Questions about a Avon sea rider

[Gingertod97]

Hi guys looking to pick your brains about the rib I recently purchased. As far as I can tell it's a Avon sea rider 4m deluxe with the dashboard and hypalon over the front the rubbing strake and general design all put it as a old Avon sea rider how ever there are 3 major design differences with my own to others I've seen. Firstly it has a single chine on the hull 2nd the openings at the front for the flooding hull are triangular not just holes and lastly the tubes taper differently at the back. The hull had a stainless steel plate screwed to the bottom of the hull when i bought it hence all the ongoing repairs you can see in the pictures 😂 Many thanks in advance

[Tim M]

That's a well used and well modified 4m Avon Searider

[Northman]

Its hard to say due to the tube paint, but it looks like everything back from the tube seam next to the transom has been grafted on from a different, smaller boat. My guess would be an S300... the rowlocks are from a small Avon as well.

My guess on the missing lower chine is, it was cut away to make space for the metal hull plate you removed. It looks like extensive glass-work has been done on the bottom. That would also explain the flooding inlets being a different shape.

The other mod that worries me is the hypalon strips holding the tubes onto the hull... every Searider I have owned, the tape goes right up to within 10mm of the hull. Yours has a couple inches in between.

Not sure how she'd handle as is, so I'd be careful on the first test run. Should be a fun project though!! Good Luck...

[office888]

The metal plate is probably a band aid to "fix" a rotten transom.

[Gingertod97]

Originally Posted by Tim M

That's a well used and well modified 4m Avon Searider

Aye she has had a hard life me thinks

[Gingertod97]

Originally Posted by Northman

Its hard to say due to the tube paint, but it looks like everything back from the tube seam next to the transom has been grafted on from a different, smaller boat. My guess would be an S300... the rowlocks are from a small Avon as well.

My guess on the missing lower chine is, it was cut away to make space for the metal hull plate you removed. It looks like extensive glass-work has been done on the bottom. That would also explain the flooding inlets being a different shape.

The other mod that worries me is the hypalon strips holding the tubes onto the hull... every Searider I have owned, the tape goes right up to within 10mm of the hull. Yours has a couple inches in between.

Not sure how she'd handle as is, so I'd be careful on the first test run. Should be a fun project though!! Good Luck...

Thanks for the reply northman My thought about the lower chine are the same as yours, bit worried if it is a graft at the back mind this boat has had a lot of abuse and a lot of bad repairs in its time, took me weeks just to get all the old knackered resin and matting off it so i can start fresh. wonder why the tape for the tubes doesn't extend as far as it should ? some reinforcement may be in order there. Its as you say though its good fun and a fair old challenge

[Gingertod97]

The checker plate on the transom is indeed someones idea of "fixing" a soft transom needless to say it will be getting replaced and reinforced. What worries me is the guy i bought it off was using the boat like this a few weeks before i bought it.

[beamishken]

I'm not totally convinced it is a searider although there is definitely a family resemblance. Here's some pictures of my son's just after we repaired and gelcoated the hull before sanding and polishing
Might help or confuse the issue further

[Northman]

beamishken, that was my first thought... a searider copy or even some early test variant! Pretty sure its a heavily modified SR4 though. The flair on the remaining chine is spot on, and the fitting holes for the metal plate follows the line of the missing chine exactly.

Gingertod97, I don't suppose it still has its makers plate or a serial number / marks stamped into the Aluminium transom cap?

The lack of tape I would definitely worry about as you don't want to lose the tubes when you hit the water hard. I'd run some fresh material up mimicking the sizes in my picture. My guess is the tubes where taken off at some point and the tape damaged. They didn't have enough or the right size material when they put it back on.

The end cones grafts 'should' be ok if they are glued on well, but I'm not sure how the different size/shape will affect the handling and its a hard thing to replace without a full re-tube. Definitely take it easy when testing. It would be good to see what's under the paint over the joins to establish how well bonded they are.

Sounds like you have done a lot of work already, have you got any more pictures of progress?