Towing with a car

[marky moo]

Hi everyone.
We're pretty new to the water and we were looking for a jetski but changed our mine and think a rib will be more family friendly. I have looked about and think a 5.5 90hp rib would suit our needs family days out and a bit of fishing around Anglesey where my caravan is but I've just bought a new car and don't want to change it again. it a Ford Focus estate 1.5 tdci with a towing capacity of 1200kg would this be fine to tow a rib with and what would it be like on a slipway
Looking forward to your advice
Thanks mark

[HDAV]

Check unbraked towing weight as 5.5m might be unbraked.

[marky moo]

Unbraked towing weigh is 690kg

[Pikey Dave]

It all depends, my RC 545 weighs in at 1900kg on the trailer, that's fully fuelled & ready to go. I doubt that many folk actually put their outfits on to a weighbridge, I certainly had a surprise when I weighed mine.

[Xk59D]

A 545 at 1900kg!!!!

My 6.8 is 1910kg on single axle trailer. I assume it is about 1980kg on the 4 wheel. Not been back to weight it yet.

Your trailer must be like 700-800kg surely.

That is on a weight bridge I should add.

[Poly]

Marky, 9d280 on here (not been about for a while) towed an old Humber about that size with a focus quite happily. Typically launching singlehanded etc too. The only isssue you might find is on tricky slipways where good planning, some rope and taking your time can solve most things.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Xk59D

A 545 at 1900kg!!!!

My 6.8 is 1910kg on single axle trailer. I assume it is about 1980kg on the 4 wheel. Not been back to weight it yet.

Your trailer must be like 700-800kg surely.

That is on a weight bridge I should add.

You do the math

[HDAV]

Wow almost 2 ton for a sub 6m really wow

Looking at a few 5.5 and 6m boats they are 300kg hulls with 1 ton payload

[Xk59D]

This is boat with about 180lts of fuel.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by HDAV

Wow almost 2 ton for a sub 6m really wow

Yup, heavy lay up boat, 170l of fuel, 140hp engine, twin batteries, Ullmans, anchor + twin axle trailer, 2spare wheels, electric winch+battery. It soon adds up.

[two stroke mick]

Pd. How many ribs and what type of ribs had you before the 545 I love that particular rib one of my favorites on ribnet. The size is perfect the seating is perfect and it looks cool

Tsm

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by two stroke mick

Pd. How many ribs and what type of ribs had you before the 545 I love that particular rib one of my favorites on ribnet. The size is perfect the seating is perfect and it looks cool



Tsm

This is my 4th RIB. First was a 6.4m Osprey with a V6 inboard. 2nd was a RC 585 with a 175 Ficht RAM. 3rd was a 6.4RC with twin 115 Etecs, 4th is the current one, which could quite possibly be the last one.
Ps, thanks for your kind words TSM

[henners115]

Dave,

How come the size of the RC 545 is not so common? Always seems to be 4.8s or 6.3 on the market the 585 and 545 are hard to come by

[two stroke mick]

Pd.

I noticed a trend to down size was there a reason for this trend. I do like ribs of this size

Tsm

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by henners115

Dave,



How come the size of the RC 545 is not so common? Always seems to be 4.8s or 6.3 on the market the 585 and 545 are hard to come by

The 545 is an oddball one off design by George Marvin who was involved with the early Searider designs. The current line up of RC boats are variations of a common design, not related to the 545, which sits between the 5.3 & 5.85. The 545 is a completely different design & to make one involves changing the tooling, so they aren't promoted. It's not a fast boat due to the full length deep V, no planing pad. Also, it's a heavy beast for its size, all this give a very sea worthy hull that will never win any races. I only know of 2 on Ribnet, mine & Hadds Mr Jingles.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by two stroke mick

Pd.



I noticed a trend to down size was there a reason for this trend. I do like ribs of this size



Tsm

I've tended to change boats as my needs change. The Osprey was bought second hand as a dive boat & we wore it out & scrapped it. All the RCs have been bought new, the 585 was a dive platform for conventional open circuit diving, then I got into rebreathers & wanted to venture further offshore with more gear, so the twin engines 6.4 came along. Now there's just me & the missus & I've all but hung up my fins, now it's mostly cruising & fishing. We wanted something easier to tow & launch, but still with serious offshore capabilities, hence the 545. Apart from the Osprey, all the boats have been sold in immaculate condition. Unless our circumstances change, I'd expect the current BP to last 15 years or so.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I've tended to change boats as my needs change. The Osprey was bought second hand as a dive boat & we wore it out & scrapped it. All the RCs have been bought new, the 585 was a dive platform for conventional open circuit diving, then I got into rebreathers & wanted to venture further offshore with more gear, so the twin engines 6.4 came along. Now there's just me & the missus & I've all but hung up my fins, now it's mostly cruising & fishing. We wanted something easier to tow & launch, but still with serious offshore capabilities, hence the 545. Apart from the Osprey, all the boats have been sold in immaculate condition. Unless our circumstances change, I'd expect the current BP to last 15 years or so.

Apologies to the Op for the thread drift

[MatFromPoland]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Yup, heavy lay up boat, 170l of fuel, 140hp engine, twin batteries, Ullmans, anchor + twin axle trailer, 2spare wheels, electric winch+battery. It soon adds up.

Do you know your trailer weight ?
It can be even 500-600 kg I suppose (2 axle, 2 spares and it looks solid as the rock). Sill boat be about 1300 kg

Mine highfield 5,4m on trailer real weight is 1250 kg with 2x batteries, 100l of fuel, gears for 5 people.

I was thinking about 6.1 Redbay or 5.8 Ribcraft but I do really need fancy rear and wide bench which Redbay make.



We have a lot of gears for 5 x (fins, masks, automatic life jackets, neoprene suits, spare shoes even - we use in Grece neoprene shoes for swimming but for exploring coast "normal" are better).

So current locker under bench till transom is full.

Now I doubt if I can fit 5.8 RC or 6.1 Redbay in 1500 kg towing limit
I'm thinking to buy some solid UK RIB and keep it in Greece (before Brexit)

[beamishken]

Id imagine unless the op Carries a lot of gear in the boat or buys a particularly heavy boat he will be fine.
I find boats tow better than other trailers ie caravans and box trailers due to the wheels being so far back.
There shouldn't be any problems with the car up to its max braked weight and he should find a boat within his wish list under that weight. I'd imagine most genuine sellers wouldn't mind getting a weighbridge ticket if it meant ensuring a sale. Obviously the "this is a bargain pay me now before I sell to another (ficticious) buyer" brigade might not like the inconvenience but most sellers are aware that the "right" buyer needs to be accommodated.
The usual way to go is after viewing agree to purchase subject to sea trial maybe after agreeing a small non refundable deposit to cover time & expenses if you don't buy. You could make a visit to a weighbridge on the way back from sea trial part of the condition of purchase, assuming the seller is of the opinion the boat is below your max weight.
If sea trial and weight are ok then hand over the cash and take the boat away any genuine seller should be ok with that scenario in my opinion
Obviously care would be required in picking appropriate slips to use