Ribcraft or Ribeye

[whisper]

It's no good Tom keep saying how good his new custom craft was, if the OP buys second hand he needs to know what the ribs were like at the time of build and as a standard spec too vs other craft for the same sort of money and size...

Debates like this can go on forever unless you narrow it down a bit

[moore288]

Agree with whisper so moving on from my earlier feeble attempts at humour here is some stuff on the ribeye 600 that I hope helps the OP. I have a 600 so I hope this is not to biased. - Bought used (2011). I can not compare to a Ribcraft 585 but here goes... ( if my comments are relative then they are in relation to a host of ribs around 5 to 7m I have driven over the years)

---------
+ve

Launching and recovery is easy at this size , after a few practices easy in your own too as long as weather and tide are not dramatic.

Towing is easy, a normal car is fine. I have a standard CRV.

You can move it around, just, on the trailer by hand at this weight.

In calm conditions with a crew of 4 adults I get 36 knots full speed. 37 with just me. Acceleration is affected by passengers but not much. Top rpm with or without load is 56k. I have the 115 with std prop. I would definitely go for that if possible as it feels plentiful. Maybe others can comment about performance on the other common option which is a 100.

In a chop the speed is unaffected and you can push on. Fine. The hull seems to have good traction. Above 1.5m waves she jumps out a little with the hammer down but feels secure. The tubes are close to water at rest and speed so lateral stability is good. I think the forward driving position makes for good weight distribution on this boat.

Above 2m waves I ease back but still she feels secure. The short sharp Solent chop should be fine for this boat. She has quite a raised bow if you look at the profile.

High speed turns are particularly refined for a 6m boat. Note I have hydraulic steering - a common upgrade on a 600 but worth looking for .

At 22 knots she is 18l phr and 33 at full speed

I have a young family and always feel safe and secure with them.

Category B so there are some good touches needed for that classification.

Typically they have garmin radio and chart plotter. - good and workable kit (of course far from premium though into opinion)

Good helm position, especially standing and leaning on the jockey back rest.

Good space for crew. Usually as mine they are jockeys for 4 (but not a fat 4!). Bench for 3 and suicide seat and bow seat for one each. So seats for 9, quite good for a 6m. Under bench storage is big- I have my tohatsu 6 in their for emergencies and still plenty of space for other kit.

Engine well rather than just transom, good for astern and for secure 'feeling'

Great after sales from ribeye, even as a second owner

-------

-Ve

Wet - in a chop I would say it is quite a wet boat. I know that is a judgement but think it is an important reason to test it in a chop for you

Fuel tank - 90l is on the small side at least for me.

Seats - the padding in the jockey seats is not good enough quality foam. Jockey lockers are thin.

Most are yamaha fitted. I have had a few if those from old small 2 strokes to this one. I find them good and more important so do a few rescue services around the world . But I think the throttle is a bit flimsy and cheap compared to other makes, and this does have a negative affect for me on handling.

Fittings are generally good - medium. But the bow cleat and roller I think is under specced and I would not trust it for a serious load.

Price - relatively over priced due to high demand, resales look good though.
------

General - it has a certain look and brand that some will love and others really not - if you care about that sort of thing! More substantive patches for decal are prime to Uv fade - cheap to buy new but expensive if you pay someone to change them

After 2007 ribeye's had some substantive improvements in construction.

Tubes are not the biggest relative to others - but I think right for this size boat !

Some googling will find about standard ribeye in recent round Ireland ;as well as the Linley swan one (which is basically nothing close to the standard one in behaviour I guess!) . Also 2 rather positive review reports from MBM.

Hope it helps, even though it is best to test yourself - at least I found the views of other owners useful in my pre purchase investigations.

[AJ.]

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

I've always found Charlie to be really good & helpful, they just need more of him.

Completely agree with that statement saying no more!

[Rogue Wave]

Do Ribeye have hypalon toobs as Standard?

[ShinyShoe]

A & S series does.
T Series is Hypatex which I gather is hypalon from Dupont rather than Avon.

Not sure if they've always been... Think their Playtime range was PVC by default.

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by lakelandterrier

I've always found Charlie to be really good & helpful ...

+1 He flew to our gaff once in a helichopper to fix a minor warranty issue* (don't think that's part of the regular service - he was taking lessons at the time)

* Yes Mollers. You guessed right!

[moore288]

Re the toobs - a series is hypatex (PVC) as standard. S series is hypalon (650 up). On the 600 hypalon was on option - when I looked I saw one used one with that - most will be hypatex.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

T Series is Hypatex which I gather is hypalon from Dupont rather than Avon.

That doesn't make sense.

Hypalon is a Dupont's trademark for Chlorosulfonated Polyethylene (but like hoover has become a generic name); and Dupont closed its performance elastomers plant a few years ago.

