Valiant 520 Advice

[Highjinks]

Looking for some advise before purchasing a RIB.

Valiant 520 with a Evinrude etec 50 hp

Very tidy looking craft just looking for some more infor from users.

Will be used Scottish lochs and Clyde areas.

[Xk59D]

Welcome along to forum.

If it is the one in kip marina at 10k then I would be looking for something else for that money, not the best hulls for this region unless flat calm.

A 50hp on a 5.2 will be useless too.

What is your max budget, how many people Normally, do you want jockey seats etc?

[Highjinks]

Hi

Yes it is.

Not what I wanted to hear !!!

Capacity needs to be 7 plus. Not keen on jockey seats.

Also a 490 at Euro yachts in Larg’s with a 60 Merc 4 stroke

[Xk59D]

Hi buddy,

You can forget about 7 on anything less than a 6.5m boat with any regularity depending on size and age of course.

With that budget I would be looking for a 5.8 humber or similar, bigger if possible.

Is there a reason you don't want jockey seats?

For 7 people you are more likely to get maybe 2 jockeys and a bench seat with suicide seat to get your seating number.

[Highjinks]

Have 5 children and like the idea of being able to see them from the helm.

For the past few years had them in a inflatable with 20 hp

[Xk59D]

That is perfectly understandable and this is going to boil to down what you are prepared to compromise on.

I wouldn't even contemplate the 2 ribs mentioned for 2 adults and 5 children regularly. I don't know how old they are but if close to teens the boat will get small very quickly.

If you can tow/store it then I would still suggest a 6m ish humber or this won't go down well, an Avon adventure 620 as they are good value for money and decent enough hull for your intended use. If you can stomach something a bit older then you really have a lot of choices in the 6m ish region for that money.

[ShinyShoe]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

If it is the one in kip marina at 10k

Originally Posted by Highjinks

Have 5 children

Something does not equate here. How have you got 5 kids and £10k to send on a RIB ;-)

Originally Posted by Highjinks

and like the idea of being able to see them from the helm.

For clarity - where are you planning to seat them? On the tubes?
Or you will need 2 benches in front of the helm which is an unusual config.

How old are the kids?

Originally Posted by Xk59D

You can forget about 7 on anything less than a 6.5m boat with any regularity depending on size and age of course.

While Xk59D may be right, don't forget he will mostly be considering this from his own experiences. So his type of ribbing and yours may not be the same. I believe you can fit 8 people in a Landrover Defender with the side seats in the back cab. But you wouldn't choose to take 8 people in one from Lands End to John O Groats every weekend. You'd maybe take a People Carrier? So it depends what sort of activities you are planning. Buying a people carrier and getting it stuck on a muddy track is also not much good.

Plan for growing kids, but remember as they get bigger they may not want to do stuff with all the family etc.

You are presumably looking at the labelled capacity on the maker's plate. If all you are doing is running people in good weather from a jetty to a beach on a small sheltered island half a mile away -- you can probably get away with tube sitting and top speed may not be too critical. Taking the family out will be in good weather and you can see the destination so you know its good conditions there too...

...on the other hand...

if you are planning to go to places you can't see when you depart even with the best forecasting you never quite know what's round the corner. Punching into bigger waves with a reasonable load, a poor V shape and a sub optimal engine size will make for an unpleasant journey.

[Highjinks]

Hi

Kids are 13,12 years old girls and 9,7 year old boys. Plus 18 month old surprise.

If we were all in it together would be just short trips around Loch Lomond or Millport areas of Clyde. More often would be boys and older girls.

Seating wise also have a cool box seat or on tubes.

At the moment we have 3.8 metre inflatable with 20 hp motor. So obviously it’s an upgrade from that.

Do you think it’s underpowered?

[ShinyShoe]

You'll not find many fans of tube sitting on here.

How does a 20 cope with all those people on board. are you getting on the plane?

