Does someone have a Ballistic 6.5M?

[Mark B]

I'm looking to buy a 6.5m rib and the Ballistic 6.5m is on my shortlist. I've heard a lot of good things about it, but I'd like to know more about the ride in choppy seas.

[Lostboy]

A friend of mine has and I can tell you that the ride in choppy seas is best described as hard. Much quicker than my boat (with the short prop) in a flat sea, as soon as the sea state is even remotely choppy then it's reigned back in because of the ride. Still very stable though!

[Mark B]

What boat do you have?

[Phil Chitty]

Mark

Send a PM to Steve Green.

He's had his Ballistic for a while.

[donutsina911]

Originally Posted by Lostboy

A friend of mine has and I can tell you that the ride in choppy seas is best described as hard. Much quicker than my boat (with the short prop) in a flat sea, as soon as the sea state is even remotely choppy then it's reigned back in because of the ride. Still very stable though!

Would disagree with that - ballistic comes into its own in a chop. The ballistics are always fairly hard rides, but excel in a heavy sea - my gut feel is that if your reigning in a ballistic in a chop, youre not driving it properly, but I may be wide of the mark with your friend...the best speeds I have recorded on a 7.8 have been in a chop. All ballistics turn on a six pence, are responsive, stable, very dry and as lostboy says, a hard ride - for what its worth, I'd rather go quickly in the dry than be in a soft riding cobra of the equivilant size, go slower and be soaked.

[Donnie144]

I have a 6.5M ballistic and love it. IT does get a little harsh in the 18-30” wind waves when the cycle is short but usually you can get on top and it’s just loud slapping. Rather then harsh pounding. They are fast with my twin 90’s 2 passengers 2 divers and 6 tanks I’m still hitting mid 40 MPH when I open it up if re-propped been told I could probably still hit 50. I have never taken a wave over the nose and is very dry when on a plane. If you would like to know anything else feel free to e-mail donnie1442000@yahoo.com

[martini]

Until recently I had a 6.7m Crompton which has the same hull as the Ballistics.
In the 8 years I owned her I found many people were quick to dismiss this hull design as giving a harsh ride but this was always from people who had never been in one!
As has been mentioned before, the huge lift and high speed generated by the scallop chines makes it quite easy to skip over the top of a short chop so you get a smoother, dryer and quicker passage!
Also such a deep vee gives amazing grip in tight turns, remember to warn your passengers before locking it over! The only downside to the deep vee ( I assume that was the cause) was the lack of reverse thrust, although a bit of forward planning and using correct coming alongside procedures easily overcame this.
The Ballistic is in my opinion probably fitted to a higher standard, I went to the factory on Hayling Island once, they're a good bunch of lads.
You would probably struggle to find a brand new Crompton these days, I don't think they have the proper boat building facilities where those boys are now!

[Tony]

I took a Ballistic 7.8m out last year. We took it around the channel islands in lots of mixed conditions. The Ride was as hard as hell, but my golly very quick. In my opinion its a trade between comfort and speed.

[brucehawsker]

I confirm the view that the ride is very hard compared to my Solent - been in both in identical conditions; did a boat swap and helmed both