Tapered Tubes

[Hightower]

What's the avantages/disadvantages of Tapered Tubes, or is it all about cosmetics?

[Downhilldai]

Advantages:

Less frontal area, so less wind resistance, hence more top speed.

More room in the bow area of the boat

Aesthetics


Disadvantages:

Less buoyancy, should you have the misfortune to stuff the bow (not that I'd know anything about that )

Possibly more expensive to produce, due to additional complexity of toob design?

Fashionable? Tapered toobs seem to have become less fashionable nowadays, apart from on larger RIBs.

Smaller inbuilt 'fender'

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Advantages:

Less frontal area, so less wind resistance, hence more top speed.

More room in the bow area of the boat

Aesthetics


Disadvantages:

Less buoyancy, should you have the misfortune to stuff the bow (not that I'd know anything about that )

Possibly more expensive to produce, due to additional complexity of toob design?

Fashionable? Tapered toobs seem to have become less fashionable nowadays, apart from on larger RIBs.

Smaller inbuilt 'fender'

But what about the cosmetics?

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by Mollers

But what about the cosmetics?

What do you mean? Are you saying there's less toob material to keep clean?

[Hightower]

Originally Posted by Downhilldai

Disadvantages:

Less buoyancy, should you have the misfortune to stuff the bow (not that I'd know anything about that )

Would have thought that the smaller the tube diameter the more protection the tube had from being ripped off during a major stuff.

[Downhilldai]

Yes, but it should take longer to re-surface.
Most of the 'offshore' RIB manufacturers favour the full diameter toobs in the bow, with tapered toobs being the choice for on sleeker, high-speed, eg racing craft.

[codprawn]

Totally agree - just look at the real offshore craft - things like the Quinquaris/Humbers - Tornados - Deltas and Ocean Dynamics - upswept bows and large diameter tubes.

Then you have the speed machines - Pascoes - Revengers - Cookee's Banasharks etc - sleek as a greyhound!!!

That's one thing I like about my RIB - it has a Revenger style hull but bigger tubes - especially at the nose. Either it's the best of both or a jack of all trades - I like it all the same. Has to be the driest open boat I have ever been on.

[Hightower]

There are some RIBs out there that have tapered bow tubes and very low bows, I suppose that this is to make them look nicer. These must be fair weather RIBs then? My BWM hull has a very flat bow, this would look really stupid if tapered tubes where fitted, and I've acually seen some BWM's with a boulbous Bow tube.