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Author Topic:   I don't get it with RIBs

elaelap posted 05-01-2010 09:10 PM ET (US)
It's blowing 31 kts gusting to 41 right now off Bodega Bay, so I'm sitting in front of my computer instead of killing salmon...or trying to.
Got me thinking: What is it with RIBs? The month's (May 2010) issue of Work Boat magazine has a very nice full page ad (pg 37) by Brunswick Commercial & Governmental Products, Inc., showing a large photo of one of their "Impact" model RIBs...and very sweet the boat seems to be. Smaller photos at the bottom of the ad show three commercial non-RIB Whalers, including a beautiful Divemaster I'd die to own. The Impact RIB, which looks to be well into 30 or 35+ feet in length, is powered by two big Verados and is shown being operated by one guy...the lucky dog. Most interesting to me is the fact, apparent from the ad's photo, that RIBs have apparently evolved into sleek fiberglass boats with what appears to be more like a huge fender, rather than a true floatation collar, stretched around the craft's above-waterline hull like a gigantic rub rail.
Wish all you folks could see this ad. I'll try to link it to this thread but I'm not sure that will work. I'm fascinated by the move to RIBs and away from classic Whalers by more and more Coast Guard units, Sheriff's departments, Fish & Game wardens, and the military. There's gotta be a reason that I'm missing, so I've posted this topic for your comments.
Tony
...gusting to 41 knots, and the salmon are just out there waiting for us after more than two years without a season. Bummer!
elaelap posted 05-01-2010 09:28 PM ET (US)
It might take a day or two for the May issue to be available on line. Like many monthly magazines, the hard copy issue comes a week or so before the magazine's designated month. The irony of this issue--May 2010--is that the cover photo is of a huge drilling platform, and the cover story is: "LOOKING UP, With more rigs moving in, the Gulf may be ready for a rebound." How very sad.
By the way--and I've posted about this several times over the past seven years--this great magazine is available for free to just about everyone at this website. Just use a little imagination when you apply. The application will ask you to check some boxes about your involvement in the commercial end of the boating business, but I guarantee they won't send an investigator to your home or place of business to make sure you've haven't exaggerated a little about your Whaler commercial connections. I look forward every month to the magazine's arrival...a truly great read, well produced with lots of color photos and articles relevant to many of us at this website. Here's a link (you can get the mag on line or hard copy, or both, BTW):
[url]http://www.workboat.com/{/url]
Tony
elaelap posted 05-01-2010 09:29 PM ET (US)
Whoops. Here's that link again:
http://www.workboat.com/
jimh posted 05-01-2010 11:08 PM ET (US)
The fascination with work boats with big surround collars is curious. They're expensive. How long will they last? Now those husky S.A.F.E. boats with welded aluminum hulls will be around for decades, but some zippy 35-foot RIB--will it last ten years?
sosmerc posted 05-01-2010 11:09 PM ET (US)
The biggest downside to "ribs" is reduced interior space. At least with respect to what I consider "small boats" such as 17-22ft. I have been aboard a number of different models such as various SAFEboats and others and that was my first impression...lack of usable interior space...because the "collars" are so wide and substantial that the interior width has to be reduced if you are going to keep the overall width standard for a trailer boat.
The collars do add safety and extra stability at rest and are very tough so you never have to worry much about damaging your hull from a docking mishap. The collars don't exactly add much in the way of "style" points.....but on the other hand, beauty is in the eye of the beholder! If I had unlimited discretionary bucks to spend I would love to have a SAFEboat built to my specifications!
cgodfrey posted 05-02-2010 06:51 AM ET (US)
I'd argue that a RIB gives off a less pretentious impression than a similarly equipped center console boat or Boston Whaler, which appeals to certain people.
I think an automotive analogy would be a Jeep Wrangler or vintage Ford Bronco, compared to, say, a Land/Range Rover or Hummer.
CG
lizard posted 05-02-2010 11:35 AM ET (US)
Nearly gone are the days that you see 11 or 13 ft. Whalers as tenders to bigger boats. They are almost universally replaced by RIBs. They are lighter, tend to cause less damage when pulling the two boat aside each other, etc.
