Which RIB to buy

[fred bolton]

I am currently considering buying a new or nearly new rib price approx £10k length 4.5m to 6.0m. I know very little about ribs except that Delta seem to be the Rolls Royce of Ribs. My wife quite like the looks of the Zodiac Medline 1 (seems to me to be a bit "pretty" though) We intend to use the boat mainly for cruising possibly a bit of water skiing, or banana pulling. I have also seen a couple of Arimars on the web are these a good buy? Is there a definition of a deep v hull? In short does anyone have any bright ideas for something that may fit my budget. I also intended visiting RIBEX unfortunately Boat Mart magazine are reporting this as cancelled for 2003. Where is the best place to view ribs in the North West ? everything seems to be on the south coast!!

Thanks in anticipation

[dgpw]

Hi can I welcome you to the forum.

This question has been asked many times before. The things that you need to think about are

1 The type of rib that you want
2 The weight and size (are you going to tow it and if so behind what and where)
3 The type of engein on the boat, (2 stroke, 4 stroke)
ect ect
4 The seating layout

there are many things to look at. I personaly would go for somthing like a ribtec but again it depends alot on what you are going to be using the boat for.

A good place to start if you have not been on the water that much in RIBS is to do an RYA course if you find a good instructor they will be able to give you some advice.

Take your time and get out on some boats befor you buy. It is a buyers market at the moment

[Alan]

Welcome to rib.net. What usually happens these days is that some unsuspecting newcomer such as yourself poses an innocent question such as "which rib should I buy?" and all hell breaks loose!

Search the forums here and think about what you want in terms of style of boat, useage etc as per DGPW's posts.

You are correct that RIBEX is cancelled for this year. Two options for you 1) Check out the cruising forum and the "North West Ribsters" thread. Lots of people in your area who should be able to help out. Even think they have regular meet. 2) Come down to Plymouth the weekend of 10th/11th May for the 1st ever RIBNET gathering. (See inaugaraul rib.net conference thread.) Lots of peeps there with different types of rib for you to look at.

Oh yes and I give it about 30 mins before Manos offers to sell you a South African built Falcon RIB for your budget.


Alan

[Grahamsee]

If buying your first RIB I feel one of the most important considerations for you is how YOU plan to use your boat, in what conditions and with who.
If you see yourself pounding through the tempest with your mates then you'll be looking for a wholly different RIB to one in which you see yourself with the family on a summers day towing the kids on a banana!
In my relatively limited experience, you see a hell of a lot of people going for an out and out "go anywhere in anything" RIB as a leisure boat for the family which of course is fine, but one can't help thinking they could benefit more from a boat more tailored to their requirements and usage. This, in fact need not be a RIB at all, although there are now many RIB manufacturers producing "leisure" versions of existing models or some producing RIBs designed as a leisure boat.
The best answer to your question is probably to book yourself on lots of demonstrations with a variety of RIBs and take note of the previous suggestions. There's no substitute for experience and your experience is what's valid. A deep Vee is not inherently "better" than a shallow Vee as both have pros and cons.
Good Luck!!

[Brian]

Talking about "Which rib to buy", whatever happened to the fragrant "Jordan"?

[Manos]

Originally posted by fred bolton
....approx £10k length 4.5m to 6.0m

Alan you wan the bet

For that budget I would recommend a FALCON 5.10 or 5.75 with a Yamaha engine, VHF, GPS, trailer and boat cover. I think that the 5.75 with 110 bhp Yam, trailer, VHF, GPS and transportation is about 10K I believe that you will find that in the 6 mtr range all the boats in the Europe are over 10K. FALCON (given the budget you have in mind) is your best choice.
For more details I suggest that you look at their web page.
Good luck with your endeavours

[Manos]

...and I forgot to post the photo