Rib upgrade

[Jenks87]

Hi all, so I’ve had my small 3.9 3d tender xpro deep ally hull with a 30hp tiller for nearly 2 years now and it’s been cracking for fishing but I’m looking to upgrade to maybe a brig 500 with a 60hp or something similar with bench seat and console. I can launch solo with ease off beaches in shallow water etc at the moment but don’t want to complicate things too much. Still nice and easy to launch solo with the bigger boat etc. probably looking at an extra 200kg of weight compared to my compact rib I have now. Cheers all

[Peter_C]

You are going to have to trailer launch a larger boat. No way around it. Solo is not an issue though.

[Johno99]

I’ve currently got a 5m rib with a 60 and you will of course need a trailer and suitable vehicle to tow with. But on a decent launch ramp I can easily launch and recover on my own. Unless it’s a very firm beach you probably won’t able to launch but you should find plenty of places with a bit of planning.

[Jenks87]

Originally Posted by Peter_C

You are going to have to trailer launch a larger boat. No way around it. Solo is not an issue though.

Yes already launch with a roller trailer and can launch in less than knee height water. Also have a 4x4 but didn’t want to make things to much harder with a larger rib and larger engine

[Jenks87]

Originally Posted by Johno99

I’ve currently got a 5m rib with a 60 and you will of course need a trailer and suitable vehicle to tow with. But on a decent launch ramp I can easily launch and recover on my own. Unless it’s a very firm beach you probably won’t able to launch but you should find plenty of places with a bit of planning.

Yes already have a 4x4 and roller trailer with the current rib, the beaches do have firm sand but can be quite shallow so didn’t want to make things to hard for myself if I don’t need to. Can currently drop mine in less than knee height water so very easy

[Kristoff]

Originally Posted by Jenks87

Yes already have a 4x4 and roller trailer with the current rib, the beaches do have firm sand but can be quite shallow so didn’t want to make things to hard for myself if I don’t need to. Can currently drop mine in less than knee height water so very easy

You should be able to do the same thing with a larger rib. The larger boat won't need much more depth to float. It might be worth considering fitting a drop down full size wheel near the trailer tongue that you can use to pull the trailer out with a rope though.

If you can sit the boat on its trailer on the sand and have it roll easily, like you can if you have proper front wheel and not a jockey wheel, you can detach it from the car, push the boat in (with help perhaps), then drag the trailer put with a rope. Same thing when recovering, push the trailer in by hand, put the boat on, pull it out with a rope. I did this for years, before I got a tractor, with 6m+ boats (but I had help).

I still have my drop down wheel setup actually. I keep meaning to fit it to my current trailer just in case I have tractor issues. I'll do that this summer.