We have and 11'6" hypalon RIB, with a 15 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. It is double floored. Frankly, I find it a bit squirrely, though I have no other experience with an inflatable boat to compare it with. I am sure if I had a console, rather than a tiller, that would improve, and I am thinking of going in that direction.
I find it great for summer evening outings, where you have several boats tying up together.
It is a pretty comfortable ride, the interior space is limited as sosmerc describes. They are pretty stable. I would definitely consider a larger RIB, if financial resources were available. I have been on a few at boat shows and was bitten by the bug.
20dauntless posted 05-02-2010 03:20 PM ET (US)
I think the single biggest reason law enforcement and the tender market has moved towards inflatables is their self fendering ability. For law enforcement officers, who are constantly pulling up against other boats, sometimes in rough water, it must be nice knowing you won't cause any damage. As a tender, it's great to just tie a bow line onto the bigger boat and let the tender swing without regard to fender placement.
The light weight of inflatable tenders also makes it easier to handle them, both when hoisting them onto a boat deck and when bringing them ashore. Sure, they don't last as long as a Whaler tender might, but the cost of a small inflatable tender isn't really that much when compared to the total cost of large boat ownership.
Additionally, their stability is superb. Nearly all their buoyancy is in the gunwales. I have a little 10 foot inflatable, and can safely have 3 people leaning over the same side hauling in a crab trap and not worry about it capsizing. And the thing weighs 50 pounds, so it's easy to haul onto another boat, a dock, or ashore.
hauptjm posted 05-03-2010 11:43 AM ET (US)
We use several for our junior racing team at my yacht club, and there is a definite advantage with regard to fendering and stability. However, they are ridiculously expensive, certainly limit usable deck space and don't have any longevity at all. The rubber (and necessary gluing) is highly affected by UV rays and are outrageously expensive to repair/replace. We just spent $8,000 replacing a 7 year-old inflatable tube for an 18 ft. vessel.
In contrast, my Whaler has certainly suffered some "boat rash" from my kids and their friends after and between races. A RIB doesn't have this concern. I cringe when they head over between races to critique the last race and it's blowing 20kts. and they're screaming by like swarming bees. Inevitably, someone gets a little too close. Ouch!
ratherwhalering posted 05-03-2010 12:07 PM ET (US)
The biggest advantages of a large RIB are stability and spray deflection. I have a good friend with a 26-foot Protector that is about 10 years old (he recently had to replace the pontoons to the tune of 21k, ouch!) You can seat 7 people on the starbord pontoon, and it will only list 2-3 degrees. Even in the worst weather the passengers remain dry...just think of having a 2 foot smirk on your whaler! While planing, the rear pontoons remain in the water and provide an incredible amount of stability (and drag I suppose.)
I have personally seen a pontoon punctuted twice, once by an errant "dock roller" and the other by a sailboat collission. They are expensive to repair, and impossible to "blend" a patch, however large RIBs remain popular with the sailing crowd here in the SF bay. They are used as tenders for larger sailing vessels, crew transport, spectator boats, and race support.
ratherwhalering posted 05-03-2010 12:09 PM ET (US)
http://www.protectorboats.com/
diveorfish posted 05-03-2010 01:43 PM ET (US)
It’s like everything else, they have pros and cons. Irrespective of their cost to maintain, here are the primary pros and cons of a typical recreational RIB, in my opinion of course:
-Unparalleled stability
-Unparalleled fendering capability
-Light weight
-have a good ride in the snotty stuff to due the shock absorption of the rubber tubes
Cons:
-Tubes take up a huge amount of space
-Tubes can easily puncture
-No hard gunnels to mount downriggers etc.
-little or no freeboard
When I was first looking to buy a boat, I was very keen on getting a RIB. Then one day I witnessed the coast guard coming back to their launch site (Ocean Cove, NorCal coast) after rescuing some spear fishing divers.
