Browsing: RIBs

Cruising Life
By

15 New Tenders and RIBs. Which One’s Right for You?

Tenders and RIBs are getting bigger, better and safer than ever before. They’re also getting faster and more versatile, equipped with jet drives or even wheels to carry  you ashore. Some even have a head, making them much more family-friendly.  But which one to choose? Sooner or later all owners of cruising boats will need a new dink or a RIB, either to carry on the main boat or perhaps just to use as a second boat for carefree fun on the water. Here’s a look at 15 new tenders and RIBs, from 9′ 2″ to 33′ long, from the…

Boat Reviews
By

New, Innovative, Fun and Fast Walker Bay Generation 525. See Review and Video

It’s hard to fit the new Walker Bay Generation 525 into a narrow boat category, because this new, luxurious 17-footer offers so much: It’s a RIB, certainly, but it also can be a sport boat, a day boat, a tow boat, a runabout or even a megayacht tender. It would be fun to have the 525 just to zip around a harbor by yourself, or to take a crowd – the boat’s rated for ten passengers. A California company (located in Fairfield, about half-way between San Francisco and Sacramento), Walker Bay is known for its innovation and creative design. Indeed,…

Cruising Life
By

A Look at 15 New Tenders and RIBs – from Achilles to ZAR

The right RIB or tender can make all the difference in a successful cruise or boating vacation. It means you can go ashore comfortably or explore other parts of the island or harbor where you’ve moored the big boat. And it also serves as a second boat, totally aside from the larger version. You can have your very own picnic boat, for example, that you can pull up on any beach without a worry. Many new RIBs even come with their own heads; one even comes with wheels so you can drive across the beach. Here’s a good review of…

Gear
By

A New Compact Fiberglass V-Bottom RIB that Folds Up

It’s hardly news that space in most cruising boats is tight, and room to store a dinghy is at a premium. And then, where do you keep it? On deck, on the swim platform, on an upper boat deck with a crane, towed behind the boat? The new F-RIBs from Foldablerib in Southampton, England, solve all that. They make five models of folding RIBS, all with fiberglass deep-V bottoms, from nine to 15 feet. The nine-foot F-RIB 275, shown above, weighs just 79 pounds and packs away in a bag that measures 2’10” x 3’ x 1’6.”  Just stow…

Gear
By

A New Entry: Williams Minijet Tender Off to a Good Start

If you’re looking for a new tender or RIB or just another boat to zip around in, the new Williams Minijet 280 may be just the thing. Designed for cruising boats under 45 feet, the new, compact Minijet 280 is only 9’2″ long, with a beam of 5’1′. It’s relatively light, weighing only 460 pounds. The real distinction, of course is that it is powered by a 45-hp BRP Rotax Ace 900 jet engine. There’s no outboard to put on and take off every time you launch it; no prop to worry about, a major safety advantage. The Minijet 280…

1 … 4 5 6