Selling big boat, fancy a RIB

[Overdraught]

Hello,

This subject will have no doubt been done to death and I did look at a recent post which will be similar to mine. I've a few more specific questions which I hope you can help with.

Background: I have a 30' twin diesel cruiser which is for sale. We would like to take a couple of years out but I don't want to be without a boat at all. I am likely to also have up to 6 months of credit for MDL marinas left over.

What do I want? I'd like to have a boat in a dry stack somewhere around Southampton but want to be able to get as far as Yarmouth and back safely and quickly. There will be 4 of us incl 2 x children of 8 and 10.

If my budget was up to 10 grand is this enough to get a boat no older than year 2000, that looks good and has a 40 knot top speed? Don't want 2 engines really and would like seating.

I'm thinking that something around 6 metres, with 100hp + sounds about right?

Any suggestions that I can go and research? Any idea of economy at a 25 knots cruise with a modern 100hp engine and family of 4?

Thanks
Adam

[J S]

Hi,

What I would suggest first is chartering or going out on friends Ribs to get a rough idea on how different lengths/power handles as this will then give you a better idea of what is best for you. If you haven't had much experience of Ribs Before.

A 6m with a 100hp will be comfortable for 4 people but may not deliver the 40kts top speed your looking for. A 150hp would be more like it. But you may have to compromise this because of your budget.

James

[Jizm]

If you have a look in the for sale section on this forum there are probably a couple of boats that fit your criteria.

sold now but:

http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31604

another couple:

http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31395

http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?t=26116

as with any RIB you may have trouble finding somewhere to stow your silverware and crystal decanters from your fairline

[Overdraught]

Thanks, I've had a look at the links and these seem the type of thing I'm after. Perhaps 40 knots isn't strictly necessary. I'm used to cruising at 25 and maxing at 35 ish in current boat and those speeds will seem much much faster in a RIB.

A jocket seat config. with a bench of sorts behind seems the right type of layout.

[Polwart]

It won't help with the MDL prepayment - but have you considered the "rib sharing" options that are out there (if you plan to be out there every weekend in all weathers - then maybe irrelevant, but I am guessing with a wife and two kids one of the reasons for selling the big boat is it just isn't getting used enough at the moment).

There are a couple of trade members on here who run rib sharing schemes: scm who runs Lynx Rib Club - which operates Scorpions. The club owns the boats and in effect you are just paying a share of the running costs / depreciation. You might get a much better RIB this way than you would with a 10k budget - which if you are used to big boat "finishing" might be better. RIBshare whos company of the same name operates Cobra ribs, on a similar basis.

And then there is RIBshack who I don't think? are members here but operate a different model - where you own a share of the boat, but they manage it all for you. That way you feel as though your cash investment (less than the 10k you were talking about) is not completely wasted - but your operating costs are reduced also.

There are other companies running similar approaches too which googling or searching here will uncover.

[cuttlefish]

how much ribbing you've done, but I wouldn't just buy any old rib. You don't want your kids falling overboard, or your wife/partner getting back injuries on jockey seats on a hard riding boat.