Defender RIB

[keepondancin]

Any experiences with Defender's own line of hypalon RIB's. My 20 yr old Caribe is just very tired, and the AB prices are through the roof. I may have to take the "15" stickers off my 2 stroke Yamaha to put it on a 10' RIB. Same weight as the 9.9 and lighter than a 4 stroke.

[1affiah]

I bought the 300 this spring, and took it out for a test spin several weeks ago with my Tohatsu 8hp 2-stroke. It came well packaged in a crate, and the fit & finish is superb. It seems to handle well, and much drier than the Avon wood floor it replaced.

[model 10]

We have one. Does not go as fast as our old Apex rib and it had a double hull. The Defender is a single layer. Our gel coat is holding up but another boat I looked at was crazing on the inside.
So after 3 years @6 months per year in the tropics with chaps on it, it looks fine.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by keepondancin

Any experiences with Defender's own line of hypalon RIB's. My 20 yr old Caribe is just very tired, and the AB prices are through the roof. I may have to take the "15" stickers off my 2 stroke Yamaha to put it on a 10' RIB. Same weight as the 9.9 and lighter than a 4 stroke.

I had a 2 stroke 15 Yam on my AB 10 ft RIB. It was perfect. Later had it on a 9 ft RIB and it was pretty squirrely.

[keepondancin]

Does the Defender have much "rocker", does the bow curve up like the Caribe or AB, or is it more flat like the Achilles? The higher bow gives a much drier ride in slop. My 15 on a Caribe C9X is almost lethal. Doel Fins help quite a bit. My first and second choices would be Caribe then AB, but they are out of budget.

[model 10]

That's interesting. I have the engine set all the way fwd to get the bow down on our Defender. The engine was one hole back for the old Apex. The Defender does not sit with the tubes turned up or is it a dry ride like those you mention but it doesn't get stuck under the dock very often so it's turned up some.