plane easily and I’ve been very impressed by it’s seakeeping. It feels very safe and it’s an easy boat to drive. Even with a 115hp fitted the speed is reasonable too; had it up to 37 knots with 2 on board and 90 litres of fuel. Northcraft used to race with this hull so I guess you would expect decent performance.

In my opinion, having seen 3 boats in construction at the factory and owned mine for two seasons, Northcrafts are very solid but the finish could be a little better. But then you should not expect Roll Royce quality when paying Skoda prices. I have not had any problems at all with the tubes losing air.

When my RIB was being built I found the company extremely helpful and willing to do any amount of customisation… And you do get a LOT of boat for your money. They are, however, a very small operation (3 people there at the time I bought my RIB) and getting hold of them can be problematic. I tended to phone late in the day otherwise they where always busy in the workshop.

They used to have a fairly decent web site (not the one mentioned in this thread) but it seems to have disappeared.

I believe the 6.3m hull is an old Fletcher design, but I could be wrong on this.

[jremy]

Thanks a lot for your advices!! As you said, the finish could be better but at that price I can't ask more.
I'm impatient to use it! In the meantime, I'm preparing the trailer and working on some scratches.
I'll post some pics once I'll be able to use it in my country.

[Downhilldai]

I had a 5.5m Northcraft for over 10 years and it still lives locally.

GRP work was excellent and tubes have been good, losing only a little air over a few weeks. I bought it new, back in the early-mid 1990s and as Trickdog says, the company couldn't have been more helpful in accommodating some unconventional spec items. Good value too.

Being an early design, the bow tube was very low, a bit like a SR5.4, which did mean some water coming on board in the rough. I believe the design has changed since and newer boats have a higher rise in the bow area. The forefoot has a very fine entry, which may confirm its sportsboat heritage, suggested by Trickdog.

[starnetman2001]

Hello,

I have an old Northcraft 6.3

When I took it to Lundy last Sept I hired a cox for some days when we all wanted to dive at once. This Cox called Tim had recently spent 9month driving RIBS in the Arctic. When he drove mine he was well impressed.

Although the Humber has a really deep V, he felt that the Northcraft handled just as well in heavy swell with the advantage of getting on the plane at really low speeds. We came back in a 7 fully loaded with kit (four sets of twins + 4 other gylinders + 5 blokes). Time thought that the Humber would be fine in this weather but it would have been a slow journey. The Northcraft was able to get on the plane at 12knots and head into the swell.

I have since met Northcraft by visiting hime and found his knowlage was fantastic and thought he was really helpfull.

He was showing me pics of an 8meter RIB. This one has a cabin and was used commercially. Although it only has a 75hp it gets on the plane easily..wow! I want one

David.

[ADI]

To answer the first question on this thread, hope this helps. www.northcraftribs.co.uk

Came across it on boats and outboards

[chewy]

Aren't Northcraft selling direct to the public now, last I knew they were built in East Yorkshire?

[Bigmuz7]

Originally Posted by ADI

To answer the first question on this thread, hope this helps. www.northcraftribs.co.uk

Came across it on boats and outboards

So FYM dont have anything to do with them then anymore ?

[starnetman2001]

If you go to www.northcraft.co.uk you can buy direct from northcraft which is considerably cheaper then ferry marine who get the northcraftribs site.

The retubes are really good value too.

John just refurbished my Zodiac and it's mint!

D