Tenders - RIB vs. Boston Whaler

[manderley]

I presently have a 12 foot RIB Supersport Avon with a 40 hp engine with the typical davit on the roof of my 54MY. We tend to put the dinghy in and tow and don't bother to lift it up for months at a time. Since we are towing anyway, we are thinking of moving up in size to have more room, range, comfort and safety. In particular, due to an injury, smooth ride is essential and due to the cold water we are usually in, relative unsinkability is a requirement. Basically, I would like to anchor and go around to neighboring protected islands 2-8 nm away without, (being reasonable of course), having to worry as much about changing sea conditions.

So far I am considering RIBs in the 14-16 range as well as Boston Whalers such as the Montauk or Dauntless in the same size range. I am eager to be done with inflatables and the tube issues just for a change but am also concerned about docking the Hatteras with a whaler tied to the side. I am also wondering about the comparative ride quality.

I would welcome any comments, experiences, suggestions regarding ride quality, sense of sea worthiness and so on. Thanks!

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

Our Hatt came "complete" with a 1975 13' B.W. with a 30hp Yamaha when we bought it in 2000. We store it on the hardtop when cruising but leave it in the water at the marina as we use it to fish and explore the ICW, plus we can make it to Cumberland Island in 15 mins..
But it's a wet bumpy ride if there's any waves.....
Have never towed it behind our boat but have seen many a big boat towing one so it must not be too much of a problem..... I simply put it back on top of boat davits when we move....

 

[sandspur1966]

I still own my first boat as a kid, a 13 whaler and love that old thing... but just because I can cut it in half like they used to advertise doesn't make it more capable in open water or comfortable. It pounds like heck, is wet and uncomfortable in anything but flat water. I keep it at the beach and use her to go clamming in skinny water.

I have noticed that most first responders and mission-critical boats are RIBs. They are stable, safe dry in a sea and those tubes have a weird way of acting like shock absorbers.

I have a 16 Nautica Jet and use her 12 months a year in NY and often take her across the sound for dinner and have taken her through Hell Gate and around Manhattan Island several times without feeling the least bit risky.

My 2 bits... or maybe 3 bits

 

[Pascal]

Personally i hate towing the tender even a RIB, and a whaler is even more worry if it bangs into the boat. Towing means you need someone to tend the line whenever you stop, dock, anchor, etc

And I don't sleep well at night knowing the tender is in water

When rigged properly it takes one person under 5 minutes to bring the tender up, especially for short runs in protected water where it doesn't have to be strapped down

Even for short hops in the exumas, we always bring it back up

Some RIBs have very little room because if their design. On the boat I run we have a 10 year old Rendova which just over 14' which has comfortable seating for 6 on 3 benches plus anchor, PFD storage etc We can fit two more people sitting on the tubes. Obviously bigger than you d want on a 50 footer but some RIBs carry a lot more than others of the same size with more comfort

 

[Glory]

I have towed both, we towed my sons Dell Quay 13 for 2 years from little Egg Harbor NJ to Newport RI with out any issues. The towing is only an issue when making up to a dock. I would say the big advantage to an inflatable is the tube, it act as a fender. This fender is helpful when launching or recovery, not to mention when a guest t bones the mother ship, or anything else for that matter.

I'm fond of a Whaler, have been since I was 13, now I'm 57, still love my Whaler. Even at 40 plus years old, maybe that's the it inflatable don't last 40 years.

JM

 

[hromberg]

I think the reason so many folks use RIBs is that they have such a huge advantage in terms of weight and cargo capacity, not to mention their sea keeping abilities and kindness to your gel-coat. I love the durability of a solid hull, and have looked around at aluminum as well as fiberglass tenders, but to get a dink that'll haul as many folks as a 12' RIB means a big heavy dink that I don't want on my foredeck, much less on a roof with the correspondingly heavier motor.

A 12' AB light RIB weighs 156 pounds and will literally fly (if you're not careful) with a 30hp motor.

It'll carry 1650 pounds.