Tube fabric we commonly refer to as 'hypalon' is actually several layers of different materials sandwiched together one of which is Chlorosulfonated Polyethylene.

[MadTubes]

Originally Posted by moore288

Agree with whisper so moving on from my earlier feeble attempts at humour here is some stuff on the ribeye 600 that I hope helps the OP. I have a 600 so I hope this is not to biased. - Bought used (2011). I can not compare to a Ribcraft 585 but here goes... ( if my comments are relative then they are in relation to a host of ribs around 5 to 7m I have driven over the years)

---------
+ve

Launching and recovery is easy at this size , after a few practices easy in your own too as long as weather and tide are not dramatic.

Towing is easy, a normal car is fine. I have a standard CRV.

You can move it around, just, on the trailer by hand at this weight.

In calm conditions with a crew of 4 adults I get 36 knots full speed. 37 with just me. Acceleration is affected by passengers but not much. Top rpm with or without load is 56k. I have the 115 with std prop. I would definitely go for that if possible as it feels plentiful. Maybe others can comment about performance on the other common option which is a 100.

In a chop the speed is unaffected and you can push on. Fine. The hull seems to have good traction. Above 1.5m waves she jumps out a little with the hammer down but feels secure. The tubes are close to water at rest and speed so lateral stability is good. I think the forward driving position makes for good weight distribution on this boat.

Above 2m waves I ease back but still she feels secure. The short sharp Solent chop should be fine for this boat. She has quite a raised bow if you look at the profile.

High speed turns are particularly refined for a 6m boat. Note I have hydraulic steering - a common upgrade on a 600 but worth looking for .

At 22 knots she is 18l phr and 33 at full speed

I have a young family and always feel safe and secure with them.

Category B so there are some good touches needed for that classification.

Typically they have garmin radio and chart plotter. - good and workable kit (of course far from premium though into opinion)

Good helm position, especially standing and leaning on the jockey back rest.

Good space for crew. Usually as mine they are jockeys for 4 (but not a fat 4!). Bench for 3 and suicide seat and bow seat for one each. So seats for 9, quite good for a 6m. Under bench storage is big- I have my tohatsu 6 in their for emergencies and still plenty of space for other kit.

Engine well rather than just transom, good for astern and for secure 'feeling'

Great after sales from ribeye, even as a second owner

-------

-Ve

Wet - in a chop I would say it is quite a wet boat. I know that is a judgement but think it is an important reason to test it in a chop for you

Fuel tank - 90l is on the small side at least for me.

Seats - the padding in the jockey seats is not good enough quality foam. Jockey lockers are thin.

Most are yamaha fitted. I have had a few if those from old small 2 strokes to this one. I find them good and more important so do a few rescue services around the world . But I think the throttle is a bit flimsy and cheap compared to other makes, and this does have a negative affect for me on handling.

Fittings are generally good - medium. But the bow cleat and roller I think is under specced and I would not trust it for a serious load.

Price - relatively over priced due to high demand, resales look good though.
------

General - it has a certain look and brand that some will love and others really not - if you care about that sort of thing! More substantive patches for decal are prime to Uv fade - cheap to buy new but expensive if you pay someone to change them

After 2007 ribeye's had some substantive improvements in construction.

Tubes are not the biggest relative to others - but I think right for this size boat !

Some googling will find about standard ribeye in recent round Ireland ;as well as the Linley swan one (which is basically nothing close to the standard one in behaviour I guess!) . Also 2 rather positive review reports from MBM.

Hope it helps, even though it is best to test yourself - at least I found the views of other owners useful in my pre purchase investigations.

I can pitch in here as the owner of the bog-standard 2006 Ribeye A600 that completed every mile of the Round Ireland and did us proud. Despite fairly testing weather conditions, the hull handled everything we threw at it both during the Round Ireland and some other challenging conditions we've put it through.

We've had her for four years now (bought second-hand after a Valient DR-490) and have found her to be a cracker boat for what we use it for - and that's everything from challenges like Round Ireland and trips to IOM and Scotland to camping trips and picnics on Lough Neagh, water skiing on the Bann or fishing off the Co Down coast. Would whole-heartedly agree with the views given above - its a very balanced summary. Our main criticism would be the wet ride in a chop and the ludicrously tiny inbuilt tank (ours is a 40L!) which has lead us to fit a 2nd permanent 40L tank in the back bench seat (but I think 100L is standard on newer models). And yes, we fitted hydraulic steering for the RI challenge and only regret is that we didn't do it sooner - HUGE improvement! But ideal size for a family rib, easy to tow and launch, good safe seating, decent amount of dry storage, etc etc.

But as other have said - plenty of other good options out there too (had a demo in a RC and liked it too) - you gotta try it and see what you like. Happy researching!! CJ

[MadTubes]

Wee pic of Mad Tubes camping with the nephews and nieces on Loch Lomond - now featured on the new Ribeye website Home Page!