wildcat ribs

[Daniel TD5]

are wild cat ribs any good this one iam looking at is 2003 4.5m with mariner 30 hp 300 hour
refurb uint ex rnli 4k should i go and look or keep away

[MeMe]

The thing about RNLI......

engines is that you don't really know their history. However, I'm reliably informed that the RNLI spend money like it's going out of fashion, specifiing their gear above and beyond normal off the shelf kit. E.g, if the manufacturer offers a choice of two starter motors, harder wearing impellors, better quality cabling etc, the RNLI always opt for the better / more costly version. Furthermore, their engines are serviced bang on the manufacturers guidelines, again with no expence spared.

I suppose all you can do is take a look. Finally, bid the guy in the pants i.e £3250 and take it from there.

[Daniel TD5]

the engine may be old but could be in good nick are wild cat ribs ok or are they like nalwal or mako that would be best be avoided spoke to the guy its been on the market a few weeks with two buyers not turning up as you say its a cheap boat for 3.5k for a 4.5m what the build quality like with wild cats

[Mike B]

Originally Posted by Daniel TD5

are wild cat ribs ok or are they like nalwal or mako that would be best be avoided

Daniel, not sure if you have more info but I have not heard anything bad about the older Narwhals - I have a 1994 5.2m and a local Power boat school has a 1990 (I think). For the money you are looking at the you are not likely to get to the newer (after the company split from Valliant) Narwhal's which I've heard have poor build quality (at least one member of the forum sadly found this out).
I know there are at least 2 other "older" Narwhal owners on here so they may also have some input.

I paid just over £5000 for my 5.2 with a 55 hp Suzuki and haven't regreted it once. Personally I like the look of the boat which is a bit less utilitarian than some of its competitors. I doubt it has quite the same sea-keeping qualities as some of its competitors but for what I have used it in it has been fine.

May be one to think about ????

If you want any more details give me a shout.

Cheers

Mike

[Daniel TD5]

as i don,t know that much and this will be my first rib the members i have spoke to just said to avoid nawhals don,t know why i like
vailant they look very nice
selva ribs look good allso
my end of year bonus was late which as put me nearer to the summer than
i wanted to be looking for a rib and now can,t find much as i would like
about three years old

a man that does not listen to what older more wiser men have to say is a fool
and a fool and his money are soon parted

your boat looks very nice much like the vailant dr range

[Bill S]

Daniel,

I gotta agree with Mike B - the older Narwhals are fine - my 4 mtr is a 1992, and I can assure you it's solid, and has been dry stored most of its life. When I went to look at it, (2 yrs ago) I thought it was 3-4yrs old and was a bit taken aback to find it was 10 yrs old - it was in superb condition.

It had a 1995 Force 40hp with PTT on it (not an engine I would normally go for), but when I found it had less than 30 hrs on it, I just could'nt resist. I have never regretted buying it - its a smashing wee outfit, all this and only £3k - it was a no brainer. Don't let anyone put you off older Narwhals - I do not know about the post-Valiant ones though!

Bill

[The Jackeens]

When I was looking last year I had a look at the wildcat ribs. They can be seen/got from Aladins Cave (forgot the other name) on the hamble - imported from South Africa

From my point of view (which is not much) the build quality was not the greatest glue all over the place and looked shaby. But, they are very cheap.


My 2 cents

pAUL

[MeMe]

Well Dan' it looks........

like you need to hop in your car and take a look. Let us know how you get on !

[Daniel TD5]

wild cats home page said they are the best boats ever made if that true why is a 4.5m 2003 boat selling for less than 4k are they that bad or just
not what people are looking for i was told avon boats are much higher price
just becuse of the name as other boats are as good but don,t have that market control

[The Jackeens]

18 k for a diesel
wildcat click here


deacons thats the gaff



Bargin

[Daniel TD5]

it must be the same guy he was selling about four wildcat ribs on ebay
must of had a bulk order he as a 3m for a grand and no one bid

[Mike B]

Daniel,

I can understand your concern £5000 is a lot of money.

Have you considered widening the age of boat your looking for ? this may increase the number available. I am also a realative newcomer to Ribs but in my opinion they are the toughest boats around and you can afford to go a little bit older.

Hope you find the boat you are looking for. If your ever over my way and fancy a spin give me a shout.

Cheers

Mike

[Manos]

If these are the WILDCATS that are made in South Africa I would be VERY CAREFULL if it was mee.
I had a VERY CLOSE look of the racing RIBs in Straaseebay and they were not what you call up to scratch finsh wise I mean, however they have lasted the races and haven't broken to bits like some others (I will not mention any names)
....and before you ask they were NOT the FALCONS

[Daniel TD5]

yes it is a large amount if it was a car no problem but ribs i know not a bean
dealers can take it back if a problem
private is a risk

i will keep looking and hope to buy soon

[tim griffin]

looking through my local rag on the isle of wight
4metre avon sea rider 40 yamaha and snipe trailer vgc £2,750 tel 01983 760186
give them a call also kevin mole is advertising ribs from £2950 3.5 to 7.2 tel 01983 289699 boats don,t move as fast on the island and some good bargains do come up from time to time this was advertised on the 2nd of april
regards tim
www.griffmarineservices.co.uk

[Manos]

Daniel I would go with Tim's suggestions
The Avon sounds a good bargain if is good condition. Good traler too

[jwalker]

That wee Mariner is actually a Yamaha Origin, rebadged. I've had 3 of these, ex RNLI, and they've all been excellent. One was unused. It had been a backup and, apparently, they move them on after a peroid of time. One thing odd about them; Yamaha specify 100:1 mix, Mariner specify 50:1.

Don't worry about the age of a rib, just consider it's condition.

[swginn]

don,t know why i like
vailant they look very nice

Daniel, from reading the thread it seems you like Valiants. having just sold my last rib a Valiant V490/ Merc 75hp, I can only reccommend this little boat as a great platform to enter the Ribbing scene. A bilge pump is a must, however, if you are gonna be tackling big seas, which this boat is quite capable of. Ours has been to the Fastnet rock, which i'm sure most will agree is a very treacherous place and it held its own very well.

http://ribs.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=11630

I know I already posted this link on your other thread, but here is something to think about. We bought our boat, which is very similar spec to the boat you see here for about about the same price last yr. After a seasons use and the addition of various electronic equipment, we sold the boat for quite a significant profit and this profit takes into account all our fuel & servicing bills as well.

So you might even say that we were paid to use the boat for the season.

Maybe you could do this as well. It's food for thought anyway. Also bear in mind that somebody selling their boat now is probably upgrading their boat and will want to get rid of their current boat quickly(to fund a new boat), so there are plenty of deals to be done.

[GaryD]

I bought my second RIB last weekend.... a 4.5m 1994 Narwhall with a 1994 50HP Mariner, paid 4k for it and have to say so far having had the boat out quite a bit, its been a brilliant buy!

Like everyone else is saying I would stay away from the later Narwhall's after the company split.... but as far as im concerned the earlier ones are cracking!

Bill S your boat is the spitting image of mine! only mine is 1/2 m longer and has an A frame.... need to post up some pics once the weather gets better!

[Daniel TD5]

thanks for all the comments its very help full

i have sent email to the vailant owner and hope to hear back hope its not sold like the others
i think the buget is right from what you chaps have said keep away from
the wildcat and wait for the right boat at the right price vailant is my number
one choice or avon so thats what iam going to get

good things come to those who wait