RibEye 725/750

timw · 22 July 2003, 08:13

I'm new to ribbing and looking at boats between 7m and 8m.

I wondered if anyone has any comments or experience of the RibEye 725 or 750. I'm looking at other makes as well and have done my research on those, but the RibEye seems good value for money with something like a 200hp on the back.
I'm specifically wanting a RIB that keeps driver, front and back seat passengers dry in a chop (as well as providing good performance). I'll likely buy second hand.

Any comments would be much appreciated

Many thanks,

Tim

David Hickman · 22 July 2003, 12:17

Tim,
Hi, I run a RIBEYE 7.2m Dive with a 200hp hpdi on the back. This rib has the large 55gal tank under deck and is fully mca coded for 8 passengers.
It is a Dartmouth built hull prior to the production being moved to South Africa and Ribeye changing over to moulded decks!!!!!!!! My hull was built by Shakespeare under contract from ribeye.
Excellent sea boat but you have to watch a following big sea because it has a low bow!
RIBTEC now also built in S.A. lets see what happens there!!!!!!
Will be changing my RIB at the end of the season but to whom I have yet to decide.

Storm · 22 July 2003, 17:05

Since Ribeye moved there production line to Prestige in Cape Town they would definitely be Farley high on my don’t touch with a barge pole list. There after sales guy from SA seems to spend more time in the UK fixing hull problems than he spends in SA building them.

Richard B · 22 July 2003, 17:30

Tim,
During my recent purchasing exercise, Ribeye never even got on the list. To be honest, all the secondhand ones seemed way overpriced.

Also, I looked back over your posts to see what you were looking for. You mentioned bench seats - just wondered why? A 7.25 to 7.5m RIB is a good bit of kit for handling the chop, as you say, but bench seats probably won't do much for keeping the driver and passengers comfortable.

Every RIB I've been in has kept me dry (except one which was slightly damaged at the time!) so I don't lend much credibility to statements that certain RIBs give a dryer ride than others. OK, some boats without spray rails don't deflect the water as well, but it's usually sea conditions that dictate how wet you're going to get.

Hope this helps!
Richard.

Dirk Diggler · 22 July 2003, 20:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Storm
Since Ribeye moved there production line to Prestige in Cape Town they would definitely be Farley high on my don’t touch with a barge pole list. There after sales guy from SA seems to spend more time in the UK fixing hull problems than he spends in SA building them.

There was a sub dealer in Poole who used to sell them, but after he took delivery of one that had only Gel coat but no glass in one part of the hull, he gave them up as a bad deal.

stuart hedges · 22 July 2003, 21:49

My boats are Ribtecs which I think are great but they are a wet ride. A friend of mine has just bought a new 7.5 Ribeye to use for charter and is very happy with it. I have been in it and think the quality is quite good, the worst points were things that had been fitted here in the UK, he has used it quite a lot and so far no probs. I must say personnally I think they look pretty nasty.

timw · 22 July 2003, 22:09

Thanks for all your comments. Lots of mixed messages.

I'm going for a test on the Ribeye 750 this weekend in Chichester Harbour so hopefully will see how it performs over the bar if there's a chop up.

Then I can decide whether to carry on trying to find a reasonably priced second hand Scorpion or Revenger which are more difficult to find than the Ribeye. Maybe there's a reason for this?

ribraff · 22 July 2003, 22:35

The 7.5 ribeye was originally the vector vagabond designed by Pete Kidd. In the early days of rib-eye they had a stepped transom which made for very twitchy handling but was altogether a good handling boat once you'd learnt to handle it.
Production of the hulls was indeed contracted out to various companies including shakespeare who built exceptional quality hulls, IMHO the design went seriously down the pooper when they decided to widen the beam, it was always a bit narrow but the aesthetics have been lost altogether and i agree with Stuart...they now look damn ugly!!!
There are a few ropey south african hulls hanging around so be warned ..... don't go for any that are only a few years old and covered in antifoul!

paul tilley · 23 July 2003, 12:59

As an ex employee of Ribeye i can tell you that shakespeare did not mould any 725s these were moulded by either ribeye or rib moulders of chard .The early SA boats,750s & 650s did have GRP problems ,caused by a SA manager trying to save the company money by cutting down on the lay up ALL of these boats were replaced and rerigged FOC . The guy from SA who has spent a lot of time over here , Russell Beattie has been doing this work as well as rectfying problems caused by poor fitout in the UK. If you go to a good dealer like Ben Davies ,ocen quay i think , you should get a good boat and good service .Try him and see for yourself.

Alan · 23 July 2003, 13:16

Quote:

Originally posted by timw

Then I can decide whether to carry on trying to find a reasonably priced second hand Scorpion or Revenger which are more difficult to find than the Ribeye. Maybe there's a reason for this?

Yeah they are damn good RIBS! I wish I'dve had half a dozen reasonably priced Scorpions to sell rather than one as I could have sold mine 6 times over!

Richard's point about jockey seats is very valid. IMHO theres absolutely no use in having a capable offshore RIB with crappy benchseats cos' they are not upto the job in the serious stuff. If you want to play around in smooth water only then OK but in that case go buy a sportsboat!

timw · 24 July 2003, 10:06

Am really just trying to get feed back on the various different makes I am looking at, i.e. Revenger, Scorpion, RibEye, Pro-Sport and maybe RibTec in the 7m to 8m range.

As to the jockey seats, I had thought that bench seats would be more sociable for family use, but am now thinking that jockey seats might be better for driver/codriver.

Charles · 24 July 2003, 10:42

Quote:

Originally posted by timw
I had thought that bench seats would be more sociable for family use, but am now thinking that jockey seats might be better for driver/codriver.

Hello Tim
We are a family of five, 3 kids and two adults. We have had 5 ribs to date and have had every permutation of seating arrangement one can think of. Out of personal experience , with kids, friends, people who have never been on a rib etc, etc, in my opinion the best layout for general cruising, zooming around, skiing, and whatever else, jockey seats with a rear aft bench seat is definitely my preferred option.
Something along these lines............

timw · 24 July 2003, 10:53

Charles,

Thanks, You've convinced me...and I'd like to buy that beautiful blue Scorpion rib from you as well please...!

timw · 28 July 2003, 11:38

I went out on a new RibEye 750 on Friday. With Force 7 and wind over tide over the Chichester Bar. The waves were huge, and I would never have dreamt of going anywhere near them in my (now sold) 25ft sportsboat.

I have to say that the RibEye was incredible, tackling it with ease, soft landings and we kept quite dry.

I liked it so much that I have gone ahead and bought the RibEye ex-demo boat, which was exhibited at the Boat Show and was produced after all the earlier problems they had.

It's a 2002 750 with a Yamaha 225 4 stroke, and comes with lots of extra goodies such as a teak deck.

I'm taking delivery at the end of next week, and I'm so happy to have been able to get a RIB before the Summer is over, and I shall feel less guilty posting here in the future than I did when I was a sportsboat owner.

I appreciate all the advice given

Tim