New Starter

Jerry Davis · 15 January 2006, 07:09

Having just completed my house renovation I am now itching to get on the water with a craft of my own.

I have a budget of about 25 k inc. VAT exc. trailer. I understand that this would buy me a fairly decent Rib and Engine

My main use would eventually be coastal (Solent) but I live near the Thames. I don't need absolute speed but I am definitely looking for a bit of exitement!

Any advice on the above to a new boy to ribbing from the learned members of this forum would be very much appreciated.

Hopeful Regards
Jerry

ADS · 15 January 2006, 10:48

Welcome Jerry to the best ribbing forum in the U.K!
£25k will get you a lot of Rib, if you check out this thread here, someone else was in a similar position:

Leaving Sailing and need rib for the family:

I would say it comes down to what style of rib you want an offshore type, hardcore rib , e.g Ribcraft, Delta, Tornado, XS, Humber, Redbay, Osprey to name but a few.

Or if you want a Med style family boat with stripey seats etc, Zodiac Medline, Avon Adventures, Picton Cobras etc

Or a sports Rib, i.e Scorpion, Solent etc

However, these categories I have allocated are very loose, all of them are good offshore, some better than others, and all of them can be used as a family boat. A Scorpion does all three very well, and a used one could be picked up for within your budget.
Below are pictures of a Ribcraft 585, Zodiac Medline, Scorpion 8.1

regards,
Alex

Wayne Rogers · 15 January 2006, 11:10

Hi Jerry
Welcome to Ribnet,have you looked under Ribs For Sale? I have my Solent 6.9 Mtr solent on there.As you can see by the spec there is alot of Rib for the money with a massive saving off price of a new one.

Regards
Wayne

tonka · 16 January 2006, 16:31

hi jerry
are you looking for petrol or diesel i have a delta rib for sale and with 2x240 hp diesels you can be assured of exitment when you open the throttles up big safe well built boats .

LeewayComposite · 16 January 2006, 16:59

Welcome to rib net....

Please check this site out as we carry second hand ribs and new custom made ribs direct from factory...enjoy

http://www.leewayribs.co.uk
http://www.leewaycomposites.co.uk

Mollers · 16 January 2006, 17:17

C'mon Cookee, you know you want to.

Mollers · 16 January 2006, 17:26

Hi Jerry, welcome. In order to give you a little more help, it would help to know a little more re. your requirements. Such as:-

Do you intend to tow or berth the Rib?
What type of tow vehicle do you have?
No.s of people you regularly have aboard?
Inboard or outboard?
Cabin or open?
Offshore cruising or inshore jaunts?
Creature comforts or hold on tight?

The Garfish · 16 January 2006, 18:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollulnan

C'mon Cookee, you know you want to.

ondray iz a bitt sloe ofn de fkin marrk az wel. hee mus stil bee eetin iz tee.

gArf

nugent · 16 January 2006, 18:21

i know where theres a nice 6.5mtr viper new still bar 3 hrs

ADS · 16 January 2006, 18:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollulnan

C'mon Cookee, you know you want to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Garfish

ondray iz a bitt sloe ofn de fkin marrk az wel. hee mus stil bee eetin iz tee.

gArf

Rogue Wave · 16 January 2006, 21:21

Hello

Some good adice here if you answer the questions we'll get a better idea of what you want!

what sort of engine did you want, 4 stroke, diesel or a proper one

Cookee · 17 January 2006, 08:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollulnan

C'mon Cookee, you know you want to.

I have been reading this thread with interest - however I appreciate that we don't have a range of boats, just one, and it will only suit a few people, and in this case in all honesty is probably not what Jerry is looking for!

Thank you for thinking of me though!

Maybe Andre has something?

Jerry Davis · 17 January 2006, 09:54

Thank you for the replies and the warm wekcome,

Cookee, if I had the funding I would be interested in your boat. I understand it to be superbly crafted but alas out of my price range.

ADS and Moullanan thank you very much for your replies it's given me a lot to think about. The picture of the boats helped me I like the Ribcraft and the Scorpion but am not unlike my wifefond of the Zodiac, I should imagine my wife and her hairdresser would!

