F-Ribs And Sibs - Inflatable Boat Community

On Monday 22nd, @Brerabit, @chris moody and I met up at Warsash Slipway for a day of fun and games on the Solent and, if opportunity presents itself, do some comparisons between the T38 and the Volaire 390. The opportunity did present itself and this is what we found.

I just want to make clear that these are just my personal observations and I have no affiliation or connection with Excel or Honda.

First Impressions
The build quality on the Volaire is good. The seams are neat and well constructed. The only thing that we weren’t keen on is the rope which runs around the top of the tubes - it feels cheap and unpleasant in the hand.

vs T38
General build quality is comparable. The rope on the T38 is better but everything else on the excel is at least as good. If the floor on the T38s wasn’t an issue then there would be nothing in it. I’m going to call general build a draw.

General Feel
The Volaire is a wide boat with nice large tubes. It feels very stable on the water and I found I could stand up in it without feeling like I was about to take an unscheduled swim. The depth of the boat (tube top to floor) is quite shallow, but no more so than a wooden or aluminium floor boat, I think.

vs T38
Getting back into the T38 after being in the Volaire I felt like I was climbing into a canoe! It is quite a bit narrower and a lot deeper.

Floor
The floor may look like a LiLo, but it is rock solid - at least as solid as the main tubes. It gives a lovely flat surface to walk on, unlike the T38.
There is a deep and pronounced V in the underside of the floor.
There is a tie down point by the transom to secure the fuel tank.
When at speed the floor absorbs a lot of the impact with the waves giving a good ride.

vs T38
The floor is very different - it’s low pressure as opposed to the high pressure floor of the T38. Given the length of the boat I think the Volaire is better. Being flat makes it more versatile.
The T38 has a sharper V which is further towards the bow, whereas the Volaire has a blunter V slightly further back. This results in the bow being lifted which makes up for the fact that the main tubes don’t kick up towards the bow as much as they do on the T 38.
If you have a good T38 (without the wonky floor) then I would say there isn’t much in it, but compared with the latest T38s arriving in the Uk the Volaire is way better.

Seats
The seats on the Volaire are the type that slide onto a fabric and rope rail, like the F-Ribs, and just like the F-Ribs there are prone to sliding. They are comfortable enough for what they are.

vs T38
The seats on the T38 don’t slide so there is no chance of them moving during use, but the other side of that is that you can’t adjust their position.
If the position of the seat in the T38 works for you then this round goes to the T38.

Handling
The Volaire planes really easily - I mean crazy easy. It is responsive and tracks well. The floor absorbs the worst of the impacts giving a good ride and in choppy conditions you can sit on the floor and still see out over the bow, unlike the T38. It corners pretty flat with just a touch of slide / drift.
When on the plane one up most of the length of the tubes is out of the water completely, with the boat just riding on the hull. I got it up to 20knots without any problem.

vs T38
Both boats handle chop very well. The only place where the T38 outshines the Volaire is in turns - the T38 grips well and banks hard whereas the Volaire slides a little. It’s very controllable - more like drifting a car rather than the understeer you get from some of the sausage keel boats. I think this is due to the fact that the T38 has chines / strakes attached to the floor which help it to grip.
Despite this the Volaire still out handles the sausage keel boats I have tried.
Cant really compare top speed as we had two different engines with sub-optimal props on at least one of them (my Suzuki is over-propped)

Manual Handling / Set Up
The Volaire is substantially heavier than the T38 which is one of the points against it - it weighs over 60kg whereas the T38 is around 45kg (can’t remember the exact numbers).
It packs down fairly small and would fit in the back of most average sized cars with the seats down.

vs T38
The T38 is lighter and packs down marginally smaller. When it comes to setup there is nothing in it - they are both dead easy.
The launch wheels for the Volaire are infinitely better than then swan neck things for the T38

Overall
They are different boats with different strengths. If you want peak performance for hooning around then a good T38 is the best of the two.
However, if you want a good solid platform which will do a bit of everything and hold its own in anything other than a slalom with the T38 than the Volaire is one hell of a boat.
Given the problems with the floors I would have no hesitation recommending the Volaire to anyone.

So in summary - if you want a good all round package which is comfortable and versatile then buy the Volaire. If you want speed and handling then buy an F-RIB. Move over T38 - your time is up.

There will be a video to follow shortly

Thanks for doing the test chaps, that’s useful info. Of the two I’d favour the Excel... I just wish it wasn’t black... it looks proper stealthy and all that, but really hot! Could our illustrious testers advise on tube temps next to naked Western flesh perhaps?

We will try it next time, Simon!
It is available in other colours. @Brerabit can advise which ones.

I can understand the mixed feelings about black, it does look a bit 'Special Forces'. In my case, one look at the skipper soon dispels that myth.
For me it was black or wait - and that wasn't going to happen. I love it now because 'hot tubes' or not - it does look cool. Seriously, I've not noticed it as a problem when on the water but would certainly keep an eye on it if it was beached in full sun etc.. but you'd do that with any colour.
From when I last spoke to Terry at Excel when we were sorting my wheels, I think most, if not all of this years black stock was already sold, he had a few red ones including a 390 and a couple of 420s and I think a 530. So it’ll be next season before there’s more but then you can order any one of four or five colours. I think it was black, red, one or two shades of grey and navy. Can't remember if there was white but worth a call. I think the black is the only one that is all one colour and that the others have contrasting fittings etc.

@ChrisParish good observations and write up.

Did you manage to put the boats through their paces in some decent chop on the day?

Would be interested to see some on water pics/vid clips to compare how the boats ride in chop if you have any.

I do have some footage, but as it was shot by me from the T38 it doesn’t show them both running side by side.

It handles the chop at least as well as the T38

Sorry to Hijack the thread but in the last photo, the profile shot of the two sibs in the marina...

While the the sibs are very pretty i don't spose anyone noticed the piece of nautical awesomness lurking in the background??

IT'S ONLY A LEVI CORSAIR!!! SERIOUS BOAT PORN FROM THE LEGEND THAT WAS SONNY LEVI!
Sorry, you can go back to the thread now...

Oooh! Well spotted @Si Crowe....the Godfather of the deep V hull.

Hey @ChrisParish...not too fussed about the T38, but would be interested to see the Voliare at speed in chop.

So it took me a long time to get round to editing this together, but here it is:

ChrisParish wrote: ↑

12 Aug 2019, 11:24

So it took me a long time to get round to editing this together, but here it is:

Thanks, looks great.
The outboard arrived today so that's everything here now just waiting on the boat!!
Was planning to take it to loch fyne for the first time but i think ill go to loch lomond instead after lifting that outboard lol, nice easy slip has my name all over it, ill try take the gopro and post a video of it.

Ross