First time user and RIB buyer

[Gavin F]

Hi all, been looking at buying a rib for a while and think i've finally found the one i'm going to buy. All you guys and girls seem quite up on everything and wondered if i could have an opinion on this before i purchase....thanks, gavin.

[Kernow Buoy]

Hi Gavin
Firstly welcome to Ribnet!
I believe thats a Ribtec 5.35 ? I've had one for the past couple of years and overall am very pleased. The hull design is good, handles sea conditions very well for a boat of its size and is also fast ( mine touches 40kts with a 90 hp) Overall build quality is fairly impressive all original fixtures and fittings remain intact (I don't think thats an original Ribtec A frame on the one your looking at) and although mine is a 1997 it still looks in very good condition but has had 2 very careful previous owners.
Disadvantages I've found are the seating being too wide and low putting a lot of force through the crews backs on landing, this I've offset by including backrests for everyone. Having mentioned the hulls speed this seems to have been achieved by keeping its beam down and doesn't leave much room either side of the jockey console, mine had a 4 seat version fitted which made the situation slightly worse but at least 4 people can sit somewhere! Storage is also an issue, there's very little but with the extra deck space that one has should be fairly easy to overcome. I see there are several patches on that one and she does look a little tired generally but I assume the price will reflect that.
Regards
Jeff

[Gavin F]

Jeff, thanks for that, and thanks to a warm welcome, i love this site, getting addicted since been looking for my first purchase. You're right indeed, it does have a few patched but these apparently were added to give more protection of the tubes and after closer inspection they seem to be on well so should be ok. The general condition of the boat is good but obviously being 7 years old it does reflect. The price - i'm looking to pick it up from the current owner for £4-£4,500 which i think seems to be well priced?? Looking to have something safe to learn the ways of the seas and have a good play thing to escape from the stresses of work, hopefully this is it?

[Kernow Buoy]

Originally Posted by Gavin F

Jeff, thanks for that, and thanks to a warm welcome, i love this site, getting addicted since been looking for my first purchase. You're right indeed, it does have a few patched but these apparently were added to give more protection of the tubes and after closer inspection they seem to be on well so should be ok. The general condition of the boat is good but obviously being 7 years old it does reflect. The price - i'm looking to pick it up from the current owner for £4-£4,500 which i think seems to be well priced?? Looking to have something safe to learn the ways of the seas and have a good play thing to escape from the stresses of work, hopefully this is it?

Gavin,
looks good for the price, the black patches on top the tube are original, if the others have been well done they shouldn't cause a problem. I'd put a couple of more years on its age though its a UK built one (which is good) someone here will know when they moved production to S.Africa but I think it was 98/99 ?
Your right about the stress thing, you'll have a hard job remembering where you work once your out on the Rib in a bit of weather!

[Gavin F]

Overall then looks like to be a good purchase which I'm really pleased about. The chap I'm buying it from bought it for his wife to take pics at sea for her business but then she didnt like going out on her own so they used it for a few pub runs, etc. Before that someone had it as there tender....looking forward to hitting the water on this. Obviously there's more i need than the RIB such as clothing, life jackets, etc so have it all to look forward to. Thanks for the feedback on this one, I knew someone would be able to help. Gavin

[Nos4r2]

If they are giving up boating I'd haggle hard about what you get with the boat as well as the price (price is good anyway). You may find yourself saving paying out a small fortune on gear. It's easy to go through £600-700 kitting yourself out.

[Tim M]

I had a 585 and it was a very solid, well built boat. This one is a 1992 model and really didn't look that old. Looks like a good deal

[Gavin F]

That's a few quid isn't it, might ask him what else he can throw in to the deal then. I know he's got a 40ft yacht so he's not giving up completely, just the RIB! Need to get myself a GPS and VHF etc so if you know of any good places to buy kit then please let me know. Thanks, Gavin.

[Gavin F]

Hi Tim,

Awesome, glad you share the love. I think this is the one for me, positive feedback so far which is what I was looking for. Is that a 115 on yours, the one i'm looking to purchase only has a 50, should be ok to start off with i guess?

[Nos4r2]

? I thought it was bigger than a 50. It looks new enough that you could sell it and pay for an upgrade without adding too much cash anyway though.

Talk to Jimbo on here about electronics-he'll do you a pretty good deal and he's in Pompey.

He can probably help you with VHF training too and anything else you need to learn.