Who Makes the Best RIB

[mojoman2]

What are peoples experiences with the performance, quality, and reliability from various RIB manufacturers:

AB
Carib Marine
Caribe
Highfield
Avon
Zodiac
BRIG
Rigid Boat
Walker Bay
West Marine
Inmar
Achilles
Others

[Tin Tin]

Of the 4 different brands we have owned in last 20 years Caribe was best.

[NYSail]

Love our highfield double aluminum hull

[Miyalk]

We recently replaced our old deflatable with an Aurora 270 UL ultra light aluminium tender in PVC. We decided on PVC in the end because its half the price and about half the life - so it doesn't make much difference either way and we are not certain its the best size for us and we had a canvas cover on the deflatable that we repurposed for the new one which may well extend the life nearer a hypalon one. The Aluminium work is very good quality and so far we are very happy with it.

I suspect most of the inflatables on the market are perfectly fine, the difference is what options you want to add and the tube material choice, like most things, there are brands that charge a significant premium for the same product with their name on it. Of course the more people pay for brand, the more dogmatic they will be about said brand!

[fxykty]

AB have (or had) an issue with tubes detaching from the aluminium hull. This happened to an 8 year old AB that came with our boat. We now have a fully deflatable (nice to remove from davits for rougher passages) True Kit with open bow - love it.

[BenBowSirocco]

We showed up super early to the St. Pete boat show and saw multiple brands with deflated brand new boats. Hardly confidence inspiring and certainly added motivation for us to look into other options.


If I were ever buying another RIB, I would be very careful to read the warranty and definitely inspect it as closely as I could.

I think I might also inflate it to the max, check the time and leave it overnight and then check the pressures at a similar time (read: temperature) the next day to make sure you dont buy a leaker..

I just think the dealer would be more motivated to help early on, rather than later on.



Do you have the space to consider alternatives to the inflatable RIB?
GoDu, Mantus, OC and its copy cats.. They all offer alternatives to an inflatable boat.

[MicHughV]

Depends on where you are in the world as not all brands are sold or available everywhere.

[GreenWave]

Originally Posted by Tin Tin

Of the 4 different brands we have owned in last 20 years Caribe was best.

Agree! Ours is a 2009 still going strong. Only other brand I might consider would be high field. Hypalon of course.

[Reeve21]

I have had 3 Achilles hypalon boats (still have 2 of them) and none has given me any significant trouble.

I use them seasonally in the northeast US and keep them covered when not in use. So the use is pretty light.

My "daily driver" is 25 years old and going strong.

[BenBowSirocco]

A couple things I would consider when looking at another dinghy that nobody (including myself) has mentioned so far:


Weight:
We ended up deciding that this metric is not as important as we had believed in the past because the RIB's in the length we wanted at 10-1/2 feet long are all far too heavy to pick up or carry alone anyway.
So for us, it was really just making sure the boat would not overweight our weakest link: the stern arch and that was about 350lbs. Halyards/winches could care less about 350lbs.. Beach wheels are readily available in multiple forms and fairly affordable: to us they are standard dinghy kit as they make life so much easier!



Stability:
In some ways this was our #1 priority. We wanted to be able step onto the sides of the hull, right onto the tubes and feel confident we had a flat firm surface that was stable to our weight. This makes loading and unloading especially from the dock but as well as the mothership easier and safer.



Ride Quality:
Getting pounded in a chop is pretty terrible. When the hull starts smacking waves rather than cutting through or over them, you have to go slower, you get wet from the spray it makes and nobody is happy. We wanted a boat with a high deadrise angle to provide as much comfort as we could get out of our small craft. Because we always want to get off the mothership when its blowing like stink.

I would personally avoid the West Marine boats with their measly 13 degree deadrise, I can tell you: they pound in just about anything. Look for a brand that keeps the hull deadrise high for comfort and dry ride. The offshore fishing guys really know what I am saying here and there is lots to read about deadrise on their forums.

[flightlead404]

Weight was an important metric for us on a 38' with a 10' dinghy. We went with the Apex 310 single hull aluminium boat at 98's

Even with the 9.9 OB my wife and I can move it up the beach or haul it up with a 4:1 block/tackle

[fredct]

This question is like asking "who makes the best snow tires?" a) one buys very few in their lifetimes b) not all brands are available in all sizes.


Over-optimizing is exhausting and there is a real opportunity cost at trying to get the most cost effective or best thing. What about chain plates, cushions, beds, outboards, running lines, blocks, mast, sail fabric, the list goes on and on.


Evaluate your needs the best you can (weight, size). What you pick will be the best for you, by definition.

[Scottyyachty]

I had the chance to test a godu this past weekend what a ride. The V hull really makes it a smooth ride in the chop and the design adds a bit of a spray rail so it is extremely dry.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Scottyyachty

I had the chance to test a godu this past weekend what a ride. The V hull really makes it a smooth ride in the chop and the design adds a bit of a spray rail so it is extremely dry.

Interesting; but, the Godu is an all aluminum rigid dinghy - not an inflatable 'RIB'.
➥ https://goduadventure.com/godu-10-5

[JPA Cate]

It is the Swift, made in Australia, that I think is the best. Really good powdercoat on the hulls, hypalon tubes.

Gemini uses the Swift hull, and light weight South African hypalon for the tubes. The last time, we had it re-tubed with West German pvc. (horrors!) So far, with chaps, the pvc is okay, but it is only 8 yrs in.

Ann