Following a rather hectic 2016/2017/2018, we decided to re-think our boating lifestyle. The larger boat was a fantastic experience, and we spent most weekends aboard over the past few of years, but there was something missing, the out and out 'fun' of running a sports boat!
The major problem for me was that I could not easily handle the larger boats by myself, which limited my cruising time, so towards the end of 2018 we decided to go back to basics and downsize.
Following a lot of research and sea trials, we decided to go back to a RIB. Following even more research and speaking to various manufacturers, we finally went with a local family run company (Ribeye), who impressed me with their approach-ability, willingness to please, and total confidence in their product.
We had three sea trials booked with three different RIB manufacturers on the same Saturday, in the same area, real 'back to back' trials. The weather was building during the week, and two of the manufacturers cried off on Friday as being 'too rough'. One even suggested that we would not get a decent trial of the boat if it wasn't flat calm......
Saturday saw 25mph winds gusting 37mph, and Ribeye calling to say we were good to go! The wind was howling, sea was big, the sea was the roughest I had been out on for a long time and I was out in a 6.5 metre boat. We had a lot of fun, we got soaked, but it was a real test of the boat which performed flawlessly. Needless to say an order was placed the following Monday.
I picked her up from the Dartmouth factory just before Christmas, and single handed her around to Torquay in more 25mph winds, getting soaked once again, but with a massive grin on my face and supreme confidence that the boat could handle the conditions.
I haven't had much time to take photo's but here are a few from the handover, and over the Christmas break.