Which boat to buy?

abstoof · 26 March 2003, 22:19

I have Ribtech 650 Camel. Wet ride with cross winds, frame starts to have problems, is slow. Want to replace boat for slightly larger? and dryer boat. I live in the Caribbean, use boat for support boat of sailing yacht fleet and private pleassure. PVC Ribs fail within 4 years, Hypalon seems best. We have short steep waves.
Which boats do you think is best for me:
Valiant 750 (what is that Akron TPE material about?)
Revenger 27
Duarry 620, or what other good second hand boat below 20K GBR
Arjan

Pete7 · 27 March 2003, 06:09

I would have thought that a Camel boat with light coloured tubes so they don't get to hot and a frame which would support a cover to keep the sun off the american tourists, lots of seats, a reliable Honda engine, again not to fast to scare the folks would be ideal.

But if you want to go faster then stick an Optimax on the back end
a 225 should give it something to scare people with. The hull is deep V so for its size it will handle short steep waves, the alternative would be to go up in size to 8m perhaps.

Pete

Julian · 27 March 2003, 07:45

Hi There

I would go for the 7.5 Scorpion rib. Its a great boat, fast we had a 200hp on the back and it went like a rocket and is also very good in rough weather.

Julian

John Kennett · 27 March 2003, 07:54

Arjan

I would seriously think about keeping the Ribtec, but getting rid of the ridiculous frame and re-engining the boat with something lighter than that Honda 130. It's a good hull for your sort of conditions and you might be surprised by how much better it will work if rigged properly!

Alternatively going up a metre or so in length will certainly help with ride comfort. The Valiant 750 looks like a reasonable boat, but I don't have any first hand experience of them. A bigger Ribtec, a Ribcraft or a Scorpion would all do you well.

John

Alan · 27 March 2003, 08:02

Agree with JK et al. Get rid of the 300kgs of nasty steel frame and you will transform the performance of the boat with current engine. You might want to rig some kind of bimini to keep the sun off but you could fabricate something a hell of a lot lighter fairly easily I suspect. Next stage would be to ditch the 130hp Honda for something a bit more powerful. Can you get hitech 2 strokes (optimax/ficht/hpdi) serviced in the BVI's? If so then 150hp opti, possibly 175 or 200 would be a sound move. If not then conventional 175 2 stroke. The camel will have big fuel tanks so range shouldnt be a problem. The Ribtec is a good hull = Alan Priddy took the 7.4m version across the Atlantic back in 97.

If you are determined to change then I think you need to avoid Valiant as they are PVC tubes. A Scorpion is a great choice. (I would say that) but one caution is that the tubes are quite high set so they are less stable at rest than a Ribtec. Might be an issue if you spend lots of time poodling around slowly? Revenger IMHO are good speed machines but not really suitable for your useage.

Finally as I am sure life must be hell in the BVI's I am perfectly happy to come out there to be your RIB consulant. I'll even bring my Scorpion with me

!

Alan

Jelly · 27 March 2003, 08:14

Having driven the camel boats, both event (with full frame) and camera(small righting & radio frame over central console) the frame does make a noticable difference. But the re-engining to a bigger optimax, on the one I drove you would think it wasn't the same boat, the improvement was such.
Jelly

thewavehumper · 27 March 2003, 08:50

You can tell these Guys don't own a Camel.

Get rid of it whilst it's still pretty and will sell. The Camel's are probably the highest maintenance ribs out there and will cost you dearly in the future. And also you don't get much bang for the buck.

The guys are right in saying that losing the Aframe and putting a bigger engine on the back will improve the performance. But by doing that you have lost the intrinsic resale value of the boat. and probably spent the majority of the money you would have spent on a replacement. Remember the reasons why you bought it in the first place

Don't forget these boats were designed to compete in an event, so as far as the owners were concerned they only needed a lifespan of 6 months, this is particularly the case with the Frame.

I am also not too sure that having a large lump of scaffolding sitting on top of your boat makes it the ideal Rib Tender.

Don't discount the large Avon seariders 7m + when looking for a replacement craft they are incedibly good sea hulls

Also as I am a helpful person I to am prepared to act as your on site consultant and have the added advantage of owning a Camel and a Scorpion

Anyway I have to go as I think I might be able to sell my Camel to JK or P7 and I am going to start preparing my sales pitch. It's a fine boat for 18K boys.... Where is Flanker when you need him?