Firstly, welcome to ribnet!
I'm going to chop your post up a bit to throw some thoughts into the mix
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngleseyRib
We are a family of four. The boys are adventurous 13 & 15 year olds and are big lads.
Our waters are predominantly Holyhead Bay. Ideally (if we can find the perfect boat) extending from Rhosneiger (on a perfect day) to the Skerries.
The main use of a RIB would be fun days out and towing the odd toy.
We would be launching by hand from a sandy beach. Tow limit would be 1850kg (initially) until we can afford a new towcar. even after replacing the car we'd be limited by what we can push. We would also like to trailer to western Scotland on the odd occasion.
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1850 Kg is not "small" - If you guestimate a single axle braked trailer for a 5-ish M rib will clock in around the 250- 300Kg mark, that leaves you with a ballpark of 1.5 tons of boat.
BUT, if you want to hand recover, you want this thing to be as light as sanely possible.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngleseyRib
Our budget would be £15k absolute max.
The above suggests that we need at least a 5m boat for the seas but if we're launching by hand then we'd be severely limited by weight of boat and trailer. I'd prefer 4 stroke for economy but obviously these are heavier.
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My Boat is the prequel to the prequel of the O-pro. Built in 1984 when most 60Hp engines were 2 cyl premix. The whole thing including engine clocks in at 420 KG, but the transom is only rated to 60Hp / 110Kg. (Part of the reason I went for the Clamshell). What I'm trying to say is that if you are looking to hand launch & recover, maybe worth looking at older boats which weren't built like the proverbial outhouse to handle the lardy 4- strokes that we now hang on the transom.
I'm probably going to open my favourite tin of worms here, but unless you are looking at a LOT of low speed action, I would suggest that unless you go for a proper oldschool 1960s lump, at WOT you still gotta burn the gogo juice to make it move. Have a search on here - various preople have worked out how many 1000s of miles worth of fuel could be bought with the difference in cost of the "newer less thirsty" 4 -strokes & a decent used 2-stroke.
Also 4- strokes (apart from the really new gen ones) are generally heavy for a given HP.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngleseyRib
Due to the waters I'll need a standby engine which adds weight.
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Or, if you do your homework, for a given HP in approx 50% of cases twins are actually lighter than a single engine of double the HP - especially if you add an aux into the mix! Do a search - I'm not going to re-type it all agian - but at the sort of size you are looking at gearboxes are smaller & the speeds are slower, so the "huuuuuge drag increase" agument is nothing like as bad as some may make out - The difference in cross section between say a 40HP & an 80Hp gearbox is substantial, so dragging 2 x 40s through the water isn't as bad as gut feel might imply...
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngleseyRib
Also I am aware that the more sea-going hulls of this size can only accommodate a couple of passengers. I don't want my family to bounce out so seating for 4 is a must.
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Yes, at 5m you may have a problem there. BUT, if you go 5.3, some ribs are built in wider beam. (E.g Humber's O-Pro (& I think the destroyer) have 2m & a 2.3m beam versions). If you are storing it in a single garage you'll be instantly in the 2m beam category - so more seats = more length. If, however you are kieeping it where beam is not a problem, the extra 0.3m can make the difference between side by side jockeys being comfortable or not.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngleseyRib
Clearly I'll need to make loads of compromises and I'm pretty certain going to 2 stroke will be the first of many.
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Yep! All boats are a compromise to some degree....
2- stroke isn't a compromise - it's a lifestyle!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngleseyRib
I've scoured the RIBs for Sale section and every seller promises the perfect boat, but whilst I've plenty of sailing experience I've no RIB experience since I used to man the sailing club's Avon 450 rescue boat 30 years ago.
Is there a perfect combination out there and if so what would you adviise?
Many thanks
Kevin
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The perfect boat will be about as close to utopian fantasy as you are ever likely to get! Seriously tho', chances are you'll buy something you think is perfect and then realise that if that bit was slighty different it would be a bit better.....
Best bet might be to get the family and see of you can either scrounge a lift in something or hire / test drive a boat from a broker / dealer. That will at least give you a feel for layout & "features".
Other thing if you are looking at weight - assuming you have to spec a trailer for it, remember that most trailers are spec'ed to carry xM long boats. This assumes a hard hull - there can be between 0.5-1m of toob overhang on a rib, which means you might be able to go for a smaller framed, lighter trailer (thus giving you a few more KG of boat / engine you can put on it).....
Sula
