RIBs Rigid
Inflatable Boats
What is a RIB? RIBs, sometimes known as rigid
inflatable boats, rigid hull inflatable boats, or RHIBs,
are powerboats fitted with inflatable collars or tubes.
As well as excellent fendering, this makes RIBs almost
unsinkable and suitable for use in all sorts of
conditions. RIBs are some of the most versatile boats
available and are used as rescue boats by the RNLI, as
patrol boats by the military, as work boats in the North
Sea, as race boats in international competitions, as
tenders to yachts and superyachts, and as general purpose
all round cruising boats by families around the
world.
Brands include Avon inflatables, ribcraft ribs,
ribeye ribs, Humber inflatables, Brig rigid inflatable
boats, Arctic RIBs, ASIS rigid inflatable boats, Zodiac
inflatable boats, Delta RIBs, Nautica Rigid Inflatable
Boats, Falcon rigid inflatables, Northcraft rigid
inflatables, Cirrus RIBs, Dolphin sports and leisure
ribs, Halmatic professional RIBs, Marine Specialised
Technology commercial ribs, Osprey RIBs, Parker
RIBs,Plancraft Marine RIBs, Red Bay Boats Stormforce
RIBs, Revenger rigid hull inflatables, Ring RIBs, Solent
RIBs, Scorpion RIBs, Valiant RIBs
Why do RIBs seem some popular for a variety of
uses? A RIB – or Rigid Inflatable Boat – is a boat that
has a rigid hull (usually made of glass reinforced
plastic - ‘GRP’) with tubes (or ‘sponsons’) around the
hull. Opinions vary as to who can claim to have invented
the RIB however the generally accepted view is that they
emanate from Atlantic College in Wales. Atlantic College
had a number of small inflatables that they would recover
by dragging across a beach of shingle, the soft bottoms
were quickly shredded but some bright spark thought to
put a wooden bottom on the craft. They lasted much longer
but the ride was poor due to the flat bottom, a V shaped
wooden hull followed and voila the beginnings of the RIBs
we see today existed. Evidence of Atlantic College’s part
in the creation of the RIB is that the RNLI’s large
Inshore RIBs are called Atlantics.
RIBs tend to be viewed as the 4x4s of the sea
and are famed for their sea-keeping qualities. The large
tubes around the boat benefit the craft in two ways.
Firstly and perhaps most obviously they act as a big
fender and can make coming alongside a more relaxing and
less stressful experience, that said RIBs are not
cheap and few RIB owners go around bouncing their craft
off pontoons to prove their fendering
qualities!
Secondly, RIBs with a good hull/tube
configuration can cope with seas that a conventional
craft of a similar length will struggle with. The tubes
act as shock absorbers absorbing a percentage of the
energy that in a traditional craft are passed through to
the helmsman and crew whilst they also reduce the lateral
movement of the boat by providing buoyancy. It’s because of this
capability, coupled to their flexibility, that RIBs are
used around the world by the rescue authorities but make
great race boats and family runarounds too.
Leisure RIBs come in all shapes and sizes from
3m tenders for large powerboats to stunning 10m RIBs with
cabins costing over £130,000. Two British manufacturers
respected worldwide for the quality of their craft are
Avon Inflatables and Scorpion RIBs, the types of RIBs
they produce could not be more different in appearance
yet both excel within their chosen markets. Avon are
based in Wales and manufacture small inflatables and
tenders alongside more serious leisure and commercial
specification RIBs.
How their product range has evolved is good
evidence of how the RIB market in Europe has developed,
5-6 years ago Avon’s 6m RIBs were always made in a
fetching shade of bright orange with orange consoles and
(yes you’ve guessed it!) orange seats! The Orange
‘rescue’ colour soon became outdated and nowadays Avon’s
standard colour is blue & white with all manner of
accessories available for the family or commercial
operator. As RIBs have grown in popularity then so too
has the size of them grown too. Whereas 5.5m RIBs were
all the rage a few years ago many RIB manufacturers are
upsizing with 7m RIBs being a common purchase for many
first-timers. A boat of this size, with a prize tag to
match, has moved RIBs into the serious boat territory
where they compete with traditional
sportsboats.
There is no more obvious evidence of this desire
for bigger and bigger RIBs than at Scorpion RIBs based in
Lymington. The smallest RIB made by the company is now
7.5m whilst the whopping 10m cabin RIB is a truly awesome
piece of kit. Scorpion was founded by RIB aficionado
Graham Jelly and specializes in high performance
beautifully crafted and constructed RIBs.
The latest addition to the Scorpion stable is
the 10m Open which can carry 10 people in comfort.
Designed to operate as a superyacht tender, a chase boat
or simply a very fast sportsboat the 10m sports a pair of
315Hp turbocharged Yanmar diesels coupled to 3 bladed
props. This configuration gives the boat truly awesome
performance most notably in rough water where its hull
just slices through the waves. Indeed so impressive is
the ride a journalist testing the 10m recently was moved
to state ”We
flicked from wave to wave, flying (sometimes literally)
at 50-plus knots on what has to be one of the smoothest
and most comfortable rides I have ever had at such
speed.” Until recently when arched rivals Revenger
snatched the Round Britain (under 30ft & 50ft) world
speed records one of these 10m boats held the record at
37 hours for the 1440 nautical miles – impressive
stuff!
RIBs have recently made the news on both sides
of the Atlantic too with the “Dual of the North Atlantic”
between two RIBs. Alan Priddy’s Jolly Sailor (formerly
‘Spirit of Cardiff’) planned a run from St. John’s in
Newfoundland to Cape Wrath in Scotland – via Greenland
and Iceland whilst Bear Grylls’ trip started at Halifax
in Nova Scotia with the aim on finishing at Cape Wrath
too. Priddy’s boat was a 10m cabin Ribtec whilst Grylls
favoured a custom built open Ocean Dynamics 11m with a
single 450 Hp inboard. Both teams were going after
various records and many column inches were penned with
claim and counter claim around the provenance of the
‘history’ of each crew. Both teams made it back to Cape
Wrath with boats, crew & pride intact and the jury is
now out on the records achieved.
So what with races across the Atlantic, a great
line in rescue boats and boats available for over £130k
you know that RIBs have truly come of age. There can be
few products that have led such a varied life in terms of
their usage and yet they continue to evolve and improve –
to the next ten years of ribbing!
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