Highfield clasic cl340

[Gilly]

Hi I was thinking of buying a F RIB 330 and almost made up my mind to buy one. However I was in my local ship today and came across a Highfield Classic CL 340 which has an aluminium hull. This appeard to be an excellent light weight RIB which costs the same as a F RIB.
My mind is now in overdrive and Im wondering if anyone has any experience of a Highfield. What are they like. Pro's and Cons etc. Max speed is not a major consideration and if I did get one then i would probably go for a 9.9 mariner.

[Orwell boy]

i bought a new highfield 5 metre rib in 2015 and to be honest I cant fault it in any way ,it is my first rib after many years in sports boats so I am not well qualified as many on here to comment on sea keeping etc ,but as a family / mates runaround it suits me perfectly ,
there seems to be a little bit of "surely the Chinese cant make ribs " attitude about ,but then we said that about Datsun cars and Honda engines when our fathers first saw them !! ,the only other thing I would say that I have noticed is that when other rib owners look at the boat they are shocked at how much I seem to have got for my pound ,however I suspect prices may rise a little with the strong dollar
good luck with whatever you choose

[TorontoDiver]

I have had my OM590 for two seasons now and love it. Massive qualifier that it's my first boat. Handles well gets great mileage family loves it. That said the aluminum hull and welds doesn't present as nicely as nice fibreglass and they could pay more attention to some of the finishing but at the same time the price was exceptional for me. Hopefully somebody with the cl 340 will chime in to give some feedback. If you are looking at both is it with same retailer? If so what's their opinion/sales pitch?

[Fenlander]

Surely it's simple Gilly. If you want to put it in the back of the car then it has to be an F-Rib. If you are going to trailer it then why would you look at an F-Rib?