Rib Virgin

Sarah G · 21 May 2007, 15:28

I think I need help - probably in more ways than one - but I'm getting very confused. We have decided that we would like to buy a rib. We currently go dinghy sailing and yacht sailing but as our daughter is growing and will want to learn to sail soon, would like to have a rescue boat. We also want to whiz over the IoW to visit friends.

We were coming around the idea of a 6 - 6.5m boat preferably loads of seating but only have a budget of about £10K. Some of the 'commercial' sellers have been very unhelpful sailing that we cannot possibly expect to buy a boat for this amount - I don't want a new one just a reliable one.

I have found one: Humber 6.5m Rib. professionally retubed 2006, Engine 2003 Volvo Penta 4.3 GS, V6 petrol with duo prop outdrive. Very fast, excellent for diving, wakeboarding, skiing or just plain fun. Fishfinder, nav. Lights. Bilge pump, all over cover,anchor, on trailer, new antifouling, ready to go for the season within our budget - does anybody have any views on the boat.

I have also been told scare stories about running costs for ribs and that £100-£200 for a day in petrol isn't unheard of. I'm hoping this is only if you are running the thing all day at full pelt - or am I being deluded?

Are there any makes that should be avoided? Is it better to go inboard or outboard?

I am going on a Level 2 powerboat course this weekend so hopefully I will be a little more confident but any advice would be welcomed..

Help...

Nasher · 21 May 2007, 15:37

Sarah

Hi, and welcome to Ribnet.

The Humber sounds like a good boat, but the running costs of any Petrol engined RIB will be quite high when you are looking at bigger engines.
To get an idea I would suggest you are looking at using around 2l of fuel per mile or more with that set up.

So it doesn't take long to reach your £100

Nasher

Sarah G · 21 May 2007, 15:44

Thank you for this. I can understand that. Do inboard engines use more fuel than outboards? Are they more reliable? Is it cheaper to maintain (in the longer term) as I understand outboards have a 'serious' life of 10 years and looking at the costs of those - that worries me?

Thanks again

codprawn · 21 May 2007, 15:52

Sadly it is quite easy to spend £100 on fuel in a day on a reasonable trip. Just remember that without tax our petrol would STILL only be 32p a litre or so. Diesels are a lot cheaper to run at the moment but that may end soon when you have to stop using untaxed fuel.

Having said that diesels are a lot more to buy so unless you do a lot of hours a year the cost isn't worth it.

If you keep your speed down a bit and drift around fishing etc it is possible to have a nice day out and spend 1/2 that.

I would rather something with an outboard as they are easier to maintain.

Nos4r2 · 21 May 2007, 16:00

There's only one real answer with that budget and not wanting enormous fuel bills on a 6-6.5m

Pac 22.

Here's an example- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...DME:B:AAQ:UK:1

It's either that or buy something smaller.

Sarah G · 21 May 2007, 16:13

Cool - so boats do exist within our price range then.

Would you want to go to the IoW from say Chichester in anything less than 6.0m?

Sorry woman of many questions?

codprawn · 21 May 2007, 16:16

As regards outboards vs inboards it is not just the engine you need to consider but the drive leg as well. If the boat is kept in the water I would always try to go for an outboard because it can be lifted right out of the water.

Outboards are also lighter so they tend to use less fuel for the same power and a very important thing to look at is space in the boat. Inboards tend to use a lot of space which often means the back end of the boat is pretty much out of bounds other than as sunbed on top of the engine cover. o9f course it may be different on the Humber you have been looking at - maybe there is a seat each side of the cover or something?

Biggles · 21 May 2007, 16:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah G

Cool - so boats do exist within our price range then.

Would you want to go to the IoW from say Chichester in anything less than 6.0m?

Sorry woman of many questions?

Plenty of people do it in a 4 meter. Even in rough weather.

codprawn · 21 May 2007, 16:24

There are all sorts of RIBs in your price range - condition is the most important factor.

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F146138/

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/JMM202/

Try JBT - they are nice people to deal with

This one looks ok although a little smaller than you want - a 90hp Honda will be pretty cheap to run!!!

http://www.ribsforsale.com/detail.asp?RefNo=7824300

Nos4r2 · 21 May 2007, 16:29

Personally I wouldn't go near a dealer or broker if I was spending £10k. You'll get a significantly better boat privately for that money as there's no dealer's/brokerage markup on it.

Just make sure you take someone who knows what they're doing with you.

Pete7 · 21 May 2007, 16:32

To keep the fuel costs down, I suggest the later injected 2 stroke engines rather than the older carberated engines and watch the weight of the boats too which kills performance or takes bigger engines, hence more petrol. Two adverts to illustrate the point. The Ribcraft will use 10 gallons an hour cruising and could go to 15 at speed.

