Ribeye 290 - any good and how heavy?

[MartinR34]

Hi all - new member here.
Looking for some help if possible. We currently have a Quicksilver 340 airdeck SIB which is a great boat but is getting a little tired. We use it with a Mariner 15hp 2-stroke.
Now looking for a small RIB to replace it but concerned about the weight. We have davits on a sailing boat which are rated to 80kg each side. The engine weighs 36kg. Our current Quicksilver weighs 39kg.
I have seen a Ribeye 290 for a reasonable price - couple of questions:
- does anyone know how to tell if this is an aluminium hull covered in gelcoat or a full fibreglass hull?
- does anyone know what the weight is - I understand that the alu hull version is lighter?
- how will this RIB compare with the Quicksilver? I appreciate that it's a 0.5m shorter but tbh, the 340 is a little long when up on the davits and overhangs each side!
The alternative to the Ribeye is the Avon 310, which appears to weigh in at around the mid-40s. Would this be a better boat?
Thanks for your help.

[beamishken]

We switched from an excell air deck sib as our tender to a ribeye 280 aluminium hull rib & the aluminium boat is lighter by a few kgs & obviously a far better boat than the sib. They do two models one with a flat floor welded in & one where the floor is the v hull. Obviously the one without the floor is the lighter boat & the vee isnt realy a problem for tender duties. There also easier to hang on davits being rigid. A fibreglass one will be significantly heavier but its pretty obvious which is which, I'd definitely recommend one over a sib.

[MartinR34]

Thanks Beamishken.
Having looked at the photos again on my PC I'm pretty certain this is a full fibreglass hull. Just need to try to find out the weight as no point travelling to view if it will be too heavy when I put our 15hp on the back.
The seller is asking £1,250 including a trailer, full cover and a Johnson 6hp 4-stroke o/b. Seems to be a good price to me?

[beamishken]

Yeh thats a good price but you need to hang out for aluminium for your purpose, thevweight difference is night & day

[MartinR34]

Yeah, I'm thinking that too. It seems the alu ones are about the same weight as our SIB, whereas the fibreglass ones are either 12kg or 27kg heavier than the alu one, depending on what you read on the net! Thanks.