RC 5.3 refit

[Bigair]

Hi,

Seen a nice RC 5.3 for sale however it has a 2 person inline hockey seat! Ideally I would like the double console and 2x2 layout. My first thought is that I will end up spending more on the boat than it's worth finished

Has anybody done this sort of refit and got an idea of the cost?

[beerbelly]

doubt there's room for a double console and 2+2 seating i have a 5.5 with double console and 2x1 seating and its tight

[Bigair]

That could be that idea dead in the water! I thought I had seen a pic of that layout on a 5.3 but may have been mistaken on the hull.

[beerbelly]

mine is a humber but the sizes are similar i could have double jockeys but would leave very little deck space .i dont know the beam of a rc but with my 5.5 destroyer its tight side by side seating

[jokee]

My Ribcraft 5.3

[Ginkgo]

This is my 5.3 picture taken from the Ribcraft site.

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by Bigair

Hi,

Seen a nice RC 5.3 for sale however it has a 2 person inline hockey seat! Ideally I would like the double console and 2x2 layout. My first thought is that I will end up spending more on the boat than it's worth finished

Has anybody done this sort of refit and got an idea of the cost?

I have r//c 5.3 with inline pair and currently planning same ,the picture from rc website makes it look achievable ,i have small double console (highfield i think ),and plan a couple of side by sides which i have bought from xs ,i think seat backs from inline r/c will fit , the most important point is the sender unit mounting from the underdeck tank comes up just behind the front of the existing console ,so you are limited to mounting the console no further back than this point as you need to cover it ,and this is very important if you are going to pull it off to choose the right console !!
I think a guy on here had side by side 5.3 maybe lakeland terrier ? so hopefully he will be along soon
Another point worth noting is dont think you will get any help from r/c for bits etc ,your lucky if they answer the phone !

[Bigair]

Originally Posted by Orwell boy

I have r//c 5.3 with inline pair and currently planning same ,the picture from rc website makes it look achievable ,i have small double console (highfield i think ),and plan a couple of side by sides which i have bought from xs ,i think seat backs from inline r/c will fit , the most important point is the sender unit mounting from the underdeck tank comes up just behind the front of the existing console ,so you are limited to mounting the console no further back than this point as you need to cover it ,and this is very important if you are going to pull it off to choose the right console !!
I think a guy on here had side by side 5.3 maybe lakeland terrier ? so hopefully he will be along soon
Another point worth noting is dont think you will get any help from r/c for bits etc ,your lucky if they answer the phone !

Glad to see it's possible! To be honest I hadn't even thought about the engineering side of it... I do think 90% of the time will just be me and the missus on the boat so can use as is.
Incase anyone is panicking I won't be doing the work my self but rather employing the skills of somebody who knows what they are doing!!

[beerbelly]

Originally Posted by Ginkgo

This is my 5.3 picture taken from the Ribcraft site.

blimey i stand corrected the ribcraft must have a wider beam than my humber as although i do have side by side seating its not as roomy as that looks .

[GuyC]

Originally Posted by Bigair

....employing the skills of somebody who knows what they are doing!!

It's this that would make me panic.

I've got side by side seating in my boat (albeit not a RC 5.3). There is 600mm between the centrelines of the seats and around 200mm outboard of the seats to the tube. It works fine in the seated position although any less space and I would end up playing footsy quite a bit either with the tube or the foot of the person next to me which would be uncomfortable / annoying. The compromise is that there is very little space to move around the boat.

[Orwell boy]

Originally Posted by beerbelly

blimey i stand corrected the ribcraft must have a wider beam than my humber as although i do have side by side seating its not as roomy as that looks .

Just checked internal beam between tubes 1300mm plus tubes and strake to be about 2.35 outside ,the xs jockeys i have bought are nice and narrow @ 250mm ish.............from picture the only thing to note is the pacific console in the picture looks to be set back further behind the anchor locker than my console, and indeed my tank fuel sender standpipe would be in the gap between the hatch and the front of the console ,hence i plan to fit narrowing console with suicide seat to cover said stand pipe as narrower between tubes at that point

[lakelandterrier]

Absolutely possible & doable......
Tended to be a bit stern heavy 4 up though

[beerbelly]

mine looks like theres more room than there is unless i just have wide feet.certainly doesn't look to have the space the rc above has

[Nasher]

Originally Posted by Bigair

My first thought is that I will end up spending more on the boat than it's worth finished

You must be new to boating if you still think that's going to bother you

[A1an]

Im doing a similar refit at the moment albeit on a RC 585. If you buy the seats and console from Ribcraft you are going to be £8.5k, is it worth it?.... tough call.

Your other option is to mix and match between manf. Its as good as impossible to tell the difference between the orange used by Ribcraft and the orange used by Humber. For your 4 seats you would be £2k cheaper to get them from Humber than Ribcraft.

Alternatively you could speak to Mike Whitham, he will build you a console and seating from various moulds he has in stock and is slightly cheaper than Humber and quite a way cheaper than Ribcraft.

[paul sparkes]

Made my own!!.£500[emoji106]

[beerbelly]

i got mine here very good quality seat bases at probably the cheapest prices
https://www.ribs4u.co.uk/

[jakew009]

Originally Posted by Bigair

Glad to see it's possible! To be honest I hadn't even thought about the engineering side of it... I do think 90% of the time will just be me and the missus on the boat so can use as is.
Incase anyone is panicking I won't be doing the work my self but rather employing the skills of somebody who knows what they are doing!!

I would forget the idea of you’re going to be paying someone else to do it and don’t have the skills to DIY.

It will cost you an absolute fortune and you’re completely in the hands of the guy doing the work - will you even know if he’s doing a decent job or not?

The problem is that a job like this will be 30% doing actual work, and 70% scratching your head / measuring stuff / researching stuff / measuring more stuff / sourcing stuff / scratching your head again.

That’s ok if your time is free, but it will quickly exceed the value of the boat when you’re paying someone else £50/hour or more.

Find a boat that’s ready to go in the best condition possible. Even if it means increasing your budget a lot.

Ideally find a boat that some other mug has spent a fortune on. You often see inboard engine ribs for sale for around 20k, with an invoice to prove the seller just paid more than 20k to have a new engine fitted.

But be careful of a boat that someone has done a DIY refurb job on, there’s a lot of people who (unknowingly) make a complete hash of it!