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F138525/

The Tohatsu is much lighter and has the later engine so think in terms of 6 gallons an hour and 7.5 flat out. The Tohatsu belongs to Jimbo on here and is for sale, you could have a chat with him and take her for a spin.

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F138868/

Pete

codprawn · 21 May 2007, 16:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Personally I wouldn't go near a dealer or broker if I was spending £10k. You'll get a significantly better boat privately for that money as there's no dealer's/brokerage markup on it.

Just make sure you take someone who knows what they're doing with you.

Not always the case although probably so this time of year. It is not unkown in the depths of winter for a dealer to take a cash offer with little or even no profit to assist cash flow. All depends how much you can screw out of them. Also sometimes boats are taken in px and dealers will take what they can for them.

MikeCC · 21 May 2007, 16:46

In your first post you mentioned having plenty of seating. How many people do you want to carry comfortably? That's more likely to define the size than whether it will be OK across the Solent. As Biggles says, plenty of people do that in a 4m boat. Of course 5-6m+ will give you a nicer ride. The other difference you'll find is some boats have enough beam to have side-by-side seats while others can only manage a single, so you'll get more in for a given length.

Generally on RIBS it's diesel inboards and petrol outboards. Although the lower cost marine diesel is on its way out, a diesel will be more economic on fuel consumption. Either way it's a lot if you're used to yacht fuel usage at 5-6Kn.

If you're on a budget but expecting to use the boat a reasonable amount, spend the money on the engine and don't worry too much about the fine detail of the boat (as long as it is just cosmetic!) That's one advantage of outboards - lot easier to put a newer engine on an older boat. Take a look on previous posts to see what people have done with ropey-looking tubes.

Don't be swayed by a boat with lots of electronics over a sound one without - GPS and VHF are cheap these days and you don't need much more that those. The ones fitted may be quite old as well.

Mike

Sarah G · 21 May 2007, 16:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

As regards outboards vs inboards it is not just the engine you need to consider but the drive leg as well. If the boat is kept in the water I would always try to go for an outboard because it can be lifted right out of the water.

I was planning to launch when required as I plan to use when we go camping (perhaps if weather bad - turn rib upside down!!!) and this may be anywhere on South coast. So is there a major difference when launching with inboard or outboard (I know about tilting outboards - but how does this work with inboard?).

Sarah G · 21 May 2007, 16:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Biggles

Plenty of people do it in a 4 meter. Even in rough weather.

Yeah - but they are probably mental!!!

I suppose if it were just me and my man - fine but with a 4 year old as well I feel that it should be bigger - but perhaps that is my misunderstanding and actually a 5 to 5.5 would be sufficient - I will take your guidance.

Ta

Jimbo · 21 May 2007, 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete7

The Tohatsu is much lighter and has the later engine so think in terms of 6 gallons an hour and 7.5 flat out. The Tohatsu belongs to Jimbo on here and is for sale, you could have a chat with him and take her for a spin.

Yep, more than welcome for a Sea Trial. I've also dropped the price!

GuyP · 21 May 2007, 16:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah G

perhaps that is my misunderstanding and actually a 5 to 5.5 would be sufficient - I will take your guidance.

With a decent beam, you'd be surprised how big and secure a 5.5m RIB can feel. You'd also have less outlay on an outboard and fuel at that size.

If you have the time and the inclination, a possible option is to source a used hull and engine seperately and build it to your requirements.

Sixy_the_red · 21 May 2007, 17:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah G

I was planning to launch when required as I plan to use when we go camping (perhaps if weather bad - turn rib upside down!!!) and this may be anywhere on South coast. So is there a major difference when launching with inboard or outboard (I know about tilting outboards - but how does this work with inboard?).

You won't be able to up-turn a RIB - you're looking at (at a guess) 500kg for a 5m boat...

Sarah G · 21 May 2007, 17:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Personally I wouldn't go near a dealer or broker if I was spending £10k. You'll get a significantly better boat privately for that money as there's no dealer's/brokerage markup on it.

Just make sure you take someone who knows what they're doing with you.

I got really depressed at the w/end after trawling around all the various dealers near my parents. Hopefully my course at the weekend will give me a lot better idea on handling and size of boats - we will be doing high-speed mans etc.

Sarah G · 21 May 2007, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeCC

In your first post you mentioned having plenty of seating. How many people do you want to carry comfortably?

Much of the time only 3, but we tend to go camping and sailing with a croud (often lots of kids around) so it wouldn't be unheard of to have 5-6 adults and the same amount of kids.

Silly question I know - is the Volvo Penta a diesel engine then as it is inboard - I hadn't focussed on that?