Which One..

[Sea Rider]

Which one would you go for and why, money is not an issue :

Sea Rider 420 Alum hull rib, 45 diam tubes, Light weight 90 KG with bow locker. One solded hull & deck piece, for sheltered & overall coastal waters use, for long shaft max 50 HP engine.





Sea Rider 450 Fiberglass hull riib, 50 diam tubes, Heavier weight 150 Kg, huge bow locker, traditional fiberglass hull & deck work easier to repair, for sheltered, coastal & open waters as well. for long shaft Max 50 HP engine.




Will live on a trailer with removable 2 stroke long shaft 18 HP or permanet 50 HP installation, both tiller driven as like all my ribs to remaim carrier space open deck. Will depend entirely if the 18 HP can plane well specially the heavier, wider, taller 450 model. Both models will have double tranversal alum bench seats on bow and aft as to drive sitting on seats rather than on tubes.

Happy Boating

 

[ssobol]

If money is not an issue, I would go with the bigger boat. Although you well also need a bigger storage area. The 18 is not going to cut it with either of these boats. I had a 470 with a 40 and it worked fine. I had a 310 with a 20 and it struggled to get on plane if it had 3 or 4 people in it.

 

[Sea Rider]

Ssobol.


The rib will be living on land at a marina, so space isn't an issue. You say that a 18 won't plahne a 450 rib lightly loaded. My actual 430 bit lighter rib planes with no effort with 3 adults and same 18 HP, that's due to being well height seated, trimmed and weight evenly distributed on deck. I'm not a big fan going out with more than max 3 boaters as this is not the Club's Rib.

Happy Boating

 

[Chopperbill]

Like the adjustable bench on the first one. Wife sits on floor with her back on the bow, she would nix e'm both.

 

[Sea Rider]

The adjustable seat does not reach aft as to drive sitting there, the hull is wide and if sitting starbord on rear tube my arm will be far away from tiller, that's why a transversal seat is needed at least aft. Can modify the ribs to my particular taste, that's the bonus to work direct with a sib/rib factory.



This is a good mod for the 420 rib, find it more practical as you can always seat on bow locker and use front seat patches to install a ladder.

Happy Boating

 

[Sea Rider]

As sunshine is already timidly peeking out, couldn't resist the temptation, will go straight for the 450 Rib, it's already here, it takes minimum 3.5 months to build and ship the 420 Alum Rib down here. Besides the 450 has 50 diam tubes compared to 45 diam for the 420, and 43 diam for my actual 430 Rib, means that will have no water splashing on deck whatsoever when encountering choppy/windy seas conditions, specially cold sprays during winter time. Down issue, climbing over wider tubes from water while bathing will be a harsh issue....




A new trailer is being built, once finished will take the 450 to the marina and conduct a wot test with my actual 18 L HP engine, probably will need a small transom height optimization to be spot on at the Sweet Transom Height and get the max prop thrust out of that medium range portable engine. Combo will surely benefit going for a less size pitch prop to bump wot rpm to be near max 5800 rpm factory stated wot parameters. Tiny Tach will diagnose so...

Happy Boating

 

[Sea Rider]

Update :

Factory finally has accepted to build me a custom Sea Rider 430 Alum Rib which should be running wild by mid January at the most, will be highy modified as opposed to the simpier factory standard model which is not of my particular eye catching taste nor interest.

New 450 trailer should be ready around thursday, friday will check if combo makes a perfect marrriage to trailer, surely will need some final adjustments, once evenly seated, will move wheel axle accordingly to have a well ballanced rib/engine combo at tongue. You dont want your loved water toy doing a wheely and slidding off trailer at the marina, very bad musique...

If everything goes smooth as expected, the new 450 will make its Maiden Voyage on Saturday, will break an Italian Champagne on her hull..

Will see if the 450 L transom matches nicely a Tohatsu 18 L, theoretically should match, but in real boating world likely NOT, experience has shown the contrary most of the time. Anyway, a wot test run under my picky self parameters will confirm if inside of what personally consider engine sitting at the sweet transom height spot for best combo performance and top prop thrust out of that portable engine.

Poll : Will a 18 HP plane a lightly loaded 450 rib which is intended for a 50 HP with max load ?

Happy Boating

 

[Chopperbill]

50 horse would scare the hell out of me on a small light boat. My vote for the 18.

 

[Sea Rider]

50 horse would scare the hell out of me on a small light boat. My vote for the 18.

A 4.50 Mt rib is not a small one, let's hope the 18L HP planes well that combo. Still with trailer issues, let's hope this week end combo will see water. The nice thing about the 50 is that you can play to detune it to behave to whichever HP you want that rib to run. That's limiting the internal throttle mechanism range. No need to run full 50 HP, too much gas consumption and added arenaline,

Happy Boating