Wanting a rib

[mavrick211]

Im selling some land to buy a boat and cant see myself buying a princess boat i want a RIB

ive been lurking here for a few years now i live in the United States specifically seattle and have a few questions that i cant seem to find answers to no matter how many searches i do

1. What does the 7M rib have over the 6M besides more room
2. What are the Pros and Cons of Gas outboards or Diesel I/O
3. What would be the fuel consumption difference between a 6-7Meter

my options here in the northwest seem to be thin i think Zodiac is the only one i have available to me that meets my needs
there are a lot of rebuilt ones here
any thoughts would be much appriciated

[Exe treme]

Hi
If you are debating between a 6m and 7m Rib, and Zodiacs are available, go for the Pro Open 650 :-)

[ShinyShoe]

Fuel: a lot may be down to what's available at the water side.

If you plan to tow. Fuel on the way. Play for one day without refueling and go home then not such a big deal. But if expecting to refuel on the water then unless you want to be lugging 100 litres of fuel in 4 jerry cans at a time you need to know what's available quay side.

Petrol probably accelerates faster.

Traditional diesel engines were more tolerant. Modern petrol and diesel all computer controlled and as first as each other.

Not sure what the tax rules are in the US? In the UK until two or three years ago you could use 'red' (tax free) diesel in a pleasure boat. Now you have to use white diesel which has about 50p tax added per litre. If it has a cabin you can claim back some tax for heating.

[Bigtalljv]

There are many different hulls in 6-7 meters. Comparing a military surplus/hurricane to a leisure 6-7 meter boat is apples to oranges.

What's you intended purpose? How many people? All weather or fair weather?

The 7m surplus boats are the most common big RIBs in the USA. Readily available but sort of pricy.

Diesel tends to be more fuel efficient than gas. Gas tends to have a bit more speed. Most of the 7m surplus boats are diesel the outboard versions tend to be twins.

I think most marinas in the USA and especially near Seattle will have both.

Jason

[mavrick211]

My grandfather used to be a commercial fisherman and has always been a avid sport fisher he has a I/O in his boat he warned me off of them says they are a pain in the ass his opinion outboards are less hassle though less fuel efficient

[Poly]

Originally Posted by mavrick211

... i cant seem to find answers to no matter how many searches i do

1. What does the 7M rib have over the 6M besides more room
2. What are the Pros and Cons of Gas outboards or Diesel I/O
3. What would be the fuel consumption difference between a 6-7Meter

1. Generally extra length = better sea keeping / comfort in bigger seas (as well as more deck space)

2. There are loads of threads on this but you may need to use the anglified term "Petrol" rather than "Gas" and you will find we mostly refer to them as "inboards" rather than I/O (even when I/O is technically more accurate). If you don't know why you want diesel though, then you probably don't, and an inboard will sacrifice a lot of deck space so you need a good reason.

3. At that size at cruising speed I would suggest very little difference but the 7m might get there a bit quicker.

[Daniel]

You can get both diesel and gas (LPG gas not American petrol) outboards but both are like hens teeth

[mavrick211]

What's hens teeth??

[willk]

Originally Posted by mavrick211

What's hens teeth??

Very rare indeed!

[mavrick211]

Ok thx I think I'll go with outboard
What is best 1 big one or 2 smaller

[mavrick211]

What RIBS would be considered the all weather heavy duty type
By manufacture?
Here I see zodiac and Willard
These are the only 2 brands I see on the west coast

[Bigtalljv]

Willard and zodiac are the most common as they are government surplus and are only $25-50k used vs $100k+ new (I'm just guessing they might be $200k new). A huge majority of them are diesel boats but again they are built with the most robust components. I haven't heard of issues with them beyond normal maintenance. Remember built for government, money was no object.

As for outboards I am building a zodiac with a single 250. I think I have seen 4 others that have a single. 1 has since been converted back to twins. 1 other is just north if you. Search here for zodiac with Yamaha 300.

There is no easy answer to single vs twin. There are many many many pages of discussion here and on all the other boating forums. I went single as it's less expensive to buy, maintain, and more fuel efficient.

Jason