A 11'4" Boston Whaler tender weighs 424 pounds, and takes a 15 hp motor, because it's a modified skiff hull and can only carry 845 pounds.

It also costs a lot more.

You can go up to the 13' Super Sport and get a flared modified v hull with a 40HP, but weight goes up to 640 pounds and cargo capacity (including that big 40) is still only 933.

Bottom line is that whatever works best for you works best for you, but that's a LOT of weight to ever have up on your roof. If you tow exclusively and don't need to carry a lot of stuff, and don't mind the extra cost, it might be perfect. Just be careful towing it in anything beyond light chop.

I drool over whalers, because they're tough and seaworthy and in their own way, pretty. That said, it's hard to beat the RIBs on the numbers.

 

[MarioG]

It is now OFFICAL! We are ditching the 13' Nautica RIB for a brand new 13' Boston Whaler SS with a mercury 40 four stroke! wet weight is 870lbs. we bought it at the MBS this weekend. All in, turn key with a lifting straps for our YF and a towing plate and seat coushins $11450 out the door. We compaired the whaler with other RIBS and the whaler beat the prices by half on average. no more rubber boats for us.

 

[Pascal]

Good luck with the mercrapper

 

[GJH]

I've expounded on the Whaler vs RIB issue a few times here so won't bore y'all again, that way at least. We have a 2005 13' 130 Sport. The OP was about towing a larger boat than has been discussed in the responses, but I can comment a bit on that. We have done a lot of towing in the last couple of years, since we have become more stationary cruising wise. The slip we have, and really like, has the finger pier all the way down the starboard side, so I cannot davit the boat on or off while at the dock without some hassle of moving the big boat. We use the Whaler a lot when in port during the nice weather, so towing it was the way to go for us. We use the ocean a lot to get where we like to go, as well as notoriously choppy Neuse River/ Pamlico Sound.

First of all, the 13 tows beautifully in all kinds of sea conditions (well we haven't tried it in 10 footers yet, but multiple times in some miserable 3-6' steep choppy crud in high winds), so I would expect a 15 or larger to do even better. You need to get the small boat positioned correctly, but in my case, since we go 9 knots, not precisely. The logistic hassles leaving and coming into the dock or anchor are moderately more of a PITA than putting the thing on and off the boat deck, but not a lot more. The Whaler being a heavy boat, it is less "wieldy" to back on the chocks.

However, if we were back to full time long distance cruising, I would, as before, far prefer having a boat on the boat deck than towing it around. It definitely adds complexity to getting in and out of a new marina and slip (you essentially have a much longer boat now, with one end that wiggles around a bit), and often times will cost you more in slip fees and restrict what sort of slip you can be allowed in. Going from anchorage to anchorage, it's not so bad, save for when you are having to wait for a bridge to open, which can be another big PITA with a tow. Fendering the boat off the swim platform can be a challenge in rough weather, especially when various forces may be slamming the tender up against the big boat, with one going up and the other down at the same time;yes, it happens even when they are tied together. and if you let it drift off away from the big boat under those conditions it just gets that much more of a head start. We considered going to a bigger, towed boat since we enjoy exploring around so much and a little more space and freeboard would be nice, but have scratched that idea given the above. But that's just us. We like the Edgewaters a lot in that mid teens size range, moreso that the Whalers; Scout had a nice boat too, may still.

I do have to comment that a 13' Whaler will hold a LOT more stuff than a similarly sized RIB, forget the weight capacities. We went to MIBS one year with the thought of changing to save some weight, etc. The Whaler is what came with the boat so at that point we weren't married to it. We looked at dozens of RIBS from every mfr and none came close in interior room. Since the tender is the family car for us when we stay on moorings for a large part of the season, being able to haul guest luggage, groceries, supplies, people and stuff is a big consideration. Its also a very easy platform to fish from, and putting a hook or a gaff in the side just requires gel coat.

 

[MarioG]

Good luck with the mercrapper

5 year engine warranty, 10 year hull warrenty!

