RIB with Bow Steps/Ramp - Do they exist?

[SJHE]

Has anybody ever seen a RIB that has a good safe method of embarking and disembarking passengers over the bow onto a beach?

I was thinking along the lines of a retractable ramp or fold down steps but it would be essential that the setup does not interfere too much with the performance of the boat at sea.

Looking to adapt a good and proven concept for use on a 11m RIB in sheltered waters/calm conditions i.e. No surf

All ideas welcomed.

[boristhebold]

Yes there is, it appeared in a powerboat and rib magazine last year I think.

http://www.nauticatenders.com/boat/catamaran

There may be some others also.

[gtb]

Originally Posted by SJHE

Has anybody ever seen a RIB that has a good safe method of embarking and disembarking passengers over the bow onto a beach?

I was thinking along the lines of a retractable ramp or fold down steps but it would be essential that the setup does not interfere too much with the performance of the boat at sea.

Looking to adapt a good and proven concept for use on a 11m RIB in sheltered waters/calm conditions i.e. No surf

All ideas welcomed.

Like the London RIB rides boat?

London RIB Voyages - Our Boat - Fastest speedboat on the Thames

Then you just need some retractable ladder (like a loft ladder affair) off the bow...

[jyasaki]

As I recall, Nautica used to have one. The tubes on either side were separate, and the ramp made up the bow when retracted.

Found it: http://nauticatenders.com/boat/catamaran

jky

[Bigtalljv]

i thought there were some threads on old boats on here like that, people looking to do refurbs. There was a classic that people knew about but I don't remember.

[Dirk Diggler]

The price might make your eyes water, but this is the dogs nob.... SY9 Beachlander | Pascoe International

[Siochair]

Have a look at these, whilst they are not ribs they should do the job. Pioner - Pioner - the best rigid boats for work or leisure

[ncp]

Special Purpose - Emergency Transport Boats | SAFE Boats

[jyasaki]

Originally Posted by Siochair

Have a look at these, whilst they are not ribs they should do the job. Pioner - Pioner - the best rigid boats for work or leisure

Rotomolded polyethylene?

Trophy built a boat like this 7 or 8 years ago; I recall they had a lot of problems with keeping hardware in the boat. The lubricity of the plastic made it too easy for the screws and such to back out.

jky

[Siochair]

Originally Posted by jyasaki

Rotomolded polyethylene?

Trophy built a boat like this 7 or 8 years ago; I recall they had a lot of problems with keeping hardware in the boat. The lubricity of the plastic made it too easy for the screws and such to back out.

jky

Ah, so it's a case of choosing your glue with care then?

[jyasaki]

No, they had problems with things like screws (or lag bolts - whatever they used) holding seat bases backing out. Just about any hardware that screwed into the PE had problems.

Not sure what they did to address that problem.

jky

[biffer]

I can remember that there was a company making these, 15/20 years back they used them as safety boats on the river seine, so the technology is there, they weren't very deep In the V I've had a think about doing something with a flip down front but I cant seem to get my head round deep V hull excepting a dropping bow

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Siochair

Ah, so it's a case of choosing your glue with care then?

Virtually no glue sticks to polyethylene. The screws issue requires forward planning at the design stage. They can mould bolt inserts into the hull at manufacture or design so it can through bolted. If you need to screw aftermarket stuff in place then self tappers should be seen as temporary... and regularly checked. You can use cavity wall type fittings that expand behind the material but keeping that watertight becomes more complex.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Poly

Virtually no glue sticks to polyethylene. The screws issue requires forward planning at the design stage. They can mould bolt inserts into the hull at manufacture or design so it can through bolted. If you need to screw aftermarket stuff in place then self tappers should be seen as temporary... and regularly checked. You can use cavity wall type fittings that expand behind the material but keeping that watertight becomes more complex.

we use a lot of UHMWPE/LDPE (different grades of polythene) at work & it's virtually impossible to glue as it exudes oil over time. All our components are mechanically fixed. We don't even use self tappers or other "screw in" type fixings, everything is nut & bolted with form G washers (big thick ones) There are one or two specialist companies that can weld polythene but I wouldn't trust it for anything structural.

[KJH]

See this rib the other day.

[Simon B]

DELTA made one with a ramp years ago, not sure if its in production still. Saw one a while back with some nice steps that folded out, that might have been the Nautica already mentioned.