To answer some questions

I would probably tow initially with the Golf My car is a Golf
3 people going to 5 max
Outboard
Open
Cruising offshore really but the thames is close by
Hold on tight after I have been trained

Rogue Wave Four stroke engine unless there is better

Thanks once again for the help and the offers

Regards
Jerry

Mollers · 17 January 2006, 11:13

Bananashark would suit you nicely sir, Now have you considered re-mortgaging?

Bittentobuggery · 17 January 2006, 14:18

Jerry,

If you get your moneys worth for your 25K, i.e. 7m +, then I don't think your Golf is going to give you enough pulling or stopping power on the slipway.

Oh and yes, I've also got a brilliant boat for sale....

Brian

The Garfish · 17 January 2006, 15:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry Davis

Having just completed my house renovation

wud yew lyke too by eny dubbul glayzin orr cud i intrest yew inn sum noo (err..... neerly noo) kichin yewnits orr wud yew lyke a lone att verry reezonabul intrest. (6000%arp payabul evvry fridaiy orr yew gett yorr leggs browken)

gArf

Mollers · 17 January 2006, 16:10

Someone is gonna try and flog you a 4x4 in a mo Jerry!

A Bananarover V8!!
Prob a good point about the Golof though, front wheel drive cars are not great on slips. A 6m+ Rib would be a tall order.

swginn · 17 January 2006, 16:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jerry Davis

To answer some questions

I would probably tow initially with the Golf My car is a Golf
3 people going to 5 max
Outboard
Open
Cruising offshore really but the thames is close by
Hold on tight after I have been trained

Rogue Wave Four stroke engine unless there is better

Thanks once again for the help and the offers

Regards
Jerry

Welcome to the forum Jerry,
This sounds very similar to what I was going for about 2 yrs ago only with a much bigger budget, I went for an XS-600 / 150 Optimax rig. Great value for money and excellent boats, but much less than your budget. We tow her with an E200 Kompressor and to be honest it really is the maximum size rig I would consider towing with this car. My point is that I think the Golf would struggle to tow anything above 5.5m unless it was a very light rig.

Might be worth trying a budget 5.5m first to get an idea of what you want in a RIB and move up to a 6.5-7m later on? Just a bit of advice as very few people get their first RIB spot on no matter how much advice they get. This is what I did and I'm now very happy with my current setup.

Poly · 17 January 2006, 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mollulnan

Someone is gonna try and flog you a 4x4 in a mo Jerry!

A Bananarover V8!!
Prob a good point about the Golof though, front wheel drive cars are not great on slips. A 6m+ Rib would be a tall order.

I completely agree that the Golf will struggle to tow a 7m RIB and you will struggle to find something a boat/trailer combo that big which is even legal to tow with it.

I agree that front wheel drive is not great on slipways (especially when wet or weed covered!!!). I know there are a lot of 4x4 drivers on here - but do you think its really necessary to get a 4x4 to launch and in particular recover a big RIB? Do electric winches offer the solution to getting it up the slip and then just use any big car to do the towing? This is a question rather than advice!

cheers

Neil

xpertski · 17 January 2006, 17:17

it is really a need to have a 4x4 when launching a rib/recovering, because your car will have a certain stopping power, and a golf isnt a very big car, the most omportant thing is about weight, its never good to have the boat weighing much more than the car, and it may be worth checking what the towing legal limit is for a golf, a winch is an idea, but my guess is that after a while you will want a 4x4. one option may be to get a cheapish 4x4 soley for the use of towing and launching/recovering the rib. we have an x-trail to tow a 6.3m boat, and i wouldnt go any smaller than that, it still finds it hard work on loose gravel etc, but is at home on the slip. i think there is some good advice on here, it may be worth considering your vehicle options.

boat wise, if you want the rough capability, with a 25k bufget i would try, humber (get allot for your money), ribcraft, ribtec, avon, gemini, and maybe a couple of others like xs-ribs. as for a 25k price you could get for example a 7m humber with 200hp suzuki fourstroke, maybe more, youd have to haggle with manufacturers

i would say go suzuki as the best option, excellent engines! economy is great too! give the punch you need! i also hear very good reports about evinrude e-tecs