 

[Fanfare]

They didn't have RIBS back then, so the comparison is not fair. But I was working on my 1975 11 ft. Boston Whaler today. It's had some paint and varnish over its 38 years but still looks good and works fine. It should have many more years ahead of it. Money well spent!

Of course, shortly after I purchased it the Boston Whaler company sent me a questionaire asking if I thought there might ever be any future market for inflatables should they decide to make them. I told them that I thought not.....

 

[Artzco]

5 year engine warranty, 10 year hull warrenty!

Mario, I've had 3 different 40 hp Mercs, and they have been bullet proof over the years. Congratulations and you'll get a great deal of enjoyment with the Whaler.

 

[manderley]

Thanks everybody. That is a lot of good information and I will have to reassess.

 

[GJH]

Mario, I've had 3 different 40 hp Mercs, and they have been bullet proof over the years. Congratulations and you'll get a great deal of enjoyment with the Whaler.

Ditto to that, sweet little engines these days. Not relevant to what Mario got, but do have to mention that our 2005 2 stroke 40HP Merc has been used and abused extensively, year around (including daily for a almost three years) and it too seems to be bullet proof with minimal annual maintenance. I'm in outboard country now here in eastern NC, seems like they have a lot of happy users from my conversations after getting their lunch eaten by the Japanese for awhile. A series various problems, including a big one that Yamaha had with its 225, broke the spell of conventional wisdom and the Mercs hold their own with anything now.

 

[saltshaker]

It is now OFFICAL! We are ditching the 13' Nautica RIB for a brand new 13' Boston Whaler SS with a mercury 40 four stroke! wet weight is 870lbs. we bought it at the MBS this weekend. All in, turn key with a lifting straps for our YF and a towing plate and seat coushins $11450 out the door. We compaired the whaler with other RIBS and the whaler beat the prices by half on average. no more rubber boats for us.

WOW!! I was thinking of getting a 14'-15' rib but that whaler deal sounds great. I guess I'll have to look into that or maybe something a bit bigger. There's more room aboard the Whaler than a rib and for us can work well as a second boat to play around with.

 

[RT46]

Ive had two 13 whalers in the past, both were from the late 60's.
Both were great boats that were used 12 months a year to include ice breaking duty, duck hunting, yacht tender, water sking, fishing and even some dock building.
Both endured severe wx and storms in the water without incident.
they really are very difficult to sink and can carry extreme weight.
I once transported a materials for a small hunting cabin and generator across the bay.

The only issue i ever had with the whalers was that the transome needed to be reglassed.
Both boats have gone on in working condition to their new owners.

In the same time, i have lost count of how many RIBs and inflatables i have had.
they really dont seem to last long term and are not up to continious hard duty.

I currently have an airdeck inflatable on the bow of my 46.
It is a medium sized one, but still light enough for me to lift on the bow without the aid of a lift.
I have a small 4 hp 2 stroke that i take on and off the boat when i launch it.

I have friends that have small fortunes invested in center console RIBs with electronics and electric start 4 strokes.

 

[hromberg]

Whaler vs Livingston? They seem a lot simpler, but perform a lot better or so they're claimed to. Any experiences with em?

 

[thoward]

Thanks everybody. That is a lot of good information and I will have to reassess.

I would put a 15' Key West with a Yamaha on the short list.

Whalers ride hard and are wet, wet, wet. They are fun to play with but that does not sound like what you are looking for.

The Ribs are short on room but get the job done safely with reasonable comfort.

The Key West will give room and comfort. It is rot free, self bailing and "unsinkable". I would not overlook this boat.

Full disclosure: I have owned all 3 and currently own a Key West 17CC with a 85hp Yamaha 2 smoker.

 

[GJH]

Guy who was / is a designer at Hatteras had a Key West CC, for what that's worth; kept it at the marina in New Bern we were in for awhile. He seemed to like it OK. Didn't know they made a 15.

 

[rsmith]

A Key West is going to be way heavier than a 13 whaler. Davit,deck mounts,tie downs and weight distribution will all be a major factor.