Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
 
Old 14 October 2019, 18:14   #1
Member
 
Country: UK - England
Town: Lancaster
Length: under 3m
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 295
How big

......is too big.
For a sib to be inflated and packed away every trip, what size do you guys think becomes the limit before it all gets too much work?
Thanks
__________________
Tommy c is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14 October 2019, 18:18   #2
Member
 
Country: UK - England
Town: Cambridgeshire
Boat name: Nimrod II
Make: Aerotec 380
Length: 3m +
Engine: Yam 15 Tohatsu 9.8
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 8,264
Air floor easier in any size obviously. But in general over 3.8m gets a bit unwieldy.
__________________
Fenlander is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14 October 2019, 18:25   #3
Member
 
Country: UK - England
Town: Lancaster
Length: under 3m
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 295
Cheers FL
I've not been out in mine yet but already beginning to think will it be big enough. and I've now seen one at 3.6m but an aluminium floor
__________________
Tommy c is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 14 October 2019, 20:46   #4
Member
 
Country: UK - England
Town: Eastbourne
Length: 3m +
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 152
I really like my 3.2 but i think thats still a lot of effort to set up and pack down each time, but great fun on the water with a 15hp 2stroke.
__________________
Windsurfer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21 October 2019, 10:04   #5
Member
 
Country: Ireland
Town: ...
Boat name: none
Make: Honwave 3.5-AE
Length: 3m +
Engine: Mariner 6hp
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 118
3.3m with airfloor, electric pump, big launch wheels , 6hp outboard (25kg)
__________________
billows is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21 October 2019, 17:42   #6
Member
 
Locozodiac's Avatar
 
Country: Other
Town: Lima-Peru
Boat name: Nautile
Make: Sea Rider 450 Rib
Length: 4m +
Engine: Tohatsu 5/18/30 HP
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,998
My auxiliary inflatable is a 320 Sib with alum floor, it's kept inflated at all times and transported on top of a wooden modified surf rack placed on a car roof, it's well strapped down to all car sides to avoid long tedious assembling, disassembling it each time it's used.

It's air topped to 3.0 PSI once on water with a Bravo 4 hand pump. It's powered with a 2 strokes 5 HP motor intended for portability and max 2 boaters, achieves just fast displacement speed as we're not light feather boaters. This small combo is more fun than being stranded at any beach...

On calm water cond there's no big water performance difference between an alum 360 and a 380 Sib powered with as much as with a 25 HP motor as both are usually built with same tube diam and deck width. If had to choose from both, I'll go straight for a 380 which is bit deck roomier than a 360 and at least a 2 strokes 15-18 HP motor.

Happy Boating
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	SRD-320.JPG
Views:	190
Size:	81.4 KB
ID:	131241   Click image for larger version

Name:	320-1.JPG
Views:	150
Size:	85.7 KB
ID:	131242   Click image for larger version

Name:	Modified Transom Height.JPG
Views:	136
Size:	99.1 KB
ID:	131243   Click image for larger version

Name:	380 Canopy.JPG
Views:	194
Size:	83.6 KB
ID:	131244  
__________________
Locozodiac is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 21 October 2019, 19:34   #7
Member
 
Country: New Zealand
Town: Auckland
Boat name: Harpoon
Make: Takacat
Length: 3m +
Engine: Yamaha F6
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 11
Despite rumours to the contrary, size doesn't matter - as much as weight does. It's the weight of the motor that will determine how big is too big as lugging the outboard and fitting it to the boat single-handed will tax your fitness and strength and the size of your car space if you're wanting to stay fully portable.

Check out the weight specs of your outboard options and related trade-offs - bigger boats need bigger motors etc
__________________
Gazzamatazz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22 October 2019, 19:33   #8
Member
 
Country: UK - England
Town: Lincolnshire
Boat name: Mousetrap
Make: Zodiac Cadet 310S
Length: 3m +
Engine: Mariner 4 stroke 9.9
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 480
Launching and recovering solo, I find a 9.9 hp 4 stroke is my limit for safe lugging about. I believe a 15 hp 4 stroke is approximately the same weight. That places a limit on every aspect of my SIB. I chose a 310.

I can easily launch and recover a 310 with plywood floor, solo.

I used to have a slightly bigger boat with fatter tubes and could do that but with noticeably more effort.

Some of my happiest SIBing was with a 3 hp 2 stroke. It was no strain at all to carry or store it. OK, so you can't whizz about on the plane all day, but you can explore, chug about, and appreciate the wildlife.

If I was choosing again, I might go for a slightly bigger hull (330?) and a smaller engine (6 hp?) which probably is the opposite of what many of you would choose.

These days, I spend a lot more time in the sailing dinghy, so the SIB only gets one or two river outings a year.
__________________
My novel, "Bridge of Otherwhere" 2018 by Michael Wilkinson, now available for download on Kindle.TinyURL.com/Bridge-of-Otherwhere
Mikefule is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 22 October 2019, 20:29   #9
Member
 
Country: New Zealand
Town: Auckland
Boat name: Harpoon
Make: Takacat
Length: 3m +
Engine: Yamaha F6
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 11
I doubt you'd get any dissent from us older fellas Mike (size and engine).
__________________
Gazzamatazz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 23 October 2019, 15:40   #10
Member
 
Locozodiac's Avatar
 
Country: Other
Town: Lima-Peru
Boat name: Nautile
Make: Sea Rider 450 Rib
Length: 4m +
Engine: Tohatsu 5/18/30 HP
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,998
Boating is not a rocket science, it's all about the type of boating you do while doing it solo or with a boating mate and the boat size and engine HP you're confortable dealing with. If you have several HP motors with same CC powerheads to choose from, invest wise and go for the larger HP one with same weight if being 2 or 4 stroke motors.

Will push much better a larger 320/330/340 Sib size than a much smaller one whether at fast displacement or plane speed depending on the boater's weight and boat load. Have fun with whichever boat/motor/combo you choose.

Happy Boating
__________________
Locozodiac is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off




All times are GMT. The time now is 04:29.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.