These divers were stupidly shore diving on a rough day and couldn’t get back to shore, due to a pounding surf that kicked up. The Coast Guard went and rescued them, but in the process the spear fishermen managed to put a few holes in their RIB. I watched the Coast Guard crew limp back to their launch site with literally half their boat deflated. It was kind of a pathetic site, truth be told. I briefly spoke to one of the Coast Guardsmen and he told me what transpired and boy the Coaties were pissed.
After watching that, I thought “note-to-self, no RIB for me.”
Dave Sutton posted 05-03-2010 03:05 PM ET (US)
"I watched the Coast Guard crew limp back to their launch site with literally half their boat deflated"
And therein lays the inflatable advantage... they DID get back....
I worked at Palmer Station Antarctica some years ago as Boating Coordinator. We used Zodiak Mark-II and Mark-III Grand Raids, and they were essentially bulletproof. We had a science party run over a semi-submerged elephant seal one day while beaching, and it startled and bit the (brand new) boat not once, but twice. As luck would have it, it did so on both the port and starboard bulkhead areas where the bow chamber mets the forward chambers, both port and starboard. Bottom line) Three out of five chambers went BANG (scaring the crap out of man and beast alike), but when I went out to the island to recover the science party, I sent them back to station in the boat I had brought, and ran the damaged one home under its own power. I just folded the deflated bow back into the boat, and ran the "abbreviated' boat back home. No worries. You can run a 5 chamber boat with any two chambers inflated. It'll float with one.
Inflatables are tough boats. RIB's are even tougher. For the self fendering reason alone they are best choice for many missions. I love my Montauk, but will always also own an inflatable. In fact... own two.

Dave
.
alfred posted 05-05-2010 07:57 AM ET (US)
A few of the dive operators here run big RIBs and I have to say, they have the best ride I have experienced in any type of sea.
Great for diving but not so good for fishing if you use the gaff alot.
number9 posted 05-05-2010 03:21 PM ET (US)
Just something I've notice in the last couple years. Some owners and those selling used boats will use RIB to describe a basic blow up boat with an inflatable keel and either solid or inflatable floor without a rigid plastic, FRG or aluminum hull. Always assumed a RIB would be the same as a RHIB, but not always true in the advertising we see these days.

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Author	Topic: I don't get it with RIBs
elaelap	posted 05-01-2010 09:10 PM ET (US) It's blowing 31 kts gusting to 41 right now off Bodega Bay, so I'm sitting in front of my computer instead of killing salmon...or trying to. Got me thinking: What is it with RIBs? The month's (May 2010) issue of Work Boat magazine has a very nice full page ad (pg 37) by Brunswick Commercial & Governmental Products, Inc., showing a large photo of one of their "Impact" model RIBs...and very sweet the boat seems to be. Smaller photos at the bottom of the ad show three commercial non-RIB Whalers, including a beautiful Divemaster I'd die to own. The Impact RIB, which looks to be well into 30 or 35+ feet in length, is powered by two big Verados and is shown being operated by one guy...the lucky dog. Most interesting to me is the fact, apparent from the ad's photo, that RIBs have apparently evolved into sleek fiberglass boats with what appears to be more like a huge fender, rather than a true floatation collar, stretched around the craft's above-waterline hull like a gigantic rub rail. Wish all you folks could see this ad. I'll try to link it to this thread but I'm not sure that will work. I'm fascinated by the move to RIBs and away from classic Whalers by more and more Coast Guard units, Sheriff's departments, Fish & Game wardens, and the military. There's gotta be a reason that I'm missing, so I've posted this topic for your comments. Tony ...gusting to 41 knots, and the salmon are just out there waiting for us after more than two years without a season. Bummer!
