lightweight aluminum 14' RIB wanted

[beachcraft]

I'm looking for a lightweight 14' RIB that can be launched by one person on a shallow sandy beach. Who makes the lightest weight 14' RIB? My aluminum skiffs are lighter than my fiberglass skiff so I also wonder if there is an aluminum 14' RIB instead of fiberglass hull?

[rasorinc]

These folks offer a 13'-6" at 240lb. and a 14'-6" at 320lb see chart.
http://www.polarisboats.com/p/aluminum_hull/spirit.htm I don't know how you make them much lighter then this with a metal bottom. maybe a rigid plastic bottom.
LOOK at these folks rigid run about 14' 110 lb add floor boards and it is 160lb. http://www.seaeagle.com/SportRunabouts.aspx

[beachcraft]

Thank you rasorinc

I'd like to get a RIB for the unsinkability.

My favorite boat now is a light riveted aluminum boat that weights 175 lbs without the outboard. It draws only a few inches so it's easy to get to the shore in very shallow water and I can drag it up on the beach clear of the waves easily when I'm alone. I can also drag it back into the water without pulling my back out. The vee at the bow cuts through waves ok.

From your link the tube alone plus transom weighs 110 lb. I've had a zodiak before with the floor board system but I don't like that much and don't want to buy another one. Doesn't feel as solid or steady to me.

The polaris RIB at 240 lb - thanks for the link - means 65 lbs extra. Makes sense - probably not a lot of savings in the freeboard aluminum and extra needed to curve to the tube. I wish I could find even lighter however as that 65 will make a difference pulling it far enough up onto the beach and getting it back into the water alone. I would consider any material, I only posted aluminum because those have been my lightest toughest lowest maintenance skiffs.

[DCockey]

Any outboard monohull under 20' sold for recreational use in the US in the last 35 years or so has been required by federal law to be "unsinkable" and meet floatation requirements. (Exception is a boat built by a homebuilder for their own use and later sold.)

[thudpucker]

I had a 13' Metzler that was really easy to handle for one guy.
I dont know if they make them any more but I really liked mine.
Weighed about 75 Lbs.

[beachcraft]

Thank you DCockey. My 175 lb aluminum skiff has three inverted U seats of aluminum which are foam filled. From memory they are 10" x 14" and full width. If I got swamped I would have something to hang onto, but would I be able to bail it out? I doubt it. I should try it some time with a couple of blocks to simulate the outboard. I bet the stern would go. Plus with any waves even if it floated level swamped I bet it would be very difficult to bail it out. I could add more foam to the existing skiff.

[beachcraft]

Originally Posted by thudpucker

I had a 13' Metzler that was really easy to handle for one guy.
I dont know if they make them any more but I really liked mine.
Weighed about 75 Lbs.

Thanks thudpucker. I am not familiar with the name Metzler. I will google and see if they are still making rafts. 75 lbs sounds too good to be true, but something like that would be ideal if it were sturdy. I want a solid feeling floor and a transom that feels solidly connected to hang the outboard on.

[thudpucker]

My Metzler had an inflatable floor. I could stand up and walk around it in.
The motor bracket was removable. I've just about always rowed, but out in the salt water, I used a 6 hp Johnson.
It went about 7 Mph with the Six.
It easily held me, my camp, another guy, his camp, and a Moose!

That was in the 1980's.

[pool]

Originally Posted by beachcraft

I'm looking for a lightweight 14' RIB that can be launched by one person on a shallow sandy beach. Who makes the lightest weight 14' RIB? My aluminum skiffs are lighter than my fiberglass skiff so I also wonder if there is an aluminum 14' RIB instead of fiberglass hull?

Have a look at the ultralight Lammina versions of AB Inflatables (www.abinflatables.com). We had one as a tender on our SY and were very happy with it. It is light, strong and pricing is o.k.

[thudpucker]

Interesting link Pool.
I always wanted to tour a factory and see how they Glue them.
Why does the Factory boat stay together and the Home made boats come apart?
My Metzler was 100 dinear cloth with Hypolon covering.

I had an older (Black) rib that was really light. I think it was some kind of cloth with a water proof paint on the fabric.
That thing scared me. I worried about it coming apart under use.

[beachcraft]

Thanks pool.

I might get the very light 12' AB Ventus or the Lammina. With the squared off bow and wider beam, it provides as much space as my 14' dinghy. At 156lb, that would be easy to drag up and off the beach to launch again. I like the hull bottom and transom being molded as once piece. Feels more solid to me.

I notice AB's lightest RIB is made of fiberglass at 156 lb.
The standard Navigo hand-laid fiberglass weighs 198lb.
The aluminum Lammina weighs 202 lb. The aluminum 12' RIB at 202 lb has more v bottom at the transom which I may choose for cutting through chop waves, and it's within 25 lb of my skiff.

Thanks again for the link pool.

Do you know how the tube attachment compares with the fiberglass and aluminum RIB?

[pool]

Originally Posted by beachcraft

Do you know how the tube attachment compares with the fiberglass and aluminum RIB?

No idea about any possible differences in the attachment systems - just drop them an email, I would say.

Personally, I would always prefer an alu bottom rib as a much used tender. It is just so much easier with maintenance, abraison resistance on coral, rock and sand, ....

[beachcraft]

Does anyone have good pricing on the AB RIB's in the USA? Quality looks great but pricing is steep.

[rasorinc]

http://www.polarisboats.com/ just over to border from Washington State

[beachcraft]

Thank you for the Polaris Boats link rasorinc. The Polaris 12.5 is 42 lbs heavier than the AB aluminum RIB and 84 lbs heavier than the AB fiberglass RIB. I appreciate the link nonetheless.