I love my wee F Rib 275 Big Plums. For its size ..it is far more seaworthy than any other small 2.75 size inflatable that I have owned and a lot more robust. It turns on a sixpence and its smooth hull is very efficient allowing me to use a 6HP outboard with no issues . I have covered ¾ of the west coast of mainland Scotland in mine and would replace it tomorrow if anything happened to it.
My requirements for this boat were to easily pack into my car.. easy to lift over rocky beaches .. and have an outboard I can carry across these types of shores. This boat fits those requirement perfectly. I am not a speed merchant and was brought up in the days people went to sea with seagull outboards ... at displacement speeds. However the wee F Rib does 15mph with me on it. I have been in force 5 -6 conditions in mine and had no worries it could not handle Cat C conditions.
Check out this video for more info
The downfall to the F Ribs.. like any small flat bottomed boat they are uncomfortable at speed in a short sharp chop. In heavy seas this is not so much a problem as the waves are generally more of the rolling type. I drop to displacement speeds heading into short sharp waves. I will go as far as to say an airfloor can be more comfortable in those conditions as its softer floor absorbs some of the shock.. the hard hull flattish bottom F Ribs will rattle your teeth
Check out this video for a 360 Frib windy conditions .. it does fine and it is a dry ride.
Personally I would not buy the F Rib 360 size as it is too heavy for me to carry on my shoulders ..the bigger OB are too heavy to carry down bankings and across shores etc. Almost every F Rib 360 owner I know uses a trailer.. they give all sorts of excuses that they don’t need trailers but the bottom line is .. they keep them on trailers so take what you want from that fact. They are expense to keep on a trailer when there are cheaper options ..and some better ones too (my opinion) ..except they don’t fold.
If I was going to replace my Quicksilver tomorrow ..I would get one of the aluminium hull Excels that are new on the market this year. A friend of my brother bought a 4.2meter size and I was very impressed. Its got a lovely V hull .. if you are thinking of a small lightweight boat around the 4m size check them out. (they do a 3.5m size too) Obviouly you need to trailer them and they are long shaft so may not suit your requirements. I would keep it tiller steering as I would make my own internal setup similar to the Gurnard..it keeps my cameras dry.
I have nothing to do with either Excel or F Rib..only giving my honest opinion on the F Ribs based on personal experience .. and my research into what I would replace “The Gurnard” with as it is now 14 years old. However it still does exactly what I want it to do ..so wont replace her until she falls apart.
Hope that helps.. my advice is to try one before buying ..as with any boat.
