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Aximut Magellano Collection – The Italian Job
The hull handles the sea extremely well and has a very cushioned impact with the waves. The shapes of the Magellano models provide greater interior volume, leading to increased on-board comfort. The Italian Job PBR takes a brief look at Read More...
Piranha 730
Paul Lemmer tests a flagship in the imported Piranha range on the occasion of RIBEX 2011. This is a craft squarely aimed at the leisure market and coupled to its deep-vee hull it could be a worthy addition to the Read More...
Zodiac Mach II
The Zodiac Hurricane has set a high standard for military and professional RIBs for many years. The new aluminium-hulled MACH II raises the bar even higher, with its air-channelled, stepped hull and surface drives, and the payload, performance and Read More...
X-Craft
Anyone taking time to look at all the exhibits at this year’s RIBEX RIB show, particularly if they had an eye for innovative quality, would probably have seen two very distinctive sports-orientated RIBs in the form of the X-Craft 8m Read More...
Avon 4m Searider
There are few icons in the boating world like the baby Avon, indeed the 4m Searider is credited with being the first commercially produced RIB. Originally they were built with a plywood hull; then in 1972 the hull shape was Read More...
Cobra Sportfisher
Since they relocated from South Wales to the Solent area Cobra RIBs have gone from strength to strength. Not only have their normal RIBs been selling well but they have even had custom orders, one of which was for a Read More...
Ribeye 650 and 785 Armstrong
With their exclusive engine supply agreement with Yamaha, Ribeye have now become well established as a respected British RIB producer. Coupled to the Armstrong these RIBS are afforded even greater water-line length and fuel economy. These British-designed, South African-built craft Read More...
Humber SportsPro
Humber have launched what some might say are their finest vessels to date. It made a big impression at RIBEX 2009 and is set to establish the company’s name yet further as a leader in its feild. Paul Lemmer reports.... Read More...
Zodiac’s n-ZO cabin RIB
An approach to family ribbing with overnight capabilities and a real onboard ‘loo’. When the largest builder of RIBs in the world decided to introduce its first cabin RIB to the main markets in Europe and North America, we were Read More...
Valiant V620
There are tough go-anywhere RIBs that are designed to take on the harshest environment, and there are those that look amazing, with their abundance of teak, stainless steel, and deep-buttoned upholstery, but it is between these two extremes that the Read More...
Coastline 7m
In the last few years, looking at the number of new RIBs coming in from abroad it might seem that the sale of UK products is on the wane, but speaking to a number of traditional RIB builders it would Read More...
Capelli Tempest 900 WA Cabin RIB
Having used a Shearwater 8.5m cabin RIB for our ‘voyage of a lifetime’ South-West Ireland cruise in 2007, we commented on how practical it was to have a small cabin both for storing our kit and for the protection it Read More...
Paragon 25
When is a RIB not a RIB? That should be easy to answer because the letters R-I-B stand for ‘Rigid Inflatable Boat’, yet shortly after RIBs first started appearing on the market some 40 years ago with inflatable tubes (collars), Read More...
Silver Marine Phoenix 610
They have been building RIBs for the Far East for over 20 years and now Silver Marine are stepping in to the European market. We took their Phoenix 610 out to see how she measures up against the competition. There Read More...
Scorpion Sting
If a formula works, why change it? This is an attitude many people have in life, seeing little or no point in destabilising a steady situation. On the other hand, there are those who cannot leave something alone; even if Read More...
Datema Duarry 9.2m
Those who read about the Dutch Coastguard last year may recall the commercial diesel-powered RIB that was kept aboard the 43m coastguard cutter Zeeraend and the boarding antics that were employed ship to ship on this impressive craft. Well, that Read More...
Cobra 660
The 6.5m class of RIB is probably the most versatile-sized RIB, and its ability to fulfil so many different functions, coupled with its winning combination of sea capability and ease of handling, also make it the most popular size, with Read More...
Ballistic 3 Way Test
Hugo Montgomery-Swan joins a threesome on the waters off the Isle of Wight…something for everyone, perhaps? Having the opportunity to stage a multiple test of three products from the same stable is quite rare. Nevertheless, just such an arrangement was Read More...
XS RIB 850
Hugo Montgomery-Swan tests one of the larger models in the commercially orientated XS range as marketed by Barnet Marine of London. If you are seeking a true offshore RIB with big load-carrying capabilities and rough-water attributes, be it for work Read More...
Protector 8.5m
When I was asked to have a look at the Protector cabin RIB I was really looking forward to it, as I had heard good things about them. Would this RIB prove to be the Jonah Lomu of the boating Read More...
Northstar RIBs
Those lads at the Atlantic College really started something when they put their plywood bottom on the inflatable boat. John Caulcott’s entry in the Round Britain Race of 1969 was another early experiment into making solid-bottomed inflatables which had begun Read More...
SEALEGS 7.1
The Sealegs concept has been going for over five years now, just to confound the early doubters who pooh-poohed the combination of a RIB with its own carriage wheels. The intervening years have seen the Sealegs not just prove Read More...