I think you'd get a RIB 5.2m rib to lane with a 50, with 4-5 adults on board. Not with 7 without a long run. But lets be fair, there are plenty of inland sailing clubs running 5m RIBs which are manned with 2 adults and will take 2 off a boat and maybe some kids off another boat and still manage to plan to drop them ashore, or still manage to tow boats in (not on the plane obviously).

I think the valliant V is a touch shallow. That means in serious chop it bounces over the waves rather than cutting through. That may sound good but its very uncomfortable.

The 18 month old would be my biggest concern...

[Xk59D]

Originally Posted by ShinyShoe

While Xk59D IS right

FTFY there dude

the valiant 520 is not a "proper" 520 boat unfortunately, it has massive tube overhang so it is small inside. a 50hp with 7 people will be less than ideal, if it isn't now it will be within a couple of years when your older ones are bigger than the folks and you are 4-6 people up regularly.



as i said above, a compromise is required (it normally is the way of things isn't it) and my suggestion still stands....a 6m ish boat with a pair of jockeys, rear bench and a suicide seat will get you 6 seated, 7 if there is a bow cushion. FWIW the suicide seat and bow seats are not comfortable unless flat calm, it is a called a suicide seat for a reason. That is probably a compromise you may need to make though buddy.

If you shout Breezeblock on the forum he can maybe help more, he has a humber 5.3 with 115hp 4 stroke on it, i think he had 7 out in it once with a similar seating config to above. the 5.3 is a bigger boat than the valiant though internally but still will give you an idea. here is a video of his boat in one of my vids-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvyfI5Pc4Mg

I would suggest you take a trip round largs marina rib pound, lots of 5-6m boats in there with just about every seat combo you can imagine, will give you an idea of what you can expect seating wise and what may work best for you.

[Highjinks]

Thanks. Will do.

The pict you put up is actually a 490, 520 looks totally different tube wise

[Xk59D]

the tubes have massive overhang on the 520 buddy, link to the original one too, if it is wrongly advertised then fair enough.

http://www.mcaleesemarine.com/bs/boa...php?id=0417003

[breezeblock]

Our rib is 5.3 long and has seats for 6 I don't really like having more than 4 in total on it so I think wth 5 kids and 2 adults I would be looking for something 6.5 -7m minimum a 5.2 with a 50 is gonna be a disappointment after you buy it I would think that is gonna be as flat as a fart

[two stroke mick]

I have a valiant dr490 with 60 hp etec. On beach days I carry a Cox and a mammy and three children ( nine, seven and five) there is a single jockey seat a bench seat at the stern for two and I have a type of seat that is just in front of the jockey seat. I have to put my weight well forward to get the dr490 to plane. This seating arrangement would be of no use on a rough day but on a sea side day it works fine.

There are not many people on this fourm that like valiant ribs but I now like mine but I have carried out a lot of work on it. The balance was poor when I got it first but I re built the boat and I am now happy with it off the west coast of Ireland. It does get driven hard and has covered some serious distance in this rib.

It is very easy to launch and recover. It is great to freedive and scuba dive from due to the way the rib sits at rest the tubes are not very large.

There are days which I wished it was a red bay or a Delta but not many as a parent of three children this is the best I can afford.

Tsm

[MatFromPoland]

Originally Posted by Highjinks

Looking for some advise before purchasing a RIB.

Valiant 520 with a Evinrude etec 50 hp

Very tidy looking craft just looking for some more infor from users.

Will be used Scottish lochs and Clyde areas.

I used to have 9 people on board on Polish lakes. 4 adults (2 big boys and 2 ladies, 2 teenagers, kids)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIMYgx8Mrk4

I can imagine your wife with infant keeping in hands and 2 youngest kids on the rear bench when internal width is like 1,3m
Biggest boy on jockey and one more in front of console.

So I will go for 2 jockey seats, rear bench (1,3m width) and seat in front of the console. And engine near max shows on the boat plate.