F-Ribs And Sibs - Inflatable Boat Community

I'm going to copy and paste some background info from my thread in "Introductions" to give an idea of my requirements.

I am a sea fisherman in my 70's and in my younger years owned a few offshore dinghys, mainly Bonwitco 400 & 450 but as age increased the ability to launch and recover quite heavy boats waned. So a few years ago I bought a much smaller whit 200 10ft double skin dinghy and Suzuki 9hp outboard, but even though the boat is kept on the beach its now just too heavy to manage on my own up and down a steep shingle beach.

So, I am contemplating an inflatable dinghy of a size suited to one or two people for inshore (1mile max) fishing in fairly calm weather that can be lifted out of my tailgate area by me on my own & used with either the Suzuki 9hp or an electric outboard on days when I don't want to carry the 9hp outboard.
I already had some good input from ChrisParish for which I thank him, he suggested: For light weight, portable and good sea keeping the F-RIB 275 is a fairly good bet, but it is relatively expensive. Other than that, the Honwave T32 airfloor is not a bad weight and would plane easily one-up or possibly 2 up if you are light.

I replied: I have or had a budget of £1000 when I came here, but looking at the F-RIB 275 made me want to double it and add some more, but I think as nice as it seems to be, that will need to be a maybe future purchase.
I already didn't get value for money from my Whit 200/Suzuki purchase due to the difficulty with weight and access to where the boat is kept, so I think baby steps for the moment and see how much use I get from a cheaper inflatable dinghy.

I already looked at several sub 1k new boats although I might be persuaded to buy 2nd hand too, Quicksilver 320 Air Deck White PVC (£799), 3.3M Hydro-Force Mirovia Pro Inflatable (£780) & Waveline XT 320 Inflatable Dinghy 2020 Airdeck With Dinghy Wheels (£700) The Honwave T32 airfloor suggested by Chris is £979.
How tough are the keel sections on these, can they stand being dragged out of the water on shingle beaches without damage.

Thanks in advance for any help in pointing me to a solution.

Hi Oldman,
Some great boats sibs there on your list, to get a little more idea of your train of thought and to completely throw a spanner in the works, what do you think to this..?
https://www.plastimo.com/en/annexe-coqu ... iable.html


Frib like but with a plastic hull, cheaper than a Frib, though at 55kg maybe too heavy ?

Martin

Hi Martin, thanks for the spanner ;) it fell at the weight, I think 55KG is just a bit much, the others are 39-42kg That Frib 2.75 was just 36kg & the The F-RIB 330 was 43kg.
The choice is getting harder.

if you dont mind me chipping in, I had a 2.7 honwave and I think anything of that length is just not big enough. whatever you decide on I would aim for something north of 3metres. good luck

Im with you Sonny1, bigger is better and less than 3mtr is not ideal but im restricted by weight to a degree. Just to get an idea of weight to volume I will later on fill 2x 5gal containers with water, strap them together and see that I can lift them in & out of the car, thats 45+kilo.

theres always a way , dont buy something that just aint gonna do it . better to not have one at all. im sure you can figure out a way of rolling rather than lifting. good luck

Please don’t be put off too much by the hull length, your topic title says “a lightish inflatable for inshore fishing“.
Hull length ride quality only really matters if you’re going out in choppy conditions.
Even with that said, we’ve had Honwave T32’s & f-rib 330’s out with us many times in the rough stuff, yes they are a bumpy ride (hard hull more so) but they are more than capable.

In my opinion, the best all round and most capable portable inflatable boat in this group is still the Honwave T38ie, slightly bigger than the T32ie but a far more capable boat for a little more weight. Stick a Suzuki on the transom and you have one awesome set up!
Impeccable handling, tough and sturdy build. (Just maybe with a wonky floor ) ... Again, perhaps overboard for your title requirements.

The reason I mentioned the Plastimo was the plastic hull, no air floor or fibreglass hull to damage on the beaches you mentioned. Again, a slammy small hard hull but a compromise has to be found.
Loading a boat into the boot can be assisted with a sack trolly and a clever lift routine.

Martin

I have been trying my hardest to make my job more difficult by adding more boats to my list!
Excel Volante sd330 looked good but at 48kg its the same as an Frib 360 which I found too heavy/bulky when I tried lifting one recently.
Sunsport 350 at 42kg seems ok
Boatworld branded air V floor 330 is light at 35kg and appears much like the Honwave T32
Lastly Elling KB350 trimaran is also 35kg (bare boat) and looks to be aimed at fishermen with all its mounts.
I have asked some questions over on the Elling section from the fishermen there too.

What about the SunSport Arib 320? its 36.6kg ? £867. i Looked at these but they dont have the size i want.

https://yamahamercuryoutboardprice.ecwi ... -p55294095

Sibfish wrote: ↑

19 Jun 2020, 21:22

What about the SunSport Arib 320? its 36.6kg ? £867. i Looked at these but they dont have the size i want.

https://yamahamercuryoutboardprice.ecwi ... -p55294095

I looked at that and its bigger brother but I've settled on the Elling KB350 trimaran which is also 35kg (bare boat) and looks to be aimed at fishermen with all its mounts. Deposit paid just need to wait for the shipment to enter the UK early July.