older zodiac pro vs hurricane

[johnrambo]

Hi all,

This is my first post, just joint the site. So this might be a newbie question.

I've caught the rib bug and am looking for my first boat. Not to much around on the east coast of canada it seems aside from well used coastguard boats, mostly hurricane 470's, 540's, 590's and 733's (mostlly late 1990's vintage). Thats ok with me though, its the kind of boat I'm looking for, something used but bombproof.

I've done a bunch of lurking on this site and have been out to look at a few boats. I've dtermined that an 18ish foot boat will provide me with the beast balance of sea worthiness vs compactness (want to store the boat in my garage for winter). Would idealy like a 733, but won't fit in my garage and can't afford a pair of 150 engines.

I've noticed that there are a fair number of zodiac pro 7/9 man and pro 550's around canada and northern US for what seems to be better value for more recent models.

My question is, are the zodiac pro line of boats of the same hull geometery and build quality as their hurricane cousins? The 550's "seem" to have a shallower V based upon looking at pictures, but I can't find any documentation on older huricanes to verify it. It seems that zodiac don't make/market hurricanes under 6m anymore, so I can't compare apples to apples with new models.

anyone familiar with older pro & hurrican models? I did a search of the forums but did not turn up anything concrete.

Sorry for the long post...

-M

[gotchiguy]

Originally Posted by johnrambo

My question is, are the zodiac pro line of boats of the same hull geometery and build quality as their hurricane cousins?

Nothing like it! The Zodiac Pro is a mainstream civilian boat built for the Mediterranean. The Hurricane is built for the military and coastguard; the hulls shape is far deeper and more capable in rough conditions.

Go for the Hurricane

[captnjack]

What do you want to use the boat for?

The shallower deadrise on pro hull will plane with less power. At the expense of pounding in a seaway.

The deeper deadrise of the hurricane will tolerate rough water much better but will take more power to do it. Its also a heavier hull so will take more power still. And fuel.

For scuba diving (example use) you aren't diving in rough water anyway so deadrise like on the Pro hull can be a better use of weight/power. If you are fishing and willing to tolerate worsening conditions before heading home, deadrise more like the Hurricane would be better.

Just an example of why the roughest toughest boat may not be ideal.

[johnrambo]

Thanks guys,

Looking to use the boat for fishing, diving, whale watching and general beating about/coastal exploration/day out with the family. I live in Newfoundland, at literally the most easterly point in north america, stuck out half way into the atlantic. In most areas we are permanantly exposed to a north atlantic swell and north east wind, so I'm looking for boat that can reliably handle rough water, I expect to be pounding most of the time. I would trade some fuel economy for seakeeping ability any day.

I've done a bit more reaearch and I've mentaly crossed off the 550, apparantly the tubes are always in the water even when on plane and it has some nasty chine walking habbits. Not sure if the "pro-9", the "pro 550" and the "pro 550 open" are all the same hull or not. Aslo, noticed that both the huricanes and the pro series are supposed to have deep v hulls with 24 deg deadrise. Confusing. Must be some other gull geometry involved.

I guess I'm looking for a hurricane.

-M

[captnjack]

Hurricane for sure

But you may need to figure out a way to reboard after diving.

On my RIB we dekit leaving stuff on a tag line, toss weightbelts back inside, and "swim" back over the tube. On a Hurricane the tubes are going to be big and high though so this is not going to be very fun or easy. You may need a ladder but they can be hard to fit on RIBs. Avoid any kind of flexible ladder it won't work with scuba gear (which will pull you over backwards). A rigid ladder off the side of an A-frame is really the best strategy albit expensive and bulky.