elaelap	posted 05-01-2010 09:28 PM ET (US) It might take a day or two for the May issue to be available on line. Like many monthly magazines, the hard copy issue comes a week or so before the magazine's designated month. The irony of this issue--May 2010--is that the cover photo is of a huge drilling platform, and the cover story is: "LOOKING UP, With more rigs moving in, the Gulf may be ready for a rebound." How very sad. By the way--and I've posted about this several times over the past seven years--this great magazine is available for free to just about everyone at this website. Just use a little imagination when you apply. The application will ask you to check some boxes about your involvement in the commercial end of the boating business, but I guarantee they won't send an investigator to your home or place of business to make sure you've haven't exaggerated a little about your Whaler commercial connections. I look forward every month to the magazine's arrival...a truly great read, well produced with lots of color photos and articles relevant to many of us at this website. Here's a link (you can get the mag on line or hard copy, or both, BTW): [url]http://www.workboat.com/{/url] Tony
elaelap	posted 05-01-2010 09:29 PM ET (US) Whoops. Here's that link again: http://www.workboat.com/
jimh	posted 05-01-2010 11:08 PM ET (US) The fascination with work boats with big surround collars is curious. They're expensive. How long will they last? Now those husky S.A.F.E. boats with welded aluminum hulls will be around for decades, but some zippy 35-foot RIB--will it last ten years?
sosmerc	posted 05-01-2010 11:09 PM ET (US) The biggest downside to "ribs" is reduced interior space. At least with respect to what I consider "small boats" such as 17-22ft. I have been aboard a number of different models such as various SAFEboats and others and that was my first impression...lack of usable interior space...because the "collars" are so wide and substantial that the interior width has to be reduced if you are going to keep the overall width standard for a trailer boat. The collars do add safety and extra stability at rest and are very tough so you never have to worry much about damaging your hull from a docking mishap. The collars don't exactly add much in the way of "style" points.....but on the other hand, beauty is in the eye of the beholder! If I had unlimited discretionary bucks to spend I would love to have a SAFEboat built to my specifications!
cgodfrey	posted 05-02-2010 06:51 AM ET (US) I'd argue that a RIB gives off a less pretentious impression than a similarly equipped center console boat or Boston Whaler, which appeals to certain people. I think an automotive analogy would be a Jeep Wrangler or vintage Ford Bronco, compared to, say, a Land/Range Rover or Hummer. CG
lizard	posted 05-02-2010 11:35 AM ET (US) Nearly gone are the days that you see 11 or 13 ft. Whalers as tenders to bigger boats. They are almost universally replaced by RIBs. They are lighter, tend to cause less damage when pulling the two boat aside each other, etc. We have and 11'6" hypalon RIB, with a 15 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. It is double floored. Frankly, I find it a bit squirrely, though I have no other experience with an inflatable boat to compare it with. I am sure if I had a console, rather than a tiller, that would improve, and I am thinking of going in that direction. I find it great for summer evening outings, where you have several boats tying up together. It is a pretty comfortable ride, the interior space is limited as sosmerc describes. They are pretty stable. I would definitely consider a larger RIB, if financial resources were available. I have been on a few at boat shows and was bitten by the bug.
20dauntless	posted 05-02-2010 03:20 PM ET (US) I think the single biggest reason law enforcement and the tender market has moved towards inflatables is their self fendering ability. For law enforcement officers, who are constantly pulling up against other boats, sometimes in rough water, it must be nice knowing you won't cause any damage. As a tender, it's great to just tie a bow line onto the bigger boat and let the tender swing without regard to fender placement. The light weight of inflatable tenders also makes it easier to handle them, both when hoisting them onto a boat deck and when bringing them ashore. Sure, they don't last as long as a Whaler tender might, but the cost of a small inflatable tender isn't really that much when compared to the total cost of large boat ownership. Additionally, their stability is superb. Nearly all their buoyancy is in the gunwales. I have a little 10 foot inflatable, and can safely have 3 people leaning over the same side hauling in a crab trap and not worry about it capsizing. And the thing weighs 50 pounds, so it's easy to haul onto another boat, a dock, or ashore.
hauptjm	posted 05-03-2010 11:43 AM ET (US) We use several for our junior racing team at my yacht club, and there is a definite advantage with regard to fendering and stability. However, they are ridiculously expensive, certainly limit usable deck space and don't have any longevity at all. The rubber (and necessary gluing) is highly affected by UV rays and are outrageously expensive to repair/replace. We just spent $8,000 replacing a 7 year-old inflatable tube for an 18 ft. vessel. In contrast, my Whaler has certainly suffered some "boat rash" from my kids and their friends after and between races. A RIB doesn't have this concern. I cringe when they head over between races to critique the last race and it's blowing 20kts. and they're screaming by like swarming bees. Inevitably, someone gets a little too close. Ouch!
