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!