Rubber Ridgid Inflatable

[samt]

Anybody seen these before?

www.dbarrib.com/index.htm

looks interesting

[prairie tuber]

It's hard to imagine a fully collapsible 5.3m RIB that only weighs 110kg. I wonder what the transom is made of - it looks thin in the pictures. If this boat works as claimed and proves to be durable, it would be a real breakthrough in collapsible inflatable boat design.

Zodiac has had a collapsible RIB out for a few years now, the Ribster 530 LSC (Light Strike Craft). This has a sectional aluminum hull that can be taken apart and has been used by various marine forces. It's an interesting design but meant for pretty specialized applications since it weighs 345 kg and takes 3-4 people close to an hour to assemble it. Here is a link to it's specs;

http://alligatormarine.com/inflatabl...s/ribster.html

Oh yeah - it sells for about 50,000 USD (hull only).

[codprawn]

I have seen this one before somewhere.

Here's a video of it in action

http://www.dbarrib.com/video2.htm

The credentials of the people behind the company look pretty good.

[samt]

This is the first place I came accross it:

http://www.hotribs.com/03press/238-s...BA%20RRIB.html

Interesting steering arangement...

[prairie tuber]

Found some more pictures of it on the Eurocraft website:

[prairie tuber]

Couple more;

[codprawn]

The boat looks pretty tough to me - transom looks like Aluminium.

[ribber99]

I've got one as my tender to my sunseeker. Its alright but its a little on the slow side and the steering is horrible to use.

[samt]

Originally Posted by ribber99

I've got one as my tender to my sunseeker. Its alright but its a little on the slow side and the steering is horrible to use.

Interesting choice, not exactly in keeping with the sunseekers' style

[prairie tuber]

Ribber99, Do you have the 4.2 m or the 5.3 m version? What engine set up are you using with it? Would it work better by simply using a tiller?

[ribber99]

Sorry for the slow reply sportsfans. I have the 5.3, i originally bought it to be my main inflatable but found its not that great so i bought a scorpion rib. I think it may work better with a tiller as that steering is quite unresponsive and not very nice to use.

[prairie tuber]

Thanks for the information Ribber99.