Scoop on Ribeye

[genoa]

I'm new to this ribbing lark, and looking around thought a Ribeye6.5 sport would make a great boat with a 115 or 150 on it. Second hand (3 year old)around 17-20k with all the bits...
There seem to be some negativity in the forumites? Why?
What else would be good for the family and friends for a bit of west country cruising and skiing?
I looked at Ballistic - but can't get one in budget (have they not been around long?)

[Phil Chitty]

Hi Genoa and welcome.

Osprey are definately worth looking at.

I have a 6.5 metre Vipermax with a Merc 150hp Optimax and its a great RIB for cruising and playing in the rough stuff.

Have a look here.

http://www.ospreyribs.co.uk/

[matt h]

i would say that a ribeye would be at the very very bottom on my list!! plastic boats and crap quality!!

[PeterR]

I think hes trying to say you may be disapointed .Their not that bad but you will find better for your bugdet

[v666]

Hi Genoa,

I have read so much in the last few months, I am starting to get confused.
I think i am right in saying the Ribeye Playtime is not a good choice for what you want. There is very little info on the Sport model, but the majority of it is good. One ponit that may cause some negativity is the cost of the Ribey when new, £33,000 for a 650 with a 150 4 stroke before you add the extras!

A Vipermax was top of my list until I came accross a 785 with a 200 Yamaha for a good price.

Good luck with your search, read plenty (but not too much) and ask owners of the boats you are interested in to find out what they are like to live with.

Tim

[matt h]

Hello Peter!!! Hows that superb Boat of yours?? my old sea rider is never going to out run yours now!! more Power Mr Taggart!!!

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by no fear

I think hes trying to say you may be disapointed .Their not that bad but you will find better for your bugdet

I did my PB2 in a Ribeye - not a bad little boat - get's a lot of use and went very well - hard landings though!!!

[PeterR]

Originally Posted by matt h

Hello Peter!!! Hows that superb Boat of yours?? my old sea rider is never going to out run yours now!! more Power Mr Taggart!!!

Hi matt.Your choice of boat was spot on.You,ll have great fun in the rough stuff.You can ride through the waves and i have to go over them.Meet up soon i hope.

[matt h]

can't wait to hit the water, engine arriving next week,totally restored back to original, will mail you when im going out again if your up for it!! have fun, Matt

[wavecrosschris]

Just to go against what seems to be the general grain direction here and add a biased opinion based on my own experience with Ribeye as an owner (and 20 years of boating in yachts, powerboats and RIBs) - Ribeye are an excellent choice - their aftersales service is superb, direct from their head office and in particular John Wood at Ribeye in Dartmouth - and also their dealer network, which I have also found to be excellent (I bought mine from Lansdale marine in Itchenor, nr Chichester).

The boats are built very well - mine certainly is, the quality and finish of the mouldings, console and hull, tubing and seating is superb (on mine anyway!) no rough edges and a mirror finish on all grp external surfaces. The tubes are finished to a standard that is as good or better as any I have seen or owned previously. The bow roller they install on most of their models is also a very useful feature. Some of the accessories are bit on the expensive side though, but that is just boats in general!

As for design taste - this is a very personal thing (and the reason I think most people choose to dislike Ribeye), I guess a lot of people like their RIBs (due to the heritage and history of 'the RIB') to look 'commercial' or serious like they are just about to pilot the next big container ship into dock, but with a private rib that is used on a more social level I personally prefer something that looks a bit more sleek and sporty (but still retaining saftey as the biggest element - I'd only have a rib with jockey seats!) .

Personally I find the grey, dark blue with red stripe Ribeye sport a very attractive colour scheme for a rib. I like to think in brand terms they are the Sunseeker of RIBs (they certainly dominate the ribworld at UK boatshows in a similar way to suseeker).

As it happens I was given a demo in a 6m at the boatshow this year and was very impressed - even though we couldn't break 25knots on the course they had set out at the show it behaved very well through hard turns and odd maneuvers. I can't really say how mine handles just yet when the going gets rough (or other Ribeyes for that matter) I've only had it since June and haven't been caught out by the weather yet, but bearing in mind mine is about 4.5m with a 60 fourstoke on the back I fly around the solent at 25knots in force 2-3's and very rarely have to back off or shut down for larger waves (I have a couple of vids floating around on youtube if you look under Ribeye) - I find the hull very confidence inspiring for a small boat. Infact the hull is one of the reasons I chose a Ribeye - mine, for its size has a larger and deeper Vee hull than any other design I could find on the market.

I can't really see why anyone could dislike them so much and why they deserve the reation they seem to attract on this forum, but I'd recommend them, highly. If it is what you want, it fits your purpose, price range and you like the way it looks, don't worry about what a few other people say on a chat forum. - but ultimately, go have a demo in one if you are unsure - I'd never part with any amount of money like that without doing that anyway!