What RIB to buy

Charlie C · 13 November 2005, 12:08

Advice needed.
After several years of messing about in almost all types of boats but RIBs, have decided to buy a RIB. Wife & I will use this mostly for cruising the Solent and local waters.
After much searching on possible boats have decided to settle for either a 6.5m Ballistic powered with a F150 Yamaha or perhaps a 6.5 Hydrosport powered with the new Honda 150.
Does anyone have any experience on either boats. Both appear to be well equipped and well put together. Can anyone either confirm or dispute this?
The Hydrosport has a stepped hull, is this just a gimmick or does it work? Have not yet had the opportunity to try one as the boat is down in Cornwall, so need to be reasonably confident before going down. However, on the plus side it is some £7k cheaper!
Of the boats I have tested some appear to slam much harder than others. What’s the general opinion on how soft the ride is on either boats?
Many thanks for any help/advice you can offer.

Pete7 · 13 November 2005, 12:23

Are u going new or second hand? oh and are you come to the Churchillian tomorrow night, friendly lot come along and say hi,

Pete

Charlie C · 13 November 2005, 21:02

Hi Pete,
Like to buy second hand but have yet to find anything that makes me tick! That probably means that I'll end up buying new.
Re Monday night - am tied up on monday's so that will be difficult for me.
Charlie

Mollers · 13 November 2005, 21:09

Where is the Hydrosport in Cornwall? I've not seen one.Oh, yes. Andrew Cox marine.

Ezgoing · 13 November 2005, 21:14

Charlie

Best of luck wih your searching.

Look up my posts and it will lead you to simillar threads posted over the past while. You will see that i am biased. Look up www.redbayboats.com

Look up redbay on ribnet and it will also bring you to simillar discussions.

Define your needs, meet with lots of other ribbers, go for spins in lots of other boats, have a think about it, bring some experiened ribbers for a pint, go for some more spins(cost nothing and most ribbers are only too happy to help others) redefine your needs and only then go shopping. Form a relationship with a good marine mechanic!!!

Some boats slap because their under water profile is flatter than others. This often helps them to plane easierbut they are not as good a sea boat as deep v boats which carry the v shape the full length of the boat.

Honda engiine mentioned is good but heavy! check the power to weight ratio of some of the others. Whilst very good for its day i think the Honda design has been superseeded. I had a Honda 50 hp some years back and it was very reliable and quite economical.

Yamaha are my favourite engines.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy boating.

Rogue Wave · 13 November 2005, 21:20

You probably won't get much feedback on your specific question because Neither RIBs are that well known to this Forum (this doesn't mean they are Bad) Riva on this Forum sells Ballistics so he might be happy to answer you questions. From what I have seen of the Ballistics they are of good quality and the Hull design is OK.

You have mentioned slamming, I'd be interested to know which boats did that. and what lengths and engines ets. Any Cobras, Avon Adventurers , Zodiacs or Prosports in your slamming group

Also whats your budget, everybody has there favourite boat and will push it , however there is a lot of sense in EZgoings thread

Ezgoing · 13 November 2005, 21:35

Rogue : Interesting you mentioned the zodiac.

when doing my upgrade search I took the Zodiac out for a spin in a force 5. By my standards it is a real fair weather boat and I would not like to get caught out in in with the family. Zodiac agent agent thought i was a nutter wth crazy expectations. (Nice guy. got my revenge recently by taking him for a spin in a force 7.)

Charlie: don't forget to lie under as many boats as possible . After a while it will begin to make sense and when you have a spin in the boats you will begin to realise how thw different shapes perform.

Enjoy

Charlie C · 14 November 2005, 12:25

Thanks for all your input.

On the test I have done in F5 I found RIBquest and Zodic the worst. Cobra was fine and so was the stinger which I found surprising. Have yet to test the Ballistic.

Budget is less than £30K (hopefully!)

Charlie C

Andre · 14 November 2005, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie C

Thanks for all your input.

On the test I have done in F5 I found RIBquest and Zodic the worst. Cobra was fine and so was the stinger which I found surprising. Have yet to test the Ballistic.

Budget is less than £30K (hopefully!)

Charlie C

Charlie

I have two demo ribs in Littlehampton you can view and test. a Parker 630 Diesel, known as Seahawk 3 (just brought it over yesterday, 7 hours on the clock )

and a Parker 750 RS with Mercury Verado 225, this rib was brand new for Ribex 2005

checkout our web page and please call me on 01403 780470 if you are interested

Mollers · 14 November 2005, 17:05

Charlie, check your Private Messages.

hard1 · 14 November 2005, 17:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie C

Thanks for all your input.