ratherwhalering	posted 05-03-2010 12:07 PM ET (US) The biggest advantages of a large RIB are stability and spray deflection. I have a good friend with a 26-foot Protector that is about 10 years old (he recently had to replace the pontoons to the tune of 21k, ouch!) You can seat 7 people on the starbord pontoon, and it will only list 2-3 degrees. Even in the worst weather the passengers remain dry...just think of having a 2 foot smirk on your whaler! While planing, the rear pontoons remain in the water and provide an incredible amount of stability (and drag I suppose.) I have personally seen a pontoon punctuted twice, once by an errant "dock roller" and the other by a sailboat collission. They are expensive to repair, and impossible to "blend" a patch, however large RIBs remain popular with the sailing crowd here in the SF bay. They are used as tenders for larger sailing vessels, crew transport, spectator boats, and race support.
ratherwhalering	posted 05-03-2010 12:09 PM ET (US) http://www.protectorboats.com/
diveorfish	posted 05-03-2010 01:43 PM ET (US) It’s like everything else, they have pros and cons. Irrespective of their cost to maintain, here are the primary pros and cons of a typical recreational RIB, in my opinion of course: -Unparalleled stability -Unparalleled fendering capability -Light weight -have a good ride in the snotty stuff to due the shock absorption of the rubber tubes Cons: -Tubes take up a huge amount of space -Tubes can easily puncture -No hard gunnels to mount downriggers etc. -little or no freeboard When I was first looking to buy a boat, I was very keen on getting a RIB. Then one day I witnessed the coast guard coming back to their launch site (Ocean Cove, NorCal coast) after rescuing some spear fishing divers. These divers were stupidly shore diving on a rough day and couldn’t get back to shore, due to a pounding surf that kicked up. The Coast Guard went and rescued them, but in the process the spear fishermen managed to put a few holes in their RIB. I watched the Coast Guard crew limp back to their launch site with literally half their boat deflated. It was kind of a pathetic site, truth be told. I briefly spoke to one of the Coast Guardsmen and he told me what transpired and boy the Coaties were pissed. After watching that, I thought “note-to-self, no RIB for me.”
Dave Sutton	posted 05-03-2010 03:05 PM ET (US) "I watched the Coast Guard crew limp back to their launch site with literally half their boat deflated" And therein lays the inflatable advantage... they DID get back.... I worked at Palmer Station Antarctica some years ago as Boating Coordinator. We used Zodiak Mark-II and Mark-III Grand Raids, and they were essentially bulletproof. We had a science party run over a semi-submerged elephant seal one day while beaching, and it startled and bit the (brand new) boat not once, but twice. As luck would have it, it did so on both the port and starboard bulkhead areas where the bow chamber mets the forward chambers, both port and starboard. Bottom line) Three out of five chambers went BANG (scaring the crap out of man and beast alike), but when I went out to the island to recover the science party, I sent them back to station in the boat I had brought, and ran the damaged one home under its own power. I just folded the deflated bow back into the boat, and ran the "abbreviated' boat back home. No worries. You can run a 5 chamber boat with any two chambers inflated. It'll float with one. Inflatables are tough boats. RIB's are even tougher. For the self fendering reason alone they are best choice for many missions. I love my Montauk, but will always also own an inflatable. In fact... own two. Dave .
alfred	posted 05-05-2010 07:57 AM ET (US) A few of the dive operators here run big RIBs and I have to say, they have the best ride I have experienced in any type of sea. Great for diving but not so good for fishing if you use the gaff alot.
number9	posted 05-05-2010 03:21 PM ET (US) Just something I've notice in the last couple years. Some owners and those selling used boats will use RIB to describe a basic blow up boat with an inflatable keel and either solid or inflatable floor without a rigid plastic, FRG or aluminum hull. Always assumed a RIB would be the same as a RHIB, but not always true in the advertising we see these days.