Which One To Buy Aluminum or Fiberglass

skipperjay · 04 May 2018, 04:37

I have purchased a "new" 2011 Meridian 441 with twin 480 V drive engines.
I want to mount an Rib dinghy on my swim platform which is 12' 4" wide and 3' in depth. The 441 is sensitive to weight and an hydraulic lift is prohibited. I will likely install an Hurley H30 with an detachable electric pole to lift the dinghy on to the davit system.
I was going to purchase a 10'4" AB or Achilles dinghy because they are lighter than an similar fiberglass RIB. I will likely drive the boat with an 15hp to 20hp outboard motor.
However, I've been told that the aluminum boat is noise than the glass boat and the more important the ride in the aluminum can be "squirely" that is a bit more difficult to control and perhaps not as smooth of a ride.

I would welcome opinions on this issue from RiBnet members as well as their experience.
Thanks
Skipperjay

beamishken · 04 May 2018, 08:16

We bought an aluminium hulled ribeye 2.8m for our hard cruiser and we realy like it. its actually lighter than the soft inflatable it replaced which is good as the boat is sensitive to weight hanging out the stern.
It is way better than the sib we had previously and one person can lift it onto the storage blocks on the transom I couldnt say wether its performance is inferior to a fibreglass dinghy but its fine for us

MatFromPoland · 04 May 2018, 08:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by skipperjay

However, I've been told that the aluminum boat is noise than the glass boat and the more important the ride in the aluminum can be "squirely" that is a bit more difficult to control and perhaps not as smooth of a ride.

I think that material is not so important.

Hull shape, deep V be more important probably.

Last year was drive mine ALU 5,4 RIB in Greece together with friends on 5m GRP RIB. Their RIB were lighter (shorter, narrow). Easy to plane

But terrible on waves (more flat bottom).

If you use "dinghy" in quite area (bays, marinas, ...) deep V is not so important also in my opinion. For short trips really does it matter "how it drives" ?? If it be for flat area I buy lighter boat (GRP or ALU) - not sure if matters.

For choppy waters will look more on hull design (deep V) than material.

Pikey Dave · 04 May 2018, 08:56

Assuming that the boat is going to be used as a tender to the mother ship, used for beach landing, running ashore on short journeys etc. I’d go ally. As a runabout it will take more abuse than GRP, that said, it will be trickier to repair “in the field” if you damage it. AFAIK the AB boats are all Hypalon, which is a bonus.