Gidday from New Zealand - Pics of my unusual RIB??!

[troutboyNZ]

Still in the development stages but getting there! I brought as a bare shell and did the lot myself. It's a Mac 4.2m pontoon design with a whopping 2.2m beam!!! - the stability is such, you can sit 3 big guys on the side and it hardly moves an inch.

Quite a big floor area with the seatbox removed, I'm going to put it on sliding rails. The hull is 10 - 12mm thick and she handles any sea you can throw at it... but you WILL get wet in anything over 15knots of wind from the side. the sides are low, but I find this great for the style of fishing I do, especially flyfishing.

The pontoons are foam filled to coastguard standard, so she cannot sink, and will float level if swamped. The motor is a Merc Lightning aka, Tohatsu 40hp 3cyl and is a cracker. Top speed for the 550kg rig is 51.5kmh, which I think seams pretty reasonable, drops to 47kmh with two on board.

The console is a factory fitment and only cost me NZ$200. They are an awesome console with lots of internal storage - I can get two full 25l tote tanks in there plus more! I originally had the 3.6m version which also is a wicked craft and much more manageable, but smaller in fishability!

Since these photos I have put in a fully carpeted anchor locker which doubles as a seat and some full stainless bow rails. I run two 15l tanks which is ample for a days fishing as the engine runs on the smell of an oily rag. Nearly all onboard has been made from scratch - i.e. the windscreen is made of a grabrail, an upside down boarding ladder, an old deck chair and some old perspex. The only thing I dont really like is the huge rear boarding platforms - they are a feature for divers and I've yet to decide what to do with the, as I see it wasted space, although they make a fabulous swim/dive platform.

The hull has an 11degree deadrise, and being poly soaks up waves up to a metre with ease head-on, being quite dry, as the spray hits the pontoons and gets thrown out to the side. I have had it majorly airbourne a few times which is quite fun. The average wind here blows 15knots so saftey is paramount. I was out the other day in 30 knots + which it handled well, but I was soaked from head to toe! I mean saturated by the short steep harbour chop.

A few of the shots below were before finishing and during testing the setup.

[jwalker]

Neat.

And welcome to Ribnet.

[Biggles]

Looks like a very seaworthy boat.
You say 30 Knot winds. Thats pretty serious stuff to be out in, do you get big waves with that sort of wind ?
How easy is it to get water out of the boat ? Do you have a bilge pump and or Elephants trunks ?

NR.

[troutboyNZ]

Hi Biggles, yes they are great sea boats, but as mentioned, sometimes wet with the wind from the side. I have installed twin independant 12v fed 1000gph pumps in the bilge that gets rid of any water very quickly. The pontoons are totally foam filled so even fully submerged they are designed to float with the outboard powerhead above water with up to 5 people on board. I don't seem to take on much water, even when rough, it's just spray from the wind blowing back the spray onto my face!

I would'nt normally go out in 30 knots but I like to at least test a boats limitations. Waves up to 1.5m on my local harbour with that sort of wind, and waves very close together makes it uncomfortable. I doubt the ride is as smooth as a true deep v RIB, but as the hull is so thick and double skinned it smooths everything out and is very quiet.

[prairie tuber]

Looks to be very well thought out.

[Nos4r2]

I think BogMonster would rather like one of those . It looks good.

I think I'd keep the swim platforms-they'll make it a lot easier to get back aboard if you fall in.

[Channel Ribs]

Originally Posted by troutboyNZ

Nearly all onboard has been made from scratch - i.e. the windscreen is made of a grabrail, an upside down boarding ladder, an old deck chair and some old perspex.

G'day and welcome! I bet there is some no.5 fencing wire in there somewhere too.

[ALANT]

The mac boats are really neat, seen quite a few when I lived over in NZ.
Stayed in Stillwater so good for boating.
Do you have any photos of the other pontoon boats mostly made from alloy?
You can buy Mac boats here now a place in Dundee is Scotland sells them.
Where do you cruise/fish? Is it in the Waitamera(prob wrong spelling!) Harbour?
Welcome

[BoatworksNZ]

Originally Posted by ALANT

Where do you cruise/fish? Is it in the Waitamera(prob wrong spelling!) Harbour?
Welcome

Thats Evans Bay, near the airport on Wellington Harbour.

[BogMonster]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

I think BogMonster would rather like one of those . It looks good.

I think I'd keep the swim platforms-they'll make it a lot easier to get back aboard if you fall in.

I think you are right

Sadly for one reason and another a new boat purchase has taken a back seat for the time being.

I was looking seriously at a 570 or maybe a 600, though I prefer the "RIB look" of the 570, but what may eventually sway it is the shelter provided by the 600 Sport cabin, not to be underestimated in these waters! But for the moment the old Humbug will soldier on hopefully with fewer problems than I have had with it

UK distributor is these guys http://www.marinerevolution.co.uk/ I found them very helpful in providing information when I was looking at purchasing.

I wish you could buy a Vipermax 5.8 made of wheelie bin plastic that would be the best of both worlds for me