console location

[tue]

I am renovating my rib and as the floor is being replaced I am considering moving my console to the very back.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with stern mounted consoles and plus and minus points to having it placed there.

[Richard B]

Good question... I certainly don't claim to have the answer, but I suppose it 's a question of balancing weight distribution against seating position?

I suppose that with your setup (ie, sounds like a conventional outboard powered RIB) the question is - how are you going to keep the nose down with the 200hp outboard, console, seats and the passengers all pushing the back of the boat down?

Most RIBs with rear mounted consoles seem to be mid engined jet-drive rigs.

Also, with a RIBtec, you've got a lot of volume at the bow with that constant-deadrise hull, so it's very buoyant at the front.

[Colin F]

my avon has a rear mounted bench seat. When I first got the boat it pointed its nose skywards and was very slow to get on the plane. Shortly after I bought a set of doel-fins to fit on the outboard which made a massive difference. This rectified the proble. One plus point with a rear seat, plenty of open space in the boat, the only down side is if a few people are in the boat your view soon becomes obscured.

hope this helps

Ribnwheels

[tue]

I have hydro foils already attatched .

Also I have two large underfloor fuel tanks set from centre, one back and one forward. Would this help keep the bow down at all? Also the Rib will mainly be used for diving so a bottle rack can be placed in the bow for added weight.

I have driven an ex-marine 23ft rigid raider with twin 200hp!! and a rear mounted console and did find the bow tended to rise off the top of waves, but put it down to its flat dory like hull catching the wind, and its fuel tanks were situated more towards the stern.

Is there any other way of adding a bit more weight to the bow if I'm not diving, but playing ?

[John Kennett]

Originally posted by tue
Is there any other way of adding a bit more weight to the bow if I'm not diving, but playing ?

You could fit a bow ballast tank that you can fill with water nd drain as required. It's common on race boats, but could be a major job to retro-fit.

An aft console will give the most comfotable driving position, but you must make sure that you can balance the boat fore and aft or else it will be a dog to drive.

John

[David Hickman]

I prefer to have my weight balance slightly forward. On my 7.2m Ribeye, I had the steering console fitted much furthur forward than it was normally with the jockeys behind. When getting on the plane, the bow hardly rises at all and everyone has some protection from the windscreen.
On a following sea I just have to be a bit more alert and use the full maximum height on the trim control.
Personal view, steering console forward and seating behind.

[Rene]

Hi

As a diving RIB i would prefere to have the console all the way up front.

This way you can have a clear sight of the divers you might be picking up, without having others divers in front of you.

Also since the other divers is sitting on the tubes, and the ride is worst up front. The the driver might take a bit more consideration, if he is all the way up there.

Just my thoughts.

Regards
Rene

[Mosser]

From a diving point of view, I think Rene hits the spot.
It seems that when small(er) ribs are used for diving, the tendency is to push the console as far forward as possible and to use the beam at the back to take the divers and gear.

My only experience of an aft-fitted console is on a 9m Ribcraft which could take 12 divers and gear. Then again, that was more like a bus on water (probably due to the inboard diesel adding to the effect).

[Pete7]

Tue, the 6.5m Ribtec is a deep v hull which is great in the waves just needs some power to make it move but you have plenty of that. However it means the engine is mounted lower that say on an Osprey hull with a planning wedge.

Therefore noticed when I first started using mine that waves did tend to poop over the stern when we had divers on board and used the rear fuel tank(130L). We now use the front tank (130L) which makes a big difference and we also keep the weights up front as well.

A rear console would mean divers on the rubes rather than seats which I wasn't keen on so compromised by having just one off set seat for going diving.

Mark Bleaker did have a 6.5m Ribtec built with rear console and fuel tank but it was only run lightly loaded. With a Yam 200 Pro V it was a 60 mph boat albeit @ 20 gph, eek!

Peter

[Colin F]

I guess you'll be ok if you tend to keep the bow tank full and use the stern one first. On my rib, both 25L tanks are behind the seat, so all our weight is at the back. The only other consideration is as the others have mentioned with regards to visibility, which does get comprimised as soon as anyone sits on the tubes.

On my next boat - which will be a 7m, I'm going to sit further forward?

So who knows whats best???