On the test I have done in F5 I found RIBquest and Zodic the worst. Cobra was fine and so was the stinger which I found surprising. Have yet to test the Ballistic.

Budget is less than £30K (hopefully!)

Charlie C

You should test the Ballistic but if you want essentially a cruising boat it may be a little extreme for you. Firstly, it's damned quick for it's length and seems easily driven, secondly it grips the water like an F1 car grips tarmac and generates high 'g's in turns (sounds like an advert this!), but you could say that you need a strong constitution for driving hard in waves as it is a hard ride. Not slam, just hard. It's the reverse scalloped rails that do it. If I were in the market, I would certainly look seriously at it (again). What I don't like is the forrard tube design/appearance.

codprawn · 14 November 2005, 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie C

Hi Pete,
Like to buy second hand but have yet to find anything that makes me tick! That probably means that I'll end up buying new.
Re Monday night - am tied up on monday's so that will be difficult for me.
Charlie

Just remember boats tend to be cheaper in the depths of winter!!!

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/pages/ribs.php

Good selection on this site.

Also of course Ribnet has a great for sale section.

http://www.ribsforsale.com/index.asp

Bloke on here called RIVA runs this - who is also the Ballistic importer - really helpfull people and nice with it!!!

Rogue Wave · 18 November 2005, 11:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charlie C

Thanks for all your input.

On the test I have done in F5 I found RIBquest and Zodic the worst. Cobra was fine and so was the stinger which I found surprising. Have yet to test the Ballistic.

Budget is less than £30K (hopefully!)

Charlie C

Buy a secondhand Scopion! you can get a decent 7.5 for 25 k and a 6.5 for 21k you will never regret it! Wonderful ride!

New have a look at the Parkers I like the way they are bulit, also the Solents are well built boats. From south Africa the only two makes I'd consider would be Gemini and the Ballistic in that order

Trust me the Cobras slam! all the hulls mentioned by me have pretty much the same V and amount of spray rails.

whatever you do with the boat make sure you try it thoroughly, if buying secondhand (and why not!) if you let the Vendor now that you want a trial and are in the comparison stage, offering to pay for the fuel used serves two purposes!

A it get you a good time on the boat
b it lets you know hoe much the Fkkr drinks

Alan · 18 November 2005, 12:34

Agree with the Rouge one. Especially about buying a second hand Scorp 7.5m (better hull than the 6.5m and more widely available.). Should be no probs in getting one with a new tech outboard (HPDI, Opti etc) for your budget.

Rogue Wave · 19 November 2005, 01:55

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/F77404/

theres enough in your budget to change the engine for a new one

codprawn · 19 November 2005, 03:56

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/JBT114/

This cobra from JBT looks a good buy. Very nice Ribs but not as extreme as some - for general cruising and leisure they are great - very well laid out and hold their money well.

Rogue Wave · 19 November 2005, 19:44

Are they? Do they?

Charles · 20 November 2005, 08:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by codprawn

http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view/JBT114/

hold their money well.

Sheesh, here we go again. How do you know this?
I am NOT Codbashing, don't ge me wrong .... you really do make outrageous statements based on, well ... fiction, really! Why do you not simply add IMHO - you can leave the 'H' out if you like?!

codprawn · 20 November 2005, 14:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by ct01

Sheesh, here we go again. How do you know this?
I am NOT Codbashing, don't ge me wrong .... you really do make outrageous statements based on, well ... fiction, really! Why do you not simply add IMHO - you can leave the 'H' out if you like?!

Who rattled your cage all of a sudden - plenty of other people can make any comment they like without being attacked!!!

How do I know this? EASY - because I have tried to buy them on several occasions and haven't managed to do a deal because they have held their money!!! I have visted the Picton factory many times and Dave Picton is a very canny businessman. He will actually buy back a boat himself if he sees it being sold too cheap to preserve the residuals. Unlike many Rib builders he looks at the long term. I tried to do a deal with him on several occassions and he wouldn't budge - order book is too healthy - he must be doing something right!!!

The boats ARE very well thought out and have a quality feel - for what many people want from a RIB they are ideal boats - especially for the ladies and families. True they don't have as deep a V hull as some and they don't have much in the way of self draining which is another reason why I decided against them.

hard1 · 21 November 2005, 01:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rogue Wave

Are they? Do they?

1. Yes

2. Yes