Folding rib

[Mickhitchuk]

Hi all, have to Ask
Saw some folding ribs at the boat show which looked quite impressive, they caught my eye as it seemed easy to set up compared to a Ali or wood floor, but something is telling me that a folding rib is just wrong, any one owned one?
Any feedback would be great
Cheers
Mick

[John Kennett]

I had one of the Henshaw Tinker foldaway RIBs for a while. It was smaller than the folding RIBs at the show though, and only took a very small outboard.

It worked OK, but was very unwieldy and difficult to carry on my own when folded. I recommend not getting your finger caught in the hinge

With two people to move it I reckon one of the bigger ones might be quite good though, and worth considering as an alternative to an inflatable albeit at a significant price premium.

[Landlockedpirate]

I had the Zodiac/Avon/Bombard 3.1m version. Didnt really rate it. To get it to fold into a nice small bag the hull is very flat, and it slammed in even tiny chop. Single skinned floor felt flimsy and you ended up with wet feet if even a little water got in the bottom. Bag arrangement was neat but IMHO folding ribs of this type give no real advantage over a solid or air floor option.

However I have also tried a Walker Bay 310 folding rib and this was much better, deeper hull, double skinned floor, nice seating arrangement and even an anchor locker. It wasnt as neat in the bag but I would happily buy one of these.

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by Landlockedpirate

I had the Zodiac/Avon/Bombard 3.1m version.

That's just a folding transom though. The boats at the show have hulls in 2 or 3 hinged sections.

I agree with you about the 3.1 btw.

[Landlockedpirate]

Originally Posted by John Kennett

That's just a folding transom though. The boats at the show have hulls in 2 or 3 hinged sections.

I agree with you about the 3.1 btw.

Sorry, my mistake

One of those keeps turning up on Ebay, doesnt seem to have sold.

[whisper]

I'm sat 10 yards from them!

[philpot]

This made interesting reading, now on my wish list. Wonder if there is any flex when the boat is fitted with launching wheels and engine mounted. The 330 is the same weight as my Excel SD330 which is amazing.

Nesting, Portable, Folding Boats & Dinghies UK - Nestaway Boats Ltd - F-RIB Folding hull RIBs

Phil

[Fenlander]

Interesting concept. Expensive but so are the premium inflatables like Futura, Aerotec, Zodiac Classic etc.

Good video... they seem to travel well but I'd like to see one in heavier weather...

WINBOAT 3 30 5 00 - YouTube

Nice HD quality assembly video...

Foldable RIB WinBoat 360RF - YouTube

[Mickhitchuk]

Thxs for posting the videos, have to say I'm even more tempted, they are expensive and getting hold of a second hand one doesn't seem likely, but a proper rib you can get in your boot seems great as I hate towing and storing a boat and trailer on my drive way,
Think I'll get some saving done and take a plunge around March

[paddlers]

Some impressive youtube footage of them been used with completely deflated tubes.

[Landlockedpirate]

I realise I was talking about the wrong kind of rib above, but I think this one will have similar problems.

Although it has a little V at the bow the rest of the hull looks flat. Its going to slam like mad and I doubt it will perform better than a good sib.

[Mickhitchuk]

Oh ok, I'll give them a miss then as 3.5k is a lot for anything less than near perfection
Thxs for the input

[Nick Hearne]

Nice idea, BUT that hull is flatter than my Arotec and watching the video of the Rushan setting up buy the lake, bring up the real world of setting up as he opens it up and gets the bag pinched in the hull as it opens out + think about having to be carefull of not getting dirt grit or stones trapped in the hull joints as it opens up! I like how they have fitted the seats on side rails not all bad

[Fenlander]

I do see downsides but to be fair to them the 3.3/3.6 are priced just either side of £2500.

"Performance" is a broad word too.

From experience of similar hulls on GRP boats I'd expect they would plane quickly and give good speed and economy for any given outboard size. They should also be free of the cavitation/ventilation/flex issues sometimes suffered by flat airfloors and (as long as the floor is decent quality) they should feel much more solid to be in.

For me a worry might be if the join would have any tendency to open up (even fractionally) in bumpy weather and also the way they fold makes quite a big box type shape which may be much harder to fit into the car than just the compactly packed airfloor or even an alloy floor with the separate boat/flooring packs.

[headdamage]

I asked about these a while back but didn't get much feedback.

http://www.rib.net/forum/f50/folding-rib-61216.html

[philpot]

For me I think it would fit the bill very well as I am not really going into rough waters, I want the boat for fishing in both fresh water and sea with family trips on the Humber and local rivers. I agree the package is a different size to my Excel 330 but to be honest I could live with that and I have been thinking of a camping type trailer to put the sib in so these craft would be no different.
Both the Winboat and the F-Rib appear to be the same size, weight, assembly etc, so I assume the same manufacturer is making both.
The price is much higher than my Excel but similar to Zodiac prices and I have been in touch with Nestaway, who are handling the F-Rib to establish if there are any boats near me to have a close look at but all the sib/ribs are on the South coast so I will wait until some come closer to home.
I take on board the possible downside comments but confess they have great appeal to me and seriously look to be on the cards for a future purchase. I will be much happier with a solid floor than the air floor I have but not wanting the messing around with ali floors. These boats are certainly quick to set up, comparable to my sib and a hell of a lot faster than aluminium floors.

Phil

[John Kennett]

Originally Posted by philpot

Both the Winboat and the F-Rib appear to be the same size, weight, assembly etc, so I assume the same manufacturer is making both.

Correct. The F-boat is a rebadged Winboat.

[whisper]

They are 2 stands away from us...y

[Fenlander]

Have you given them a prod? I wonder how strong the floor seems? Like a proper grp boat or a sort of plastic tray?

I wonder what size boat is folded on the pallet... it looks a neat package if it's a 3.3 or 3.6.

One issue I think I can see is any water shipped will stay in the 3 separate floor areas and be harder to bail out.

[philpot]

I must admit this was something I am very curious about because the weight at 43kg for the 3.3 is exactly the same as my Excel 3.3 air floor so is the skin very thin, does it have strengthening strips down the sections. Looking at the blurb, you can also have Hypalon instead of PVC which will of course take the weight up.

Go on Whisper, give it a prod and tell us how tough those floor section are----------I really want to know !